Towards Self-scrubbing Stable and Scalable Perovskite Solar Cells

钙钛矿型太阳能电池(PSC)显示出前所未有的效率水平，因为这种电池很容易加工，而且比最常见但更昂贵的硅电池更高。它们具有提供低成本太阳能电力的极好潜力。预计会产生壮观的影响，但钙钛矿相的稳定性较差，以及对铅的使用，特别是其可能释放到环境中的担忧，阻碍了这一影响。铅也是一种受监管相对较高的元素。在这项提案中，我们由领先的化学家、材料科学家、设备物理学家和理论家组成的团队将通过一项综合的合作研究来解决这些问题。在我们以前工作的基础上，我们将通过探索新的钙钛矿、形貌和使用添加剂的稳定化来提高对PSC降解的关键机制的理解。缺陷(结构缺陷)和PSC性能/稳定性之间的联系将通过实验和使用最先进的建模技术进行研究。该方法将为钙钛矿配方的预测指南提供可靠的基础，使稳定、环保、廉价的光伏组件能够大规模使用。钙钛矿材料最耐人寻味的方面是电荷对光生的高效率和这些电荷的长寿命。我们将使用新的超快时间尺度光谱技术来获得关于钙钛矿光激发态动力学的新见解。我们将通过研究新的无铅钙钛矿以及在含铅和含锡的PSC中开发新的重金属自擦洗支架来解决PSC失效(和水进入)时潜在的重金属污染问题。为大面积、高性能、稳定、环境安全的PSCs的制备提供了一种新的气溶胶辅助薄膜沉积方法。我们的目标是提供环境安全、示范的大面积PSC原型，具有增强的运行稳定性，可以批量生产，并具有超过20%的电力转换效率。该项目的成功成果将有助于更好地从根本上了解钙钛矿成分和器件性能之间的相互作用，以及新的PSC，这将使大规模部署钙钛矿型光伏发电更接近于无二氧化碳发电。

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) show unprecedented levels of efficiency for such easy to process solar cells, and are higher than those of most common, but more expensive, silicon cells. They have an excellent potential to provide low-cost solar electricity. Spectacular impact is expected but is hindered by poor stability of the perovskite phase and concerns about the use of lead and especially its potential release into the environment. Lead is also a relatively highly regulated element. In this proposal, our team of leading chemists, materials scientists, device physicists and theorists, will address these issues through an integrated collaborative study. Building on our previous work we will improve the understanding of the key mechanisms responsible for PSC degradation, by exploring new perovskites, morphologies and stabilisation by the use of additives. The link between defects (structural imperfections) and PSC performance/stability will be investigated experimentally and using state-of-the-art modelling techniques. The approach will provide a sound basis for predictive guidelines for perovskite formulation to enable stable environmentally benign, inexpensive PV units for mass use. Among the most intriguing aspects of perovskite materials are the high efficiency of charge pair photo-generation and the long lifetime of these charges. We will use new ultrafast timescale spectroscopic techniques to obtain new insights concerning the dynamics of the perovskite photo-excited states. We will address issues of potential heavy metal contamination, in the event of PSC failure (and water ingress) by studying new lead-free perovskites as well as by developing new heavy metal self-scrubbing scaffolds within lead- and tin-containing PSCs. A new aerosol-assisted film deposition approach for fabrication of large area, high performance, stable and environmental safe PSCs will result. Our ambition is to provide prototype environmentally safe, demonstration, large area PSCs with enhanced operational stability that could be mass produced and have power conversion efficiencies exceeding 20%. A successful outcome to this project would provide improved fundamental understanding of the interplay between perovskite composition and device performance and new PSCs that would bring about the large-scale deployment of perovskite photovoltaics for CO2-free electricity generation closer.