| Work Detail |
Swedish scientists have proposed the use of gold polyiodide compounds in perovskite monolithic solar cells. They built a lead-free device that achieved an efficiency of 0.052%.
Researchers at the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE) have proposed the use of gold polyiodide compounds as active layers in monolithic solar cells.
"We are looking to build solar cells based on non-toxic gold, which opens up other application areas, such as consumer electronics, flexible electronics and indoor applications, where price is not always the most critical factor," explained researcher Allan. Starkholm to pv magazine . “These areas do not necessarily require very high efficiencies. More importantly, the ideas behind these new materials could be used as concepts for new materials and also in conventional perovskites to possibly increase efficiencies."
The research group proposed using, in particular, two pseudo-2D gold polyiodide compounds known as [DodMe2S][AuI4][I3] and [Et3S][AuI4][I5], which produced optical bandgaps of 1.40 and 1.25 eV, respectively.
“These narrow bandgaps are similar to those of some recently reported perovskite-type gold compounds and indicate their suitability for photovoltaics,” they say.
The researchers used polyiodide ionic liquids (PILs) as a precursor solution for the deposition of the compounds in the form of thin films. They stated that when assembling solar cell devices with the mentioned compounds, vacuum and high temperatures should be avoided.
They constructed lead-free solar cells based on the two compounds as absorber layers using a device structure consisting of a tin oxide (FTO) substrate, titanium oxide (TiO2) films, a zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) interlayer, a nickel(II) oxide hole transporter layer and a carbon electrode.
Tested under standard lighting conditions, the champion solar cell developed by the scientists achieved a power conversion efficiency of 0.052%. “Baseline measurements show that there is a lot of potential for improvement using that device structure under ambient conditions,” Starkholm stated.
"Our work didnt really include an in-depth cost analysis, but one of the raw materials is gold-based, which is relatively expensive compared to the lead used in conventional perovskite solar cells," he added, when asked. for cell costs. “It also depends a bit on the area of ??application, but it would probably be more expensive than conventional ones.”
The scientists described the new perovskite cell technology in “ Gold Polyiodide Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells ,” recently published in ACS Publications.
“The current results demonstrate a potential pathway toward new lead-free metal-halide/polyiodide organic-inorganic complex material design strategies and the possibility of assembling stable monolithic solar cell devices based on materials normally considered too sensitive to harsh processing conditions”, say the scientists. |
