The Unprecedented Promise of Perovskite Solar Cells for Cheap Renewable Energy

Abstract:
Solution-processed thin-film perovskite solar cells (PSCs), where the record efficiency has rocketed from 3.8% to 22.1% in just 7 years, offer unprecedented promise of low-cost, high-efficiency renewable electricity generation. Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites are at the heart of PSCs, where the reliable deposition of their high-quality thin films over large areas is critically important. Fundamental phenomena pertaining to crystallization, coarsening, and microstructural evolution involved in the solution-processing of perovskite thin films for PSCs will be discussed with specific examples. The overall goal of our research is to have deterministic control over scalable solution-processing of tailored perovskite thin films with desired microstructures for high-efficiency PSCs. Challenges that lay in the path of PSCs deployment will be discussed, together with the opportunities PSCs offer.

Biography:
Nitin P. Padture is the Otis E. Randall University Professor (designate) in the School of Engineering, and Director of the Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, at Brown University. Previously he was the College of Engineering Distinguished Professor and founding Director of the NSF-funded Materials Research Science & Engineering Center at the Ohio State University. Padture’s research and teaching interests are in the broad areas of synthesis/processing, characterization, and properties/performance of advanced ceramics and nanomaterials used in applications ranging from jet engines to computer chips to solar cells. He has published some 180 papers and patents, which have been cited about 12,000 times, and he has presented 190 invited/keynote/plenary talks in the US and abroad. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Padture is the recipient of several awards from professional societies.