We are happy to announce a new Metalgrass knowledge hub, MicroLED-Info.com. This new site will focus on Micro-LED display technology and its future market. MicroLED is quickly becoming a promising future display technology.

Many expect the first Micro-LED devices to hit the market in the very near future, with first applications in the wearable market - and also in HUDs and HMDs. MicroLED promise great performance, very high efficiency and brightness - but of course there are still many technical challenges ahead.

Researchers from The University of Manchester have reported a new method that makes use of polystyrene particles (rather than expensive polymers) to reduce the costs and improve the stability of next-gen perovskite-based solar cells.

PSCs that use organometallic halide perovskite (OHP) as a light absorber face a known challenge of material degradation when exposed to water. This makes practical use quite limited. The cells also rely on a hole-transportation layer, which promotes the efficient movement of electrical current after exposure to sunlight. But manufacturing the hole-transportation organic materials is very costly and these lack long-term stability. This is where the use of insulating polystyrene microgel particles comes in.

Greatcell Solar, the Australia-based materials company formerly called Dyesol, has been awarded a AUS$6m (around $4.75 million USD) grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for the Perovskite Solar Cell Technology - Large Area Module Development Project.

The company has also set out to raise around $5 million AUS ($4 million USD) as part of the project funding . This should enable Greatcell to accelerate the scale-up and prototyping activities to commercialize the company's technology.

Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have reported findings that may help improve perovskite-based technology in the entire energy cycle.

The new findings suggest interactions between components of the solar cell itself are responsible for the rapid degradation of the device. More precisely, the titanium oxide layer extracting electrons made available through solar energy – effectively creating an electric current – causes unwanted deterioration of the neighboring perovskite layer. To prevent exactly that, the OIST researchers inserted an additional layer made from a polymer to prevent direct contact between the titanium oxide and the perovskite layers. This polymer layer is insulating but very thin, which means it lets the electron current tunnel through yet does not diminish the overall efficiency of the solar cell, while efficiently protecting the perovskite structure.