Lycopene from Tomatoes can increase the stability of perovskite solar cells

The most common solar cells are silicon-based, but there is a new generation of solar cells made from thin films of perovskite, which is a titanium and calcium crystal, promises much greater efficiencies. However, the perovskites degrade far more quickly than silicon-based cells, so various chemical additives are being tried to improve the stability. Donglei Zhou from the Jilin University, China, looked at  natural, healthy, and low-cost additives that could not only reduce the trap sites but also drastically improve stability. In this work, the natural antioxidant additive lycopene extracted from tomatoes was introduced into PSCs. The results indicate that lycopene can passivate the grain boundaries, improve the crystallinity, reduce trap density, and facilitate the α phase formation of perovskite at room temperature. As a result, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) is considerably improved . Additionally, lycopene can eliminate the UV-induced free radicals in the light aging process. The target device displays the enhanced hydrophobic, antioxidative properties and this paves the way for the development of environmentally friendly PSCs with high efficiency and stability, on the path toward industrialization.



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