By Prof. Shahzada Ahmad, BCMaterials-Basque center for materials, applications & nanostructures, Leioa, Spain.
Leioa, Spain
Among the next-generation photovoltaic technologies, perovskite solar cells showed an unparalleled power conversion efficiency, on par with other thin-film photovoltaics mature technologies. Currently, over 25.5% light to electricity conversion efficiencies has been measured in the lab, with ample opportunity to push the performance. The success of perovskite solar cells is plagued by their frail stability under long-term operational conditions, which limits its immediate commercialization. Arguably, the power conversion efficiency and reliability are influenced by the quality of the microcrystalline grain, boundary size, and surface properties. In our efforts in improving the reliability, we will demonstrate protocol to engineering the perovskite surface, the use of layered perovskites, and the employment of interfacial materials. For the bilayer perovskites, the crystalline growth condition and orientation of materials are of paramount importance, to slow down the degradation of the perovskite layer in solar cells. Interface engineering-based approaches can diminish the charge accumulation and recombination at the interfaces, which in turn promotes excellent charge extractability and device performance. We will decipher the kinetics of interlayer materials toward their stabilized performances. The use of organic and inorganic semiconductors as charge selective layers will be shown to collect the charge efficiently.
Biography
Shahzada Ahmad is Ikerbasque professor, his scientific interests include materials for energy. From 2012 to 2017 he was program director at Abengoa Research, a corporate research center. His scientific publications list reflects his diverse field of interest in the domain of physical chemistry, and materials science, with a research mission to develop advanced materials for energy application. His work has led to the invitation to speak at many scientific or policy-based conferences, inventor of patents, Chief Editor “Emergent Materials”, editorial board member of journals, European research council consolidator grant awardee, an elected fellow of the European Academies. He is a strong advocate for renewable energy and regularly writes popular science articles for the public at large at the World Economic Forum.