Researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Chemistry of Warsaw University of Technology have designed what they consider to be an improved version of a perovskite, containing in the crystal structure a relatively large organic ion, a guanidinium cation. Lab tests at the EPFL have reportedly shown that photovoltaic cells made of the new perovskite work more efficiently than the cells prepared using its original form.

The guanidinium cation was incorporated into the crystal structure of the classic perovskite using a ‘solvent-less’ mechanochemical approach. The experiments proved that from many aspects the new, modified perovskites are clearly better than the parent (CH3NH3)PbI3.