Northwestern University researchers have developed new perovskite-based devices to assist in the detection and identification of radioactive isotopes. This method could allow the identification of legal versus illegal gamma rays - such detectors are critical for national security, where they're used to detect illegal nuclear materials smuggled across borders and aid in nuclear forensics, as well as in medical diagnostics imaging.

Using cesium lead bromide in the form of perovskite crystals, the research team found they were able to create highly efficient detectors in both small, portable devices for field researchers and very large detectors.

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Researchers at Oregon State University have reported recent advances with a new type of perovskite-based optical sensor that more closely mimics the human eye’s ability to perceive changes in its visual field. The sensor could be highly beneficial for fields like image recognition, robotics and artificial intelligence.

The team explained that previous attempts to build a human-eye type of device, called a retinomorphic sensor, have relied on software or complex hardware. However, the new sensor’s operation is part of its fundamental design, using ultrathin layers of perovskite semiconductors that change from strong electrical insulators to strong conductors when placed in light.

Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), assisted by teams at Croatia's University of Split, have developed a perovskite that can detect gamma rays.

The “oriented crystal‐crystal growth” (OC2G) method of large MAPbBr3 crystals . a) Growing of large crystals by the suspended seed crystal; b,c) The consecutive steps of fusing together individual single crystals into a large crystal. Image by EPFL

"This photovoltaic perovskite crystal, grown in this kilogram size, is a game changer," says EPFL's Professors Lászlo Forró. "You can slice it into wafers, like silicon, for optoelectronic applications, and, in this paper, we demonstrate its utility in gamma-ray detection."

University of Tsukuba researchers examine the molecular-level processes taking place in perovskite solar cells when they are operating, to determine the factors that affect their performance.

The team explained that focusing on improving PCEs alone could be causing researchers to miss the significant steps forward that might result from a more detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms. For example, the question of what causes the performance of perovskite solar cells to deteriorate is an important one that has not been comprehensively answered. External factors such as oxygen and moisture in the air are known to compromise perovskite layers. However, the internal changes that affect the performance of cells are not as well understood. The researchers have therefore probed the deterioration mechanism using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy.

The Emerging PV Reports Initiative (EPVRI) is a new academic international framework for collecting, presenting and analyzing data about the best achievements in the research of emerging photovoltaic materials, e.g., organic, perovskite and dye sensitized solar cells, among others. The new database for collecting, displaying, and analyzing the performance of emerging photovoltaic technologies was spearheaded by researchers in a worldwide international consortium: the Emerging PV Reports initiative.

In order to provide an up-to-date and easy-to-access platform with a global scope, the Emerging PV initiative was established by a consortium of experienced academic researchers from more than 15 countries, all of whom are experts in new and emerging photovoltaic research directions.

Researchers at HZB have published their recent work, reporting its current world record of 29.15% efficiency for a tandem solar cell made of perovskite and silicon. The tandem cell provided stable performance for 300 hours – even without encapsulation. To accomplish this, the group, headed by Prof. Steve Albrecht, investigated physical processes at the interfaces to improve the transport of the charge carriers.

In the beginning of 2020, a team headed by Prof. Steve Albrecht at the HZB broke the previous world record for tandem solar cells made of perovskite and silicon (28.0%, Oxford PV), setting a new world record of 29.15%. Compared to the highest certified and scientifically published efficiency, this is a significant step forward. The new value has been certified at Fraunhofer ISE and listed in the NREL chart. Now, the results have been published in the journal Science with a detailed explanation of the fabrication process and underlying physics.

Researchers at Nanjing Tech University and other institutes in China have recently created solar cells using 2-D Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) layered perovskites with phase-pure quantum wells (QWs) and a single-well width. These solar cells could achieve remarkable power conversion efficiencies that are largely retained over time.

"We report phase-pure QWs with a single well width by introducing molten salt spacer n-butylamine acetate, instead of the traditional halide spacer n-butylamine iodide," the researchers wrote in their paper. "Due to the strong ionic coordination between n-butylamine acetate and the perovskite framework, a gel of a uniformly distributed intermediate phase can be formed."

A consortium of academic research teams and private companies led by Hanwha Q Cells, a major photovoltaic manufacturer in South Korea, was selected for a state project to commercialize tandem perovskite silicon solar cells.

In an effort to widen the technology gap with China, South Korean companies and researchers have tried to develop new solar energy technologies like tandem cells that build perovskite on top of silicon solar cells. Tandem solar cells can be individual cells or connected in series, which are simpler to fabricate but the current is the same though each cell.