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Green energy by recoverable triple-oxide mesostructured perovskite photovoltaics
Edited by Omar M. Yaghi, University of California, Berkeley, CA, and approved October 20, 2020 (received for review June 26, 2020)

Significance
In the progress toward a more sustainable world, wind and solar energy production are the leading renewable contenders. The emerging field of perovskite solar cells has achieved remarkable efficiencies and is gaining a steady foothold among other solar technologies. However, a worldwide deployment of perovskite solar panels poses environmental and economic problems due to degradation over time. The degrading photoactive materials are usually situated between other layers, complicating or inhibiting cell recycling. Here, we investigated a structure for perovskite solar cells composed of chemically and thermally stable oxides which includes the application of the photoactive perovskite material as a final step. This structure allows for the removal and replacement of degraded perovskite, with a full restoration of photovoltaic characteristics.
Abstract
Perovskite solar cells have developed into a promising branch of renewable energy. A combination of feasible manufacturing and renewable modules can offer an attractive advancement to this field. Herein, a screen-printed three-layered all-nanoparticle network was developed as a rigid framework for a perovskite active layer. This matrix enables perovskite to percolate and form a complementary photoactive network. Two porous conductive oxide layers, separated by a porous insulator, serve as a chemically stable substrate for the cells. Cells prepared using this scaffold structure demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 11.08% with a high open-circuit voltage of 0.988 V. Being fully oxidized, the scaffold demonstrated a striking thermal and chemical stability, allowing for the removal of the perovskite while keeping the substrate intact. The application of a new perovskite in lieu of a degraded one exhibited a full regeneration of all photovoltaic performances. Exclusive recycling of the photoactive materials from solar cells paves a path for more sustainable green energy production in the future.
Footnotes
↵1A.S. and A.E. contributed equally to this work.
- ↵2To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: lioz.etgar{at}mail.huji.ac.il.
Author contributions: A.E. and L.E. designed research; A.S., A.E., S.A., and M.S. performed research; A.S., A.E., S.A., M.S., and L.E. analyzed data; and A.S., A.E., and L.E. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no competing interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
This article contains supporting information online at https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.2013242117/-/DCSupplemental.
Data Availability.
All study data are included in the article and SI Appendix.
Published under the PNAS license.
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