Abstract
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are being studied and developed because of the outstanding properties of halide perovskites as photovoltaic materials and high conversion efficiencies achieved with the best PSCs. However, leaching out of lead (Pb) ions into the environment presents potential public health risks. We show that thiol-functionalized nanoparticles provide an economic way of minimizing Pb leaching in the case of PSC module damage and subsequent water exposure (at most, ∼2.5% of today's crystal silicon solar panel production cost per square meter). Using commercial materials and methods, we retain ∼90% of Pb without degrading the photovoltaic performance of the cells, compared with nonencapsulated devices, yielding a worst-case scenario of top-soil pollution below natural Pb levels and well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 29766-29772 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 26 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 6 Jul 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
Funding
D.C. thanks Gary Hodes for the idea of using sulfides (at the 2-2015 NSF–BSF workshop). We are grateful to the Israel Ministry of Energy for supporting our participation in the Solar ERAnet PERDRY project. R.D.M.L. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 MSCA Innovative Training Network under Grant Agreement 764787 (MAESTRO) and the EU MAESTRO project.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| European Union’s Horizon 2020 MSCA | |
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | 764787 |
| European Commission |
Keywords
- encapsulation
- leaching
- lead
- perovskite
- sequestration
