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    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 22:30:44
    technology
    Fix in a manufacturing step of perovskite solar cells paves the way for commercialization of the high-performance, sunlight-to-electricity discovery


    Date:
    March 15, 2022
    Source:
    University of California - Los Angeles
    Summary:
    Materials scientists have discovered the major reason why
    perovskite solar cells -- which show great promise for improved
    energy-conversion efficiency -- degrade in sunlight, causing
    their performance to suffer over time. The team successfully
    demonstrated a simple manufacturing adjustment to fix the cause of
    the degradation, clearing the biggest hurdle toward the widespread
    adoption of the thin-film solar cell technology.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Materials scientists at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and
    colleagues from five other universities around the world have discovered
    the major reason why perovskite solar cells -- which show great promise
    for improved energy- conversion efficiency -- degrade in sunlight,
    causing their performance to suffer over time. The team successfully demonstrated a simple manufacturing adjustment to fix the cause of the degradation, clearing the biggest hurdle toward the widespread adoption
    of the thin-film solar cell technology.


    ==========================================================================
    A research paper detailing the findings was published today inNatureas
    an early access paper. The research is led by Yang Yang, a UCLA Samueli professor of materials science and engineering and holder of the Carol
    and Lawrence E.

    Tannas, Jr., Endowed Chair. The co-first authors are Shaun Tan and Tianyi Huang, both recent UCLA Samueli Ph.D. graduates whom Yang advised.

    Perovskites are a group of materials that have the same atomic arrangement
    or crystal structure as the mineral calcium titanium oxide. A subgroup
    of perovskites, metal halide perovskites, are of great research interest because of their promising application for energy-efficient, thin-film
    solar cells.

    Perovskite-based solar cells could be manufactured at much lower costs
    than their silicon-based counterparts, making solar energy technologies
    more accessible if the commonly known degradation under long exposure
    to illumination can be properly addressed.

    "Perovskite-based solar cells tend to deteriorate in sunlight much faster
    than their silicon counterparts, so their effectiveness in converting
    sunlight to electricity drops over the long term," said Yang, who is
    also a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. "However,
    our research shows why this happens and provides a simple fix. This
    represents a major breakthrough in bringing perovskite technology to commercialization and widespread adoption." A common surface treatment
    used to remove solar cell defects involves depositing a layer of organic
    ions that makes the surface too negatively charged. The UCLA-led team
    found that while the treatment is intended to improve energy-conversion efficiency during the fabrication process of perovskite solar cells, it
    also unintentionally creates a more electron-rich surface -- a potential
    trap for energy-carrying electrons.



    ==========================================================================
    This condition destabilizes the orderly arrangement of atoms, and over
    time, the perovskite solar cells become increasingly less efficient,
    ultimately making them unattractive for commercialization.

    Armed with this new discovery, the researchers found a way to address
    the cells' long-term degradation by pairing the positively charged ions
    with negatively charged ones for surface treatments. The switch enables
    the surface to be more electron-neutral and stable, while preserving
    the integrity of the defect-prevention surface treatments.

    The team tested the endurance of their solar cells in a lab under
    accelerated aging conditions and 24/7 illumination designed to
    mimic sunlight. The cells managed to retain 87% of their original sunlight-to-electricity conversion performance for more than 2,000
    hours. For comparison, solar cells manufactured without the fix dropped
    to 65% of their original performance after testing over the same time
    and conditions.

    "Our perovskite solar cells are among the most stable in efficiency
    reported to date," Tan said. "At the same time, we've also laid new foundational knowledge, on which the community can further develop and
    refine our versatile technique to design even more stable perovskite
    solar cells." The other corresponding authors on the paper are Rui
    Wang, an assistant professor of engineering at Westlake University in
    Hangzhou, China; and Jin- Wook Lee, an assistant professor of engineering
    at Sungkyunkwan University in Suwon, South Korea. Both Wang and Lee are previous UCLA postdoctoral researchers advised by Yang.

    Researchers from UC Irvine; Marmara University, Turkey; and National
    Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, also contributed to the paper.

    The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of
    Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    University_of_California_-_Los_Angeles. Note: Content may be edited for
    style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Shaun Tan, Tianyi Huang, Ilhan Yavuz, Rui Wang, Tae Woong Yoon,
    Mingjie
    Xu, Qiyu Xing, Keonwoo Park, Do-Kyoung Lee, Chung-Hao Chen,
    Ran Zheng, Taegeun Yoon, Yepin Zhao, Hao-Cheng Wang, Dong Meng,
    Jingjing Xue, Young Jae Song, Xiaoqing Pan, Nam-Gyu Park, Jin-Wook
    Lee, Yang Yang. Stability- limiting heterointerfaces of perovskite
    photovoltaics. Nature, 2022; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04604-5 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220315141803.htm

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