Soft and flexible materials called halide perovskites could make solar cells more efficient at significantly less cost but they’re too unstable to use. A research team has found a way to make halide perovskites stable enough by inhibiting the ion movement that makes them rapidly degrade, unlocking their use for solar panels as well as electronic devices. The discovery also means that halide perovskites can stack together to form heterostructures that would allow a device to perform more functions.
Solar cells made out of perovskites in the lab perform just as well as the solar cells on the market made of silicon. Perovskites have the potential to be even more efficient than silicon because less energy is wasted when converting solar energy to electricity. And because perovskites can be processed from a solution into a thin film, like ink printed on paper, they could be more cheaply produced in higher quantities compared to silicon.
A perovskite is made up of components that an engineer can individually replace at the nanometer scale to tune the material’s properties. Including multiple perovskites in a solar cell or integrated circuit would allow the device to perform different functions, but perovskites are too unstable to stack together.
Simply by adding a rigid, bulky molecule called bithiophenylethylammonium to the surface of a perovskite stabilizes the movement of ions, preventing chemical bonds from breaking easily. The researchers also demonstrated that adding this molecule makes a perovskite stable enough to form clean atomic junctions with other perovskites, allowing them to stack and integrate.
The bulky molecule allows a perovskite to stay stable even when heated to 100 °C. Solar cells and electronic devices require elevated temperatures of 50-80 °C to operate. It could also be possible to incorporate perovskites into computer chips. Tiny switches in computer chips, called transistors, rely on tiny junctions to control electrical current. A pattern of perovskites might allow the chip to perform more functions than with just one material.
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Vifaa laini na rahisi aitwaye halide perovskites inaweza kufanya seli za jua ufanisi zaidi kwa gharama kubwa chini lakini wao ni pia imara kutumia. Timu ya utafiti imepata njia ya kufanya perovskites halide imara vya kutosha kwa kuzuia harakati ya ioni ambayo hufanya kuharibika kwa haraka, unlocking matumizi yao kwa paneli za jua na vifaa vya elektroniki. Ugunduzi huo pia unamaanisha kwamba perovskites za halide zinaweza kukusanywa pamoja kuunda heterostructures ambazo zitaruhusu kifaa kufanya kazi zaidi. Chembe za jua zilizotengenezwa kwa perovskites katika maabara hufanya vizuri kama vile chembe za jua kwenye soko zilizotengenezwa kwa silicon. Perovskites ina uwezo wa kuwa hata ufanisi zaidi kuliko silicon kwa sababu nishati kidogo ni kupoteza wakati wa kubadilisha nishati ya jua kwa umeme. Perovskites inaweza kuwa na uwezo wa kutengeneza filamu nyembamba kama wino kwenye karatasi, na inaweza kutengenezwa kwa gharama nafuu. Perovskite ni alifanya juu ya vipengele kwamba mhandisi anaweza moja kwa moja kuchukua nafasi ya katika kiwango nanometer kurekebisha mali ya nyenzo. Kuingiza perovskites nyingi katika seli ya jua au mzunguko wa jumuishi ungewezesha kifaa kufanya kazi tofauti, lakini perovskites ni isiyo na utulivu sana kuweka pamoja. Kwa kuongeza molekuli ngumu ya bithiophenylethylammonium kwenye uso wa perovskite, ion huweza kuhamishwa kwa urahisi. Watafiti pia walionyesha kwamba kuongeza molekuli hii hufanya perovskite imara vya kutosha kuunda viunganishi safi vya atomiki na perovskites nyingine, ikiruhusu kuunganisha na kuunganisha. Perovskite ni molekuli ya kipekee ambayo inahakikisha kuwa imara hata inapopashwa joto hadi 100 ° C. Chembe za jua na vifaa vya elektroniki zinahitaji joto la juu la 50-80 ° C kufanya kazi. Pia ingewezekana kuingiza perovskites katika vipande vya kompyuta. Vipuli vidogo-vidogo katika vipande vya kompyuta, vinavyoitwa transistors, hutegemea viunganishi vidogo-vidogo ili kudhibiti umeme. Mfano wa perovskites unaweza kuruhusu chip kufanya kazi zaidi kuliko na nyenzo moja tu. Kwa maelezo zaidi, wasiliana na Letian Dou katika