Effect of operando conditions in the strain of perovskite solar cells

• Grant number: 22/12539-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Helio Cesar Nogueira Tolentino
• Grantee: Rodrigo Szostak
• Supervisor: Tobias Schulli
• Host Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), France
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/01357-6 - Hybrid perovskite solar cells investigated in operando by synchrotron radiation techniques, BP.PD

Abstract

The effects of global warming have evidenced the need for development and improvement of environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar cells. In this context, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have received attention mainly due to their high-power conversion efficiency close to silicon solar cells (25.7 vs 26.1%), low cost of preparation, and versatile properties. To obtain highly efficient PSCs, thermal annealing is necessary to complete crystallization and minimize the defects in the perovskite layer. The drawback of this process is the creation of strain (compressive or tensile) in the perovskite structure due to the mismatch between the expansion coefficient of the perovskite and substrate. The strain impacts several properties such as stability, bandgap, bulk conductivity, the formation energy of halide vacancies, photoluminescence lifetime, and activation energy of ion migration. In general, the compressive strain has been reported to be beneficial. However, there is a lack of comprehension of the influence of strain during the operation of a solar cell, which can be critical to a more precise understanding of this effect in real-life devices. In this project, we propose to investigate the strain behavior in perovskite under operando conditions (temperature, light, and bias) to better understand this effect on perovskite properties mainly using full-field X-ray diffraction microscopy (FFXDM) to map the strain and obtain spatially resolved information. The operando experiments will be performed using a heating chip designed at LNLS and adapted to use at the ID01/ESRF beamline in the host institution. This investigation can strongly contribute to the technological development of PSCs and accelerate their commercialization. (AU)