Key Findings
Sophia University and its partners have developed a new lead-free perovskite solar cell technology that replaces toxic lead with tin. This approach simultaneously addresses the challenges of conversion efficiency and durability, with the cells maintaining approximately 85% of their initial performance over a period of 100 days.
Technical Details
The research team designed the perovskite layer as a stacked structure consisting of alternating conductive layers made of tin and iodine, and non-conductive organic molecule layers. The primary functions of these organic molecule layers are as follows:
- Prevention of water and oxygen penetration to enhance overall durability.
- Mitigation of tin oxidation, which typically destroys the crystal structure.
To counteract the increased electrical resistance caused by the introduction of organic molecule layers—which typically lowers conversion efficiency—the team utilized specific additives to suppress efficiency loss. The study is detailed in the paper “Molecular Passivation with 2-Aminobenzothiazole Enables Efficient and Stable Ruddlesden–Popper Tin Perovskite Solar Cells” (DOI: doi.org/10.1002/solr.70388).
Background & Context
Perovskite cells typically use atoms such as iodine and lead to form a specific crystal structure for light absorption. While lead-based cells are efficient, the toxicity of lead poses environmental and safety risks. Tin is a viable alternative due to its similar properties, but its tendency to oxidize has historically made it difficult to achieve a balance between stability and efficiency.
Significance & Outlook
Professor Yuko Takeoka of Sophia University emphasizes that lead-free cells are critical for applications in spaces close to human living environments. While the current conversion efficiency of this tin-based cell remains lower than that of lead-containing perovskite cells, the research team is now focusing on increasing efficiency and scaling the technology for large-area production.
Source: https://news.solarbe.com/202610/27/50030997.html
Get our weekly technology intelligence — free
Receive an infographic that lets you judge at a glance whether each field’s analysis report is worth reading.
Subscribe Free — Weekly Tech Intelligence
By subscribing, you’ll receive Troy-Technical’s weekly technology intelligence newsletter.
- Your email and selected fields are used only to deliver the newsletter.
- We never share your information with third parties.
- You can unsubscribe anytime via the link in each email.
See our Privacy Policy for details.
Takes about a minute · Unsubscribe anytime
