Soil adsorption and transport of lead in the presence of perovskite solar cell-derived organic cations

Arindam Mallick, Rene D. Mendez Lopez, Gilboa Arye, David Cahen, Iris Visoly-Fisher

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Perovskite photovoltaics offer a highly efficient and low-cost solar energy harvesting technology. However, the presence of lead (Pb) cations in photovoltaic halide perovskite (HaPs) materials is concerning, and quantifying the environmental hazard of accidental Pb2+ leaching into the soil is crucial for assessing the sustainability of this technology. Pb2+ from inorganic salts was previously found to remain in the upper soil layers due to adsorption. However, Pb-HaPs contain additional organic and inorganic cations, and competitive cation adsorption may affect Pb2+ retention in soils. Therefore, we measured, analyzed by simulations and report the depths to which Pb2+ from HaPs penetrates into 3 types of agricultural soil. Most of the HaP-leached Pb2+ is found to be retained already in the first cm of the soil columns, and subsequent rain events do not induce Pb2+ penetration below the first few cm of soil surface. Surprisingly, organic co-cations from the dissolved HaP are found to enhance the Pb2+ adsorption capacity in clay-rich soil, compared to non-HaP-based Pb2+ sources. Our results imply that installation over soil types with improved Pb2+ adsorption, and removal of only the contaminated topsoil, are sufficient means to prevent ground water contamination by HaP-leached Pb2+.

Original languageEnglish
Article number131147
JournalJournal of Hazardous Materials
Volume451
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

RDML and DC are grateful to the Israel Ministry of Energy for supporting our participation in the Solar ERAnet PERDRY project. RDML acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 MSCA Innovative Training Network under grant agreement no. 764787 and the EU MAESTRO project. This work was partially supported by the ISRAEL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (grant No. 1728/18 ). AM gratefully acknowledges the Israeli Planning and Budgeting Committee Fellowship for Outstanding Post-doctoral Researchers from China and India. RDML and DC are grateful to the Israel Ministry of Energy for supporting our participation in the Solar ERAnet PERDRY project. RDML acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 MSCA Innovative Training Network under grant agreement no. 764787 and the EU MAESTRO project. This work was partially supported by the ISRAEL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (grant No. 1728/18). AM gratefully acknowledges the Israeli Planning and Budgeting Committee Fellowship for Outstanding Post-doctoral Researchers from China and India.

FundersFunder number
European Union's Horizon 2020 MSCA764787
European Commission
Israel Science Foundation1728/18
Ministry of Energy, Israel

    Keywords

    • Environmental impact
    • Halide perovskites
    • Pb
    • Soil
    • Transport

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