Matthew S. Rager

Title: Moving Towards Stable Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cells for use in Low-Earth Orbit

Thursday, August 15, 2019

3:00 PM
in MoSE 1226

Committee Members:

Prof. Zhiqun Lin, Advisor, MSE

Prof. Zhitao Kang, Co-advisor, GTRI

Prof. Jud Ready, Co-advisor, MSE/GTRI

Abstract:

Perovskite solar cells have recently emerged as a new leader in the third-generation of photovoltaics. Additionally, this new technology has the potential for application in several areas, including aerospace. The light-absorbing material in perovskite solar cells is an organometal halide compound with the perovskite structure (ABX₃) where various atoms can be combined and interchanged to tune the optoelectronic properties. Typically, the A site is filled by organic, small- molecule cations (e.g. methylammonium and formamdinium) and/or inorganic atoms (e.g. Cs or Rb), the B site is filled by metal atoms (e.g. Pb²⁺ or Sn²⁺), and halide anions (e.g. I^- and Br⁺) fill the X site. In this study, I fabricated organic-inorganic (MAPbI₃ and Cs_0.05(MA_0.17FA_0.83)Pb(I_0.83Br_0.17)₃ and all-inorganic (CsPbBr₃) perovskite solar cells with to improve the efficiency and stability with the goal of studying operation in low-Earth orbit environment. The harsh environment of space requires materials with good thermal stability due to large variations in temperature. The organic-inorganic solar cells are more efficient than all-inorganic, but the organic cation places limitations on the thermal stability of the material. Thus, all-inorganic perovskite solar cells (e.g. CsPbBr₃) were fabricated and studied as the best candidates to survive the extreme conditions in low-Earth orbit.