Research Initiation Award: Environmentally friendly high performance perovskite solar cell with fortified stability

研究启动奖为历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的教职员工提供支持，他们正在建立一个研究项目。预计该奖项有助于进一步提高教师的研究能力和有效性，改善她所在机构的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。授予奥尔巴尼州立大学的奖项可能在许多领域产生更广泛的社会影响。该项目的重点是通过研究钙钛矿型光伏电池的不稳定性和毒性，同时保持竞争效率，为太阳能科学知识做出贡献。本科生以及高中生和教师将获得研究经验。该项目将是该机构建立可持续太阳能电池研究计划的第一步。该项目的总体目标是在不影响性能的情况下，同时解决钙钛矿太阳能电池的两个关键问题：不稳定性和毒性。为了实现这一目标，将以一种简便、低成本的方法合成新型钙钛矿结构的CeX(CH3NH3)1-xGeI3，以实现增强的稳定性和增强的性能。将构建一个具有p-i-n平面结构的简单器件。铅将被锗取代，以最大限度地减少毒性，铯将部分加入以增强稳定性。同时，通过对不同构型的电池的研究，阐明了钙钛矿型太阳能电池的基本工作机理。该项目取得的成果将丰富光伏领域的知识，促进钙钛矿型太阳能电池的各种实际应用和商业化进程。尤其是对工作机理的全面了解，将对合理的器件设计和优化器件性能产生深远的影响。这项研究将被整合到物理入门课程以及更适合高年级本科生的分析化学课程中。

Research Initiation Awards provide support for faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building a research program. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at her home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The award to Albany State University has potential broader and societal impact in a number of areas. The project focuses on contributing to the knowledge in solar energy science by studying the instability and toxicity of perovskite photovoltaic cells, while maintaining competitive efficiency. Undergraduate students, as well as high school students and teachers will gain research experiences. The project will be a first step in building a sustainable solar cell research program at the institution. The overall goal of the project is to concurrently address two critical issues of perovskite solar cells, instability and toxicity, without compromising performance. To achieve this, environmentally-friendly novel perovskite Cex(CH3NH3)1-xGeI3 will be synthesized with a facile, low cost approach to realize fortifiedstability and enhanced performance. A simple device with p-i-n planar architecture will be constructed. Lead will be replaced with germanium to minimize toxicity, and cesium partially incorporated to fortify stability. Meanwhile, the fundamental operative mechanism of perovskite solar cells will be elucidated by investigating cells with various configurations. The findings gained in the project will enrich knowledge in the photovoltaic field, facilitating the process of various practical applications and commercialization of perovskite solar cells. Particularly, the comprehensive understanding of the operative mechanisms will have a far-reaching impact on rational device design and optimizing device performance. The research will be integrated into introductory physics courses as well as analytical chemistry courses more appropriate for senior undergraduate students.