Assessment of soil impacts from lead release by lead-halide perovskite solar cells based on outdoor leaching tests
EES Solar Royal Society of Chemistry (2025)
Abstract:
Perovskite solar cells represent a promising technology in the photovoltaic industry due to their high power conversion efficiency, potential for cost-effective manufacturing and versatile applications. The most stable and efficient perovskites to date rely on lead (Pb), raising concerns about leaching into the environment; however Pb release so far has only been quantified under laboratory conditions, and no field-based assessment under real outdoor expsosure has yet evaluated this risk. The present study quantified Pb leaching from various metal-halide perovskite compositions, device stacks and encapsulation approaches in a rooftop installation for up to 9 months. Pb leaching was low across all tested configurations, even in intentionally damaged materials. Glass–glass encapsulated tandem devices shattered by hail and plastic-encapsulated samples damaged by 100 µm pinholes released only 0.07% ± 0.01% and 0.15% ± 0.14% of their initial Pb, respectively, likely due to the slow diffusion of Pb cations in water. The highest leaching (4.81% ± 0.02%) occurred in unlaminated laboratory devices, demonstrating the importance of proper lamination. A self-developed freeware web tool was used to calculate predicted soil concentrations and evaluate potential impacts. Even for unlaminated devices, concentrations would only slightly exceed natural background levels (5.6 mg kg−1 increase), with negligible effects on soil fertility. A hypothetical worst-case scenario assuming a 1000 nm thick perovskite layer and complete Pb leaching onto a narrow strip of soil predicted a negative impact on soil fertility; however remediation would still not be required under Swiss environmental regulations. Overall, current industry-standard encapsulation limits Pb leaching to levels that almost completely mitigate negative impacts on soil health.CsPbBr<sub>3</sub> perovskite nanoplatelets capped with inorganic ligands for stable deep blue emission
iScience Cell Press 28:12 (2025) 114078
Abstract:
All-inorganic halide perovskite materials have attracted significant interest for display applications because of their narrow bandwidths and high photoluminescence quantum yields. However, the development of blue-light-emitting perovskite materials has been slower than that of green- and red-light-emitting perovskites. In this study, we successfully produced single-halide CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets with a quantum confinement effect using ligand-assisted reprecipitation techniques. NaBr, an inorganic ligand with strong binding affinity (adsorption energy, -2.13 eV) and low steric hindrance, was used to prevent the continued growth of nanoplatelets. A series of experimental results demonstrate that CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets with a dense Na+ shell on the surface exhibit stable deep blue emission. UV chip-based light-emitting devices activated by these nanoplatelets demonstrated remarkable spectral stability as the current injection increased. Moreover, the synthesis process is conducted under simple conditions at room temperature, demonstrating potential for batch production.Ligand Engineering for Precise Control of Strongly-Confined CsPbI3 Nanoplatelet Superlattices for Efficient Light-Emitting Diodes
(2025)
Solvent-additive cascade engineering enables single-oriented perovskite films with facet-driven performance and stability
Energy & Environmental Science Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (2025)
Abstract:
<jats:p>This study pioneers a solvent-additive cascade strategy to achieve crystallographically homogenous perovskite films, breaking the efficiency–stability trade-off by harnessing facet-dependent properties for record performance.</jats:p>Functional Additive Incorporation Enhances the Performance of Semi-Transparent Perovskite Solar Cells
ACS Energy Letters (2025)