Publication date: 28th August 2024
Halide perovskite solar cells have revolutionized the photovoltaic field in the last decade. In a decade of intensive research it has been a huge improvement in the performance of these devices, however, the two main drawbacks of this system, the use of hazardous Pb and the long term stability, still to be open questions that have not been fully addressed. Sn-based perovskite is the most obvious alternative to Pb, producing degradation materials less toxic and presenting the highest performance among the different Pb-free halide perovskites, but presenting a lower stability than their Pb-containing counterparts. In this talk, we highlight how the use of proper additives and light soaking for defect engineering can increase significantly the stability of formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI3) solar cells, and discuss about the different mechanism affecting this stability, beyond the oxidation of Sn2+, and how they can be countered, analyzing specially the light soaking treatment. In addition, we report alternative ways to prepare 2D Sn-perovskite powders, that can be used as precursors for fabrication of Sn-based LEDs or as by themselves to drive photocatalytical reactions. We will discuss on the rational design of halide perovskites containing non-critical raw materials towards photoelectrochemical processes, and the importance of extracting basic electronic and optical information to understand the carrier dynamics to maximize the performance and stability of these materials. Moreover, proper interrogation tools are needed to validate their photo(electro)catalytic activity and selectivity.