NREL-Led Research Effort Adds Salt, Boosts Performance of Perovskites

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Final Up to date on: third Might 2025, 12:27 am

Utilizing an ionic salt to interchange the fullerene layer in perovskite photo voltaic cells boosted their efficiency, effectivity, and sturdiness, based on a world analysis effort led by scientists on the Nationwide Renewable Power Laboratory (NREL).

Their findings seem within the journal Science.

The researchers stated their findings level to a promising method to advancing perovskite photovoltaic applied sciences towards commercialization. Perovskites refers to a crystalline construction that has confirmed extremely environment friendly as a semiconductor materials for absorbing daylight. Work continues to enhance the long-term stability of perovskite photo voltaic cells.

Kai Zhu, a senior scientist at NREL and an architect of the analysis effort, stated enhancements concerned altering the chemical composition of the electron transport layer within the perovskite photo voltaic cell. This layer is crucial because it strikes electrons triggered by daylight by the cell, thereby producing electrical energy. The fullerene C₆₀ is usually used for the electron transport layer in inverted perovskite photo voltaic cells, however its molecular nature results in a weak interface and limits the efficiency of the gadget. That’s particularly an issue with long-term stability.

The researchers experimented with including acids and chemical compounds that reacted with C₆₀ to kind an ionic salt known as CPMAC. The change resulted in a three-fold improve within the mechanical energy of the electron transport layer of the cell, which is essential for long-term stability and sturdiness.

“That’s really the surprise, but it’s a very good surprise,” Zhu stated.

The inverted structure of the perovskite photo voltaic cell refers to how the layers are deposited on the glass substrate. This development is thought for its excessive stability and integration into tandem photo voltaic cells.

The analysis at NREL was supported partly by the Heart for Hybrid Natural-Inorganic Semiconductors for Power (CHOISE), an Power Frontier Analysis Heart funded by the U.S. Division of Power’s Workplace of Fundamental Power Sciences and the Photo voltaic Power Applied sciences Workplace. The analysis reported the preliminary lab effectivity of the perovskite cells that used the ionic salt was 26.1%, vs. 25.5% for the C₆₀ model.

Utilizing the CPMAC, the researchers obtained a 26% lab effectivity with about 2% degradation after 2,100 hours of operation at 65 levels Celsius, and a 25.5% effectivity with about 5% degradation after 1,500 hours of operation at 85 levels Celsius. For a minimodule made up of 4 subcells, six sq. centimeters, the lab effectivity was 23% with lower than a 9% degradation after 2,200 hours of operation at 55 levels Celsius.

The paper is “C₆₀-based ionic salt electron shuttle for high-performance inverted perovskite solar modules.” Different co-authors from NREL are Shuai You, Yifan Dong, Lei Chen, Matthew Beard, and Joseph Berry. Researchers who contributed to the work hailed from King Abdullah College of Science and Expertise (Saudi Arabia) and Newcastle College (United Kingdom) along with CubicPV Inc., the College of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State College, and the College of Toledo.

By Wayne Hicks. Article from NREL.