Researchers from Australia's ARC Center of Excellence in Exciton Science, Monash University, Wuhan University of Technology and CSIRO Energy have shown how critical imperfections invisible to the naked eye can be detected by shining blue light onto the cells and recording the infrared light that bounces back.

Perovskite solar cells bathed in blue light, and responding in infrared. Credit: Exciton Science

This "trick of the light" may help detect imperfections in perovskite solar cells, opening the door to improved quality control for commercial production.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded nTact with $708,000 project to develop a reliable, reproducible, and cost-effective upscaling of perovskite photovoltaic devices using an industry-proven slot-die coating technique. This process will ultimately be used to produce flexible and rigid, highly efficient perovskite solar cells.

This is the second stage of this Small Business Technology Transfer Project (STTR-II) that has three objectives:

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory have designed a new perovskite-based X-ray detector prototype that might revolutionize medical imaging, with dramatic reduction in radiation exposure and the associated health risks, while also boosting resolution in security scanners and research applications.

Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

“The perovskite material at the heart of our detector prototype can be produced with low-cost fabrication techniques,” said Hsinhan (Dave) Tsai, an Oppenheimer Postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. “The result is a cost-effective, highly sensitive, and self-powered detector that could radically improve existing X-ray detectors, and potentially lead to a host of unforeseen applications.”

Researchers from China’s Xidian University have proposed a way to use waste lead from lead-acid batteries for the manufacturing of perovskite for solar cells. In their study, published in Nano Energy last month, the scientists described the proposed single one-step spin-coating method as a way to recycle the battery lead without causing secondary pollution.

The basic concept is to take the lead acetate Pb(AC)₂ from the cathode and anode regions of the battery and mix lead-containing materials with acetic acid (CH₃COOH). This simple process is said to deliver high-purity lead acetate (Pb(Ac)₂), which works as an effective precursor material for solar cells based on halide perovskites.