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On-device lead-absorbing tapes for sustainable perovskite solar cells

Nature Sustainability volume 4, pages 1038–1041 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Perovskite solar cells are an emerging technology that could accelerate the energy transition to a sustainable future. However, the presence of toxic but inevitable lead poses environmental and health risks. Here we introduce on-device layers that could capture over 99.9% of leaked lead without compromising performance and operation.

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Fig. 1: Pb-absorbing tape fabrication and device integration.
Fig. 2: Pb leakage tests.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based on work supported by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technology Office (SETO) award number DE-EE0008989. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the US Department of Energy or the United States Government. Metal analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Quantitative Bio-element Imaging Center supported by NASA Ames Research Center grant NNA04CC36G. F.Z., J.T. and K.Z. also acknowledge the partial support of this work by the US Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC36-08GO28308 with Alliance for Sustainable Energy, Limited Liability Company (LLC), the Manager and Operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Xun Li, Fei Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Xun Li, Jianxin Wang & Tao Xu

  2. Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA

    Fei Zhang, Jinhui Tong & Kai Zhu

Authors
  1. Xun Li
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  2. Fei Zhang
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  3. Jianxin Wang
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  4. Jinhui Tong
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  5. Tao Xu
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  6. Kai Zhu
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Contributions

T.X. and K.Z. designed and supervised the research. X.L., with assistance from J.W., prepared the Pb-absorbing materials and conducted the Pb leaking and capture characterization. F.Z. and J.T. fabricated and characterized the perovskite thin films and devices. All authors discussed the results and contributed to manuscript preparation.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tao Xu or Kai Zhu.

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Competing interests

T.X and K.Z. declare that an application has been made for a provisional patent (US patent application number 63/227,462) related to the subject matter of this manuscript. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Sustainability thanks Hyun Suk Jun, Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–7 and Methods.

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Li, X., Zhang, F., Wang, J. et al. On-device lead-absorbing tapes for sustainable perovskite solar cells. Nat Sustain 4, 1038–1041 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00789-1

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