Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are evaluating perovskite-structured rare-earth nickelates as alternatives to replace two reactions that are considered a challenge when it comes to electrocatalysts: the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Both are important for the development of better fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and electrolytic water-splitting.

Materials such as platinum, iridium oxide and ruthenium oxide are well suited for these reactions, but they are scarce and expensive. The team has been working to study perovskite-structured rare-earth nickelates (RNiO₃) that can serve as bifunctional catalysts capable of performing both OER and ORR.

Korver Corp., an emerging solar and renewable energy company, has provided an update regarding the Company's new strategic direction in the solar energy sector. Korver has now decided to focus on its mission to develop high-efficiency commercially-manufactured Perovskite Silicon Tandem (PST) solar cells.

Mark Brown, President and CEO of Korver Corp., stated, "Our prior research has resulted in the development of highly efficient Perovskite Silicon Tandem solar cells. We plan to reach an efficiency mark of over 30% on a commercial scale by combining perovskite solar with the best silicon technologies on the market today and our own proprietary innovations. Currently, we are working towards scalability and commercial manufacturing of our PST solar cells that could change the way the world produces and consumes energy on a grand scale. We are excited to take the first mover advantage with the next big thing in solar energy."

Two papers have recently been published, reporting on perovskite-based LEDs. The efficiencies with which some perovskite LEDs (PLEDs) produce light from electrons already seem to rival those of OLEDs.

Both papers, by Cao et al. and Lin et al., have developed PLEDs that break an important technological barrier: the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the devices, which quantifies the number of photons produced per electron consumed, is greater than 20%. There are several similarities between the devices reported by the two groups. Perhaps most notably, the active (emissive) perovskite layer is about 200 nanometres thick in both cases, and is sandwiched between two relatively simple electrodes. This design is called a planar structure, and is the most basic manifestation of diodes made from thin films of materials. The electrodes are appropriately modified to ensure that electrons and holes (quasiparticles formed by the absence of electrons in atomic lattices) are efficiently pumped into the perovskite. As in all LEDs, when electrons meet holes, they can release energy in the form of photons through a process known as radiative recombination.

Researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, along with ones from Vilnius University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL), have uncovered one of the possible reasons behind the short lifespan of perovskite solar cells and have offered solutions. The scientists have found that hole transporting materials used in perovskite solar cells are reacting with one of the most popular additives, tert-butylpyridine, which has a negative impact on overall device performance.

Professor Vytautas Getautis from the KTU Faculty of Chemical Technology says that so far, no attention has been paid to the possible interaction between the elements of the solar cell. For the first time, KTU chemists have uncovered the chemical reaction between the components of the hole transporting layer composition – the semiconductor and the additive used to improve the performance of the solar cell.