The Perovskite-Info newsletter

Perovskite quantum dots have great potential as quantum emitters, but their inherent instability has thus far hampered their acceptance. Professor Hao-Wu Lin of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Associate Professor Chih-Sung Chuu of the Department of Physics, and Professor Richard Schaller of the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University in the United States have jointly developed a perovskite quantum emitter with high stability and self-healing ability by a self-developed, simple, and economical procedure—spray-synthesis method. The unprecedented single-photon brightness of these quantum dots is said to break the world-record.

Lin said that in contrast with other quantum emitters, perovskite quantum dots can realize single photon emission at room temperature and have excellent optical properties, such as high quantum yield and high color purity, making them ideal for displays and high-speed computing and communications.

BlueDot Photonics, developer of solutions to improve solar panel performance, has announced that it raised $1 million in its Series Seed financing. The round was led by VoLo Earth Ventures, an early-stage VC investing in the new energy economy through innovative products and technologies.

BlueDot Photonics brought over $1.5M in non-dilutive grants and projects to the table to help the company towards its goal of creating gigaton reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through faster deployment of solar power. BlueDot's quantum-cutting technology can lower the cost of solar power by up to 10% by improving energy yield in solar panels by up to 16%. Long-term, BlueDot is committed to pushing solar panel efficiency and costs beyond the limits of current silicon technology. Other investors include Clean Energy Venture Group (CEVG) of Boston, MA, who helped with investment syndication, and E8 of Seattle, WA.

Researchers at McGill University have gained new insight into the inner workings of perovskites, especially their ability to function even despite the existence of defects in the materials' crystal structure.

"Historically, people have been using bulk semiconductors that are perfect crystals. And now, all of a sudden, this imperfect, soft crystal starts to work for semiconductor applications, from photovoltaics to LEDs," explains senior author Patanjali Kambhampati, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at McGill. "That's the starting point for our research: how can something that's defective work in a perfect way?"

The following is a sponsored post by TCI

Tokyo Chemical Industry Company Limited (TCI) is now offering new hole selective self-assembled monolayer (SAM) forming agents, 2PACz [C3663], MeO-2PACz [D5798] and Me-4PACz [M3359] for high performance perovskite solar cells and OPVs.

The new materials enable efficient, versatile and stable p-i-n perovskite solar cell devices. These materials are useful for tandem solar cells as they grant conformal coverage on rough textures. In fact, a perovskite solar cell that uses the SAM hole transport layer can realize more than 20% efficiency without using dopants or additives. Perovskite-Silicon tandem solar cells that use Me-4PACz as a hole contact material realized 29.15% efficiency. Costs are lowered thanks to extremely low material consumption, and the processing is very simple and scalable.

Semiconductors that can exploit the omnipresent visible spectrum of light for different technological applications are highly sought after, but such semiconductors are often dexpensive and toxic. A group of scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology and Kyushu University have collaborated to develop a low-cost and non-toxic narrow-gap semiconductor material with potential 'light-based' or photofunctional applications.

Tin-containing oxide semiconductors are cheaper than most semiconductor materials, but their photofunctional applications are constrained by a wide optical band gap. The team of scientists, led by Dr. Kazuhiko Maeda, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Tokyo Institute of Technology, developed a perovskite-based semiconductor material that is free of toxic lead and can absorb a wide range of visible light.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have found that storing perovskite precursor solutions at low temperatures extends their operational lifetime from under a month to over four months.

Understanding how to make perovskite solutions more durable and reliable could potentially make the manufacture of perovskite solar cells more efficient, as the process would require fewer batches of more stable material to be produced, saving time, reducing material waste and also allowing device yield and efficiency to be optimized.