Shaanxi Normal University scientists use a #graphene barrier to promote the stability of perovkite solar cells.

Solar cells with emerging technologies have been growing in popularity. Perovskites, identified first in 2004 are one such technology which shows promise. However, they have been failed at reaching their full potential due to issues associated with the stability of the materials  – humidity in particular deteriorates the performance of such solar cells.

Now scientists from the Shaanxi Normal University show how writing in journal Nanoscale, report how a graphene can provide pervoskites with its much needed barrier functionality, without sacrificing transparency.

More than 90% of pervoskite devices survived a thermal annealing test when coated with graphene, compared with ~60% without it, showing a clear advantage of a CVD graphene coating.

Further information: Air and thermally stable perovskite solar cells with CVD-graphene as the blocking layer, Nanoscale 2017.