Organic-inorganic halide perovskites for high-performance solar cell

• Grant number: 15/15615-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2016
• End date: April 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Ana Flávia Nogueira
• Grantee: Ramesh Mohan
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The natural energy sources like sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat have abundant renewable energy resources. Among these, the conversion of solar energy into electricity is one of the most promising routes to meeting the demand of a growing population and industrialization. The existing solar cell manufacturing industry facing the crucial challenge in the cost and energy production. The emerging organic thin-film, organic-inorganic hybrid and organicinorganic hybrid perovskite photovoltaics is the only way to solve current problems. However, compared to organic thin film, organic-inorganic perovskite photovoltaics have breakthrough device performance reaching 20 % PCE. Even though there are many excellent progress in halide perovskites, the three main disadvantages lag the industrial progress, such as poor environmental stability, using indium tin oxide (ITO) increase the production cost and high toxicity of lead. To overcome this problem, the research will be focused in the three directions: (i) improve the environmental stability with maintaining the PCE 20 %, (ii) ITO free large are devices and (iii) replacing the highly toxic.The environmental instability factor will be solved by following methods (i) fabricating the larger and denser crystalline domains which self-passivate the grains (ii) changing the methyl ammonium cations, (iii) introducing the thin layer of dielectric or conducting polymer above the active layer and (iv) adding additives in the organometal halide precursor. Secondly, ITO free large area perovskite device will be fabricated by gradual increase in area from 1, 3, 5, and 10 cm2 with maintaining the efficiency above 7 %. The ITO will be replaced by using conductive polymer poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS), and/or metal layers and/or sandwich of metal and oxides (OMO) [O such as WO3, MoO3 and M such as Au, Ag, Al]. Finally, toxic lead will be replaced by mixed-(Sn, Pb), could reduce the used of Pb and can tune the band gap with increasing the stability. Further, Sn based perovskite can be forming the p-type structure with the band gap of 1.23, 1.3 and 1.41eV ie., CH3NH3SnX3, CsSnX3 and FASnX3 (where X=Cl,Br, I). We have research experience in this perovskite solar cell from 2014, the entire project will be successfully completed within three by publishing in SCI journals.