Friday, 10 March 2023

Reducing nonradiative recombination in perovskite solar cells with a porous insulator contact

Reducing Nonradiative Recombination in Perovskite Solar Cells with a Porous Insulator Contact

Reducing Nonradiative Recombination in Perovskite Solar Cells with a Porous Insulator Contact

If you’re interested in advancing the technology of perovskite solar cells, you might be familiar with the problem of nonradiative recombination. This phenomenon reduces the solar cell’s efficiency by causing charge carriers to recombine non-radiatively (without producing light) instead of being extracted into an electrical circuit. But what if there was a solution to reduce nonradiative recombination? That’s where a porous insulator contact comes into play.

Porous Insulator Contact

A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that using a porous insulator contact can significantly reduce nonradiative recombination in perovskite solar cells. This is achieved by introducing a thin layer of insulation material with a large number of pores between the perovskite and the conductive contact layers of the solar cell. The pores help to increase the contact area and promote charge extraction, while the insulation material helps to prevent direct contact between the perovskite and the conductive contact layers.

The researchers tested the idea by incorporating a porous titanium dioxide (TiO2) layer as an insulator contact in perovskite solar cells, and compared the results with cells without the porous layer. They found that the cells with the porous layer exhibited much lower nonradiative recombination rates and higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) than those without.

The team also discovered that the optimal pore size of the TiO2 layer for reducing nonradiative recombination was around 20 nanometers (nm). This size allowed for enough contact between the perovskite and the contact layers without compromising the insulation properties of the layer.

Overall, the findings suggest that a porous insulator contact could be a promising strategy for improving the efficiency of perovskite solar cells by reducing nonradiative recombination. Future research could explore other materials and pore sizes to find even more efficient solutions.



https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-technology-news/reducing-nonradiative-recombination-in-perovskite-solar-cells-with-a-porous-insulator-contact

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