Tin Perovskite Solar Cells Non-Toxic and Potentially More Stable Than Lead-Containing Perovskite Modules

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Tin perovskite solar cells are not only non-toxic but also potentially more stable than lead-based perovskite solar cells. However, they are also significantly less efficient. Now, an international team has achieved a substantial improvement: The team identified chemical compounds that naturally form a molecular layer that fits very well with the lattice structure of tin perovskites.

Research on tin perovskite solar cells promises not only environmental friendliness but also potentially higher stability than their lead-containing counterparts. However, their previously lower efficiency posed a significant challenge.

An international research team has achieved a significant breakthrough. Using chemical compounds that form self-organized molecular layers, tin perovskites can now be produced with excellent optoelectronic quality. This groundbreaking design in interface creation holds great potential for future solar cell development. Tin perovskite solar cells are not only non-toxic but also potentially more stable than lead-based perovskite solar cells.

Tin Perovskite as the Way Forward

Perovskite semiconductors are an exciting new material for solar cells. They are extremely thin and flexible, simple and inexpensive to produce, and highly efficient. However, before perovskite solar cells can be marketed on a large scale, two hurdles must be overcome: first, they are not yet stable over decades, and second, the most powerful perovskite materials contain lead.

An interesting, non-toxic alternative being researched at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) is tin perovskite solar cells. They are potentially more stable than their lead-based counterparts. Thanks to their unique electro-optical properties, they are particularly well-suited for tandem and triple solar cells. Nonetheless, tin perovskite solar cells are still far from reaching the high efficiencies of lead-based perovskites. Project leader Dr. Artem Musiienko comments: "We have demonstrated that the performance of tin perovskite photovoltaics can be significantly improved through targeted molecular design."

Improved Contact Layers

A critical issue with previous designs was the contact layer, which was produced using PEDOT:PSS. This method brought significant challenges, including efficiency losses. However, the research team identified alternative self-assembled monolayer molecules (SAMs) that allow for a better fit. The focus here is on phenothiazine (Th-2EPT), developed by Dr. Tadas Malinauskas and Mantas Marčinskas. The application of these SAMs led to an impressive performance improvement: "We demonstrate that the higher performance is due to the excellent optoelectronic quality of the perovskite grown on the novel SAM," emphasizes Valerio Stacchini.

With an achieved efficiency of 8.2%, the cells with Th-2EPT lay the foundation for further optimizations and the development of tandem solar cells made from pure tin perovskite. These advancements spotlight tin perovskite in the international research community and pave the way for an environmentally friendly and high-performance solar cell future. (heh)