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Title: Selective dissolution of halide perovskites as a step towards recycling solar cells

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11735· OSTI ID:1257066
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Sungkyunkwan Univ., Suwon (Korea)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Most research on perovskite solar cells has focused on improving power-conversion efficiency and stability. However, if one could refurbish perovskite solar cells, their stability might not be a critical issue. From the perspective of cost effectiveness, if failed, perovskite solar cells could be collected and recycled; reuse of their gold electrodes and transparent conducting glasses could reduce the price per watt of perovskite photovoltaic modules. Here, we present a simple and effective method for removing the perovskite layer and reusing the mesoporous TiO2-coated transparent conducting glass substrate via selective dissolution. We find that the perovskite layer can be easily decomposed in polar aprotic solvents because of the reaction between polar aprotic solvents and Pb2+ cations. After 10 cycles of recycling, a mesoporous TiO2-coated transparent conducting glass substrate-based perovskite solar cell still shows a constant power-conversion efficiency, thereby demonstrating the possibility of recycling perovskite solar cells.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1257066
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5900-66604
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 7; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 107 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Solution‐Processable Perovskite Solar Cells toward Commercialization: Progress and Challenges journal April 2019
Decreased Synthesis Costs and Waste Product Toxicity for Lead Sulfide Quantum Dot Ink Photovoltaics journal July 2019
Recycled Utilization of a Nanoporous Au Electrode for Reduced Fabrication Cost of Perovskite Solar Cells journal March 2020
Addressing Toxicity of Lead: Progress and Applications of Low-Toxic Metal Halide Perovskites and Their Derivatives journal March 2017
Metal-Nanowire-Electrode-Based Perovskite Solar Cells: Challenging Issues and New Opportunities journal April 2017
Lead‐Free Cs 3 Bi 2 Br 9 Perovskite as Photocatalyst for Ring‐Opening Reactions of Epoxides journal May 2019
Perovskite Solar Fibers: Current Status, Issues and Challenges journal October 2019
Role of spiro-OMeTAD in performance deterioration of perovskite solar cells at high temperature and reuse of the perovskite films to avoid Pb-waste journal January 2018
Evaluation of multiple cation/anion perovskite solar cells through life cycle assessment journal January 2018
Recent progressive efforts in perovskite solar cells toward commercialization journal January 2018
Enhanced performance and stability of p–i–n perovskite solar cells by utilizing an AIE-active cathode interlayer journal January 2019
Controlled synthesis and photostability of blue emitting Cs 3 Bi 2 Br 9 perovskite nanocrystals by employing weak polar solvents at room temperature journal January 2019
Roadmap on halide perovskite and related devices journal January 2020
Perovskites-Based Solar Cells: A Review of Recent Progress, Materials and Processing Methods journal May 2018
The critical issue of using lead for sustainable massive production of perovskite solar cells: a review of relevant literature journal October 2021
The critical issue of using lead for sustainable massive production of perovskite solar cells: a review of relevant literature journal April 2021