All-inorganic perovskite solar cells and water vaporization "enemy" as "friends"

introduction

In recent years, inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSC) based on CsPbBr3 have received extensive attention from researchers due to their excellent thermal and chemical stability. The study found that all inorganic CsPbBr3 solar cells can be stable in air environments with relative humidity above 90% compared to organic-inorganic hybrid PSCs. The developed inorganic PSC can only convert solar energy into electrical energy, and can not absorb and utilize other energy such as water vapor in the surrounding environment. Water evaporation is a key process for achieving water circulation, during which large amounts of water vapor energy are released. How to realize the multi-energy integration application of inorganic PSC without increasing the cost of the battery is one of the forefront scientific issues in the field of photovoltaic research, especially to make the PSC device and the water vaporization “enemy” as “friends” to achieve maximum energy. Collecting puzzles.

Summary of results

Recently, Professor Tang Qun Committee of Jinan University (communication author) designed a carbon-free electrode-free all-inorganic PSC device, which uses the carbon electrode to skillfully realize the device to simultaneously capture solar energy and water vapor energy. The basic principle is: in the sunlight, the carbon electrode can extract the photogenerated holes generated by CsPbBr3, and realize the effective separation of electron-hole pairs; in the high-humidity environment, the water electrode effect between the carbon electrode and the water vapor is generated. Additional voltage and current for water vapor induced power generation. By optimizing the energy level structure of the battery and the surface structure of the carbon electrode, the all-inorganic PSC achieves a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 9.43% under standard solar illumination conditions, while a voltage of 0.35 V and a current of 0.45 μA can be obtained at 80% relative humidity. Due to the excellent stability of the inorganic perovskite CsPbBr3, the battery can still maintain very good stability under this humidity, which provides a new idea for the development of multi-energy integrated photovoltaic cells . The related results are published in the magazine "Angewandte Chemie Internatio nal Edition" under the heading "Carbon Electrode Tailored All-Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells To Harvest Solar And Water-Stream Energies".

Graphic introduction

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of structure and charge transfer of an all-inorganic PSC device capable of simultaneously capturing solar and water vapor energy

Figure 2. Morphology of inorganic CsPbBr3 film, photovoltaic performance of all inorganic PSC, and water vapor generation performance

(a) Surface SEM images of CsPbBr3 and (b) carbon electrodes.

(c) SEM cross-section of all inorganic PSC.

(d) JV curve of all inorganic PSC.

(e) Efficiency distribution of all inorganic PSCs.

(f) The water vapor induced voltage signal of the carbon electrode after different plasma treatment times.

(g) The water vapor induced current signal of the carbon electrode after different plasma treatment times.

Figure 3. Power generation and stability of carbon electrodes in different humidity environments

(a) voltage and (b) current versus humidity;

(c) The long-term stability of the voltage and (d) current at RH = 80%.

Figure 4. Stability of an all-inorganic PSC device

(a) UV-visible absorption spectrum of CsPbBr3 film at RH = 80%, and (b) intensity of absorption peak at 515 nm as a function of time.

(c)~(f) Stability of photovoltaic parameters at RH = 80%.