I used to work on hybrid perovskite for solar cells, during my PhD, a few years ago. The problem with theses materials was their short lifetime (some thousands of hours of sun exposition) and chemical instability, which made them unsuitable for "real life" uses, back then (but suitable to get high impact-factor papers...). Is that still a problem?
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2025
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I've heard there's been some real breakthroughs in perovskite for solar cells in just the last few years. As you said, chemical instability is supposed to be their primary weakness, but my understanding is that progress has been made in finding the perfect chemical makeup for the "sandwiching" materials between layers of perovskite. I'm pretty sure that "perfect" chemical makeup is the proprietary trade secret variety, so I don't really know much more about it.
And admittedly, I've never been in the field of materials science, so you're much more of an expert in this area. But I've been following a lot of green energy news, and I know promising progress is actively being made on perovskite.
Thanks. I have to admit I haven't worked on perovskite since then, so my knowledge is surely very outdated.
Does it matter if there's a ultraviolet and IR filter on it? Is it functionally equivalent to darkness?
No idea. IIRC the problem comes from chemical instability i.e., even when properly encapsulated, the methylammonium just evaporates/decompose and you're left with a nice lead iodide layer. Can't say if it's better now. It's been quite a feew years ago.
Isn't thousands of hours enough for many cameras?
If it's a moving mirror camera* and it's used to take stills it's probably fine, as the sensor is only exposed for a fraction of a second per image.
If you want to film with it or put it in a phone, where it's exposed all the time, it would certainly not be enough.
* I have no clue what they are called in english
Digital single-lens reflex, aka DSLR if that's what you mean by moving mirror
In English they're called reflex cameras. No one makes them now.
If it's a moving mirror camera* and it's used to take stills it's probably fine, as the sensor is only exposed for a fraction of a second per image.
You can say goodbye to live view then
No, the mirror reflects to the view finder untill you press the shutter, then it moves thr mirror to expose the photo sensor and then back.
I mean no more live view via the screen
No idea.
Silicon CCDs have lifetime exposure limits also. Perovskites are delicate and 1000 hours is way less than the millions silicon offer, but its also overkill in a still camera. Lenses wear out faster than silicon tech does.
Yeah, but I'm talking about chemical instability which happens nonetheless, independently on the light you shine on it.
There have been some improvements but their poor stability is still the biggest problem yeah
I had just watched a video about they need lead as well? Is that true?
For many kinds of them, yes, but not literally all
I mean, lead is a very common element and can have many legitimate uses. If we're talking about using some amount of lead in a camera sensor, do understand how tiny camera sensors are. This is likely a very insignificant amount of lead. And it will be fused into this sensor, it's not likely to ever leave the confines of the component's plastic casing, behind a lens, with a phone. That's very different from say, mixing it into gasoline and burning it.
I often see developement in that area. Mostly from this channel. Maybe that impacts it's other uses. https://youtu.be/Lglick8bCPc