September 2023

Stanford researchers have found a way to create and stabilize an extremely rare form of gold that has lost two negatively charged electrons, denoted Au²⁺. The material stabilizing this elusive version of the valued element is a halide perovskite. Surprisingly, the Au²⁺ perovskite is also quick and simple to make using off-the-shelf ingredients at room temperature.

"It was a real surprise that we were able to synthesize a stable material containing Au²⁺—I didn't even believe it at first," said Hemamala Karunadasa, associate professor of chemistry at the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and senior author of the study. "Creating this first-of-its-kind Au²⁺ perovskite is exciting. The gold atoms in the perovskite bear strong similarities to the copper atoms in high-temperature superconductors, and heavy atoms with unpaired electrons, like Au²⁺, show cool magnetic effects not seen in lighter atoms."

Researchers from Southeast University in Bangaladesh and U.S-based Rochester Institute of Technology have examined the performance of a lead-free Cs₂TiX₆-based n–i–p type heterostructure perovskite solar cell design, performed using a one-dimensional device simulator, also known as the SCAPS-1D. 

The design makes use of Cs₂TiCl₆ as an n-type front absorber, Cs₂TiI₆ as an I (intrinsic)-layer absorber and Cs₂TiBr₆ as a p-type absorber. NiO (p) and ZnO (n) are utilized as the hole transport material and electron transport material. The fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) acts as a front contact, conductive oxide, while Pt (platinum) is used as the back contact. 

Researchers at Queen Mary University, led by Dr, Lei Su, Reader in Photonics at the School of Engineering and Material Science, have been awarded a £1m EPSRC Adventurous Manufacturing Grant that supports high-risk and adventurous ideas. 

In this project, the team will develop scalable manufacturing technologies for single-crystal perovskite optical and electronic devices. This project is a follow-on from the EPSRC Adventurous Manufacturing feasibility study, in which Dr. Su invented a fabrication process to grow single-crystal perovskite devices beyond the current aspect-ratio limit. 

Researchers from the University of Surrey, the University of Warwick and the University of New South Wales have reported a nanoscale “ink” coating of aluminum oxide on metal halide perovskite, that stabilizes the drop in energy output that presently plagues perovskite technology.

"In the past, metal oxides have been shown to either benefit or degrade the performance of perovskite solar cells. We’ve identified aluminum oxide which can improve performance and minimize the drop in efficiency during conditioning of perovskite solar cells", said Hashini Perera, Study Lead Author, University of Surrey.

Here are some recent and popular perovskite industry and academia news that you may find of interest:

• New printable mesoscopic carbon perovskite solar cell reaches 17.13% efficiency
• Fraunhofer team develops promising perovskite-based triple-junction solar cell
• Toshiba reaches 16.6% efficiency for polymer film-based large-area perovskite module
• Sekisui Chemical to mass-produce bendable perovskite solar cells
• Researchers develop ballpoint pens that can write perovskite LEDs
• Caelux secures $12 million for tandem solar glass facility
• Microquanta's perovskite water-farming PV power station is connected to the grid
• Researchers design a 23.7% monolithic perovskite-PERC tandem solar cell
• US DoE awards $18 million to MIT/CU Boulder's perovskite solar cell projects
• KAUST team claims new world record for tandem solar cell efficiency
• Researchers fabricate full-color flexible microLEDs using perovskite QDs
• Researchers turn algae into perovskite materials with unique structures
• Researchers achieve 31.25% efficiency for tandem perovskite-silicon solar cell
• Stores in Poland use perovskite shelf labels and blinds by Saule technologies
• Saule Technologies launches its production line of perovskite solar panels

Caelux has announced its partnership with the University of New South Wales (UNSW, Sydney, Australia) ACDC Research Group on the ARENA-funded project, 'High-Throughput Inspection Methods for High-Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells.' This solar cells project will aim to improve the commercial readiness of solar PV technologies and enable the next generation of solar innovation.

The Artificial Intelligence, Characterization, Defects, and Contacts (ACDC) Research Group at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a leader in photovoltaic luminescence imaging and applied machine learning (ML). This project aims to develop novel, contactless methods to characterize perovskite solar cells during process development and inline manufacturing, which will improve production yields and device performance, while taking into consideration the differences between silicon and perovskites. This collaboration will also undertake commercialization activities including: testing the techniques on pilot production lines and techno-economic analysis of the potential market for the developed inspection tools.

A research team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has reported a perovskite/perovskite/silicon triple-junction solar cell with an open circuit voltage of >2.8 V, which is said to be the record value reported for this structure so far. The Fraunhofer team showed that perovskite-perovskite-silicon subcells can hold considerable promise and have an even greater efficiency potential than double-junction tandem cells.

The triple-junction solar cell was developed as part of the Triumph research project funded by the European Commission and the RIESEN research project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. This achievement confirms that the cell has excellent material properties for generating electricity, leading the scientists to deduce that it has an efficient solar cell architecture.

Australia-based Greatcell Solar Materials produces and supplies perovskite materials, and is one of the industry's pioneer companies. We conducted an interviw with Dr. Yanek Hebting, Greatcell's general manager, who updates us on the company's business, material and his views on the perovskite industry.

Hello Dr. Hebting, Thank you for this Q&A. Can you introduce us to Greatcell Solar Materials?

Greatcell Solar Materials Pty Ltd was created in October 2018 as the spin-off of the Materials Division of Greatcell Solar, formerly Dyesol. Greatcell Solar Materials is a manufacturer and supplier of materials (including perovskite precursors, dyes, ligands, titania pastes, electrolytes as well as components) for energy system applications to the photovoltaics research sector and the electronics industry.

All products are manufactured and shipped from our facility in Queanbeyan, NSW Australia.

Can you tell us a bit about the demand for perovskite materials? Does it come mostly for research, or pilot lines?

As COVID restrictions around the world have eased and global activity resumed, the demand for perovskite materials has significantly increased since.
Greatcell Solar Materials provides both bulk quantities for industrial partners as well as small quantities for research purposes. The demand for research purpose will always be a part of the demand, it is exciting to see some pilot lines take fruition and begin the process of commercialization.

Researchers from the East China University of Science and Technology have developed a new manufacturing process to fabricate printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (p-MPSCs). The scientists report that the new technique is able to overcome the typical challenges posed by this cell technology, namely their interfacial passivation and layered assembly.

Mesoscopic PV devices are commonly designed with an absorber layer that can be conducted by a solution-based approach and non-vacuum processing, which makes their production costs relatively lower than those of conventional solar cells. Using organic-inorganic layer structured perovskites has recently enabled scientists across to world to reach efficiencies of over 10%.

This is a sponsored post by Ergis Group

In 2020, Poland-based Ergis Group launched the noDiffusion film platform, a high-barrier film that offers high level of optical transmittance and low level of light scattering, and the ability to contain transparent conductive electrodes. The new technologies adopted in the production of the barrier films offer a combination of high performance and competitive pricing.

Following years of R&D, Ergis is ready to enter production with its first-gen barrier films, produced using sputtering in a roll-to-roll (R2R) configuration. The company reports performance of around 10^-4 wtr performance for its barrier. This is referred to as a "light-barrier" and one that is more than enough for the encapsulation of perovskite materials. The company collaborated with Poland-based Saule Technologies to develop this specific film. Ergis is now shipping barrier film samples to its customers.