Coupling aqueous zinc batteries and perovskite solar cells for simultaneous energy harvest, conversion and storage

Simultaneously harvesting, converting and storing solar energy in a single device represents an ideal technological approach for the next generation of power sources. Herein, we propose a device consisting of an integrated carbon-based perovskite solar cell module capable of harvesting solar energy (and converting it into electricity) and a rechargeable aqueous zinc metal cell. The electrochemical energy storage cell utilizes heterostructural Co2P-CoP-NiCoO2 nanometric arrays and zinc metal as the cathode and anode, respectively, and shows a capacity retention of approximately 78% after 25000 cycles at 32 A/g. In particular, the battery cathode and perovskite material of the solar cell are combined in a sandwich joint electrode unit. As a result, the device delivers a specific power of 54 kW/kg and specific energy of 366 Wh/kg at 32 A/g and 2 A/g, respectively. Moreover, benefiting from its narrow voltage range (1.40–1.90 V), the device demonstrates an efficiency of approximately 6%, which is stable for 200 photocharge and discharge cycles.

A review on two-dimensional (2D) perovskite material-based solar cells to enhance the power conversion efficiency

With perovskite materials, rapid progress in power conversion efficiency (PCE) to reach 25% has gained a significant amount of attention from the solar cell industry.

Effect of treatment condition on perovskite film for perovskite solar cell application

In this study, the Perovskite material CH3NH3PbI3 was prepared using two-step sequential solution deposition technique. The treatment condition for Perovskite film including dipping duration, reaction temperature and annealing temperature was studied. Crystal structure, grain size, and purity of the prepared material were examined using XRD and SEM methods. The results indicate that controlling treatment condition has a significant effect on the crystallinity and purity of Perovskite film. Under suitable condition, the obtained Perovskite material has a tetragonal structure and grain size ranges from 200 to 400 nm. The Perovskite film was then applied as a light-harvesting material in Perovskite solar cell. The device exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 5.18% with JSC of 13.6 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.83 V, and fill factor of 45.9%.

Novel perovskite solar cell with Distributed Bragg Reflector

This paper reports numerical modeling of perovskite solar cell which has been knotted with Distributed Bragg Reflector pairs to extract high energy efficiency. The geometry of the proposed cells is simulated with three different kinds of perovskite materials including CH3NH3PbI3, CH3NH3PbBr3, and CH3NH3SnI3. The toxic perovskite material based on Lead iodide and lead bromide appears to be more efficient as compared to non-toxic perovskite material. The executed simulated photovoltaic parameters with the highest efficient structure are open circuit voltage = 1.409 (V), short circuit current density = 24.09 mA/cm2, fill factor = 86.18%, and efficiency = 24.38%. Moreover, a comparison of the current study with different kinds of structures has been made and surprisingly our novel geometry holds enhanced performance parameters that are featured with back reflector pairs (Si/SiO2). The applied numerical approach and presented designing effort of geometry are beneficial to obtain results that have the potential to address problems with less efficient thin-film solar cells.

Efficient Ag-Doped Perovskite Solar Cells Fabricated in Ambient Air

So far, it is still a great challenge to prepare high efficiency organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells in ambient air. Specifically, moisture is easily combined with the perovskite material during the spin-coating process, which result in porous perovskite films with poor surface morphology. In this study, we investigated crystalline Ag-doped perovskite films by a one-step spin-coating method in air with 30–40% relative humidity (RH), in which ethyl acetate (EA) was used as antisolvent can absorb moisture in air to reduced nucleation density. More significantly, EA is a feasible and environmentally friendly solvent to replace highly toxic solvent. Moreover, 1.0% Ag-doped device shows a highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.36%. The improved performance is not only ascribed to the superior CH3NH3PbI3 film with high crystallinity but to the versatile tunability of energy band structure.

High Energy Storage Capabilities of CaCu3Ti4O12 for Paper-Based Zinc-Air Battery

A new perovskite material, CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO), is proposed as an efficacious electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution/reduction reactions for the development of zinc-air batteries (ZAB). Synthesis of this material adopted an effective oxalate route, which led to the purity in the electrocatalyst composition. The CCTO material is a proven potential candidate for energy applications because of its high dielectric permittivity (ε) and occupies an improved ORR activity with better onset potential, current density, and stability. The CCTO perovskite was also evaluated for the zinc-air battery as an air electrode, corresponding to the high specific capacitance of 1165 mAh g-1 with the greater cyclic efficiency and minimum variations in both charge/discharge processes. The highest power density (Pmax) measured was 32 mW cm-2. The OCV (Open Circuit Potential) obtained was 1.44 V for the as-developed battery. Also, the CCTO based paper battery shows an excellent performance achieving a specific capacity of 947.79 mAh g-1. The obtained results promise CCTO as a potential and cheap electrocatalyst for application in energy applications.

Direct Fabrication of CsPbxMn1−x(Br,Cl)3 Thin Film by a Facile Solution Spraying Approach

Nowadays, Mn-doping is considered as a promising dissolution for the heavy usage of toxic lead in CsPbX3 perovskite material. Interestingly, Mn-doping also introduces an additional photoluminescence band, which is favorable to enrich the emission gamut of this cesium lead halide. Here, a solution spraying strategy was employed for the direct preparation of CsPbxMn1−x(Br,Cl)3 film through MnCl2 doping in host CsPbBr3 material. The possible fabrication mechanism of the provided approach and the dependences of material properties on Mn-doping were investigated in detail. As the results shown, Pb was partially substituted by Mn as expected. With the ratio of PbBr2:MnCl2 increasing from 3:0 to 1:1, the obtained film separately featured green, cyan, orange-red and pink-red emission, which was caused by the energy transferring process. Moreover, the combining energy of Cs, Pb, and Mn gradually red-shifted resulted from the formation of Cs-Cl, Pb-Cl and Mn-Br coordination bonding as MnCl2 doping increased. In addition, the weight of short decay lifetime of prepared samples increased with the doping rising, which indicated a better exciton emission and less defect-related transition. The aiming of current work is to provide a new possibility for the facile preparation of Mn-doping CsPbX3 film material.

Mechanisms of charge accumulation of the electrochemical system LaMnO3 / AC

In this work, the electrochemical behavior of LaMnO3 perovskite material and nanoporous carbon material in an aqueous solution of lithium sulfate are studied. The regularities of the expediency of the joint functioning of these materials as electrodes for a hybrid electrochemical capacitor are determined. It was found that the value of the specific capacity of the investigated electrochemical system of LaMnO3 / electrolyte / AC is 52 F/g during the discharge of the system to 1 V and the value of specific energy is 112.1 J /g at a discharge current of 1 mA.

Semitransparent visualizers of infrared lasers based on perovskite quantum dots

These days halide perovskite is a very popular material to be applied both in photovoltaics and photonics due to its unique properties and low-cost methods of fabrication. High photoluminescence quantum yield and good nonlinear coefficients of perovskite material allow achieving multiphoton absorption in perovskite. Encapsulation of perovskite quantum dots in polymer matrix enables to prevent interaction with the environment and increase the material lifetime. In this paper, we present a semitransparent visualizer of infrared lasers working on two-photon absorption in halide perovskite nanocrystals encapsulated in the polymer matrix.

White-Light-Emitting Control via Lead-free Perovskite Material

In recent years, the emerging lead-free halide perovskites are attracting great attention in the field of the optical detection and luminescence due to its inherent strong light absorption and high balanced carrier on transmission characteristics. This experiment attempts to explore the way of grinding to prepare the white light emitting materials that does not contain lead. Low dimensional lead-free copper-based halide luminescent materials are prepared by controlling the molar ratio of a series of lead-free perovskite materials Cs3Cu2I5 and CsCu2I5. As-synthesized powder samples are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence spectrum (PL), photoluminescence excitation spectrum (PLE) and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and other characterization methods. We successfully prepare the white powder sample by controlling the molar ratio of reactants (CsI:CuI=1:3). We measure the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity coordination of PL spectra for the samples which can be regulated by the ratio of reactants. Moreover, it is demonstrated that acetone can effectively promote the reaction of reactants. These findings make this material be a stable and environmentally friendly white luminescent material, which has the potential to be used in white LED applications.