A research team from UNIST's School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, led by Professors Sung-Young Chan, Jungki Ryu and Ji-Wook Chan, in collaboration with Professor Sang Kyu Kwak from Korea University, has made significant progress towards achieving stability. and efficiency of perovskite solar cells. Their pioneering work not only paves the way for the commercialization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), but also reveals significant potential in green hydrogen production technology that enables long-term operation with high efficiency.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted attention due to their lower toxicity and broad light absorption capacity, making them extremely promising for photovoltaic applications. However, the presence of ionic vacancies in tin lead halide perovskites (TLHPs) creates problems that lead to accelerated device degradation due to internal metal diffusion.
To address this issue, the research team developed a chemically protective cathodic interlayer using amine-functionalized perylene diimide (PDINN). By using its nucleophilic sites to form tridentate metal complexes, PDINN efficiently extracts electrons and inhibits internal diffusion of metals. A novel solution-processed PDINN cathode interlayer has demonstrated remarkable performance in stabilizing TLHP-based photovoltaic (PV) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices.
The photovoltaic device achieved an impressive efficiency of 23.21% with over 81% retention after 750 hours of operation at 60°C and over 90% after 3100 hours at 23 ± 4°C. Additionally, TLHP-based PEC devices coupled with biomass oxidation demonstrated a record solar hydrogen production rate of 33.0 mA cm-2, approximately 1.7 times the U.S. Department of Energy's solar hydrogen production target.
Their innovative cathode interlayer design successfully demonstrated the enormous potential of TLHP for efficient and stable photoconversion.
“We have significantly increased the long-term stability of tin-lead PSCs,” explained Professor Jang. “Our goal is not only to convert light energy into electrical energy, but also to develop environmentally friendly methods for producing key chemicals such as hydrogen, which form the basis of various industries.”
The research results were published online on November 30, 2023, in the journal Advanced Energy Materials . The research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) of the Ministry of Information Science and Technology (MSIT).
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