Research team develops nanorods-based perovskite solar module

Research teams from the Universiti Malaysia Pahang and University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Italy, have jointly developed a nanorod-based perovskite solar module.

The team, which published the findings in the July 24, 2015 online edition of ACS Nano, has claimed that it is the world’s first such solar module.

The paper titled Vertical TiO2 Nanorods as a Medium for Stable and High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Modules, says the perovskite solar modules are not only more efficient but also showed remarkable and improved shelf life.

The nanostructuring of the photoelectrode, the researchers say, brings about great improvement in stability compared with those cells without a scaffold layer.

According to the researchers, the nanorod-based solar modules retained their original efficiency values even after 2,500 hours of shelf-life investigation.

At the same time, devices employing a conventional TiO2 nanoparticle material showed nearly 60 percent of original performance, and planar devices employing a compact TiO2 layer showed under 5 percent of original performance. The three types of electron transport layers were measured under similar experimental conditions.

The researchers have determined that the peculiar conformation of nanorods facilitated a stable perovskite phase due to their inherent stability and macroporous nature.

Rajan Jose, the team leader from University Malaysia Pahang is a professor of physics in the Faculty of Industrial Science & Technology and has been working on nanomaterials for energy applications since 2008. He calls the findings a significant milestone in the field of nanotechnology.

According to Rajan, his team has solved a technology bottleneck for large-scale application of the technology by applying “precise laser treatment and via interfacial engineering”.

Ajith Kumar S

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