Sustainable Pb Management in Perovskite Solar Cells toward Eco‐Friendly Development

Abstract

of human society. Clean and green solar energy could be converted into electric energy through photovoltaic technologies. This can provide a green and sustainable way for energy utilization. [1][2][3] Inorganicorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered to be one of the most promising photovoltaic applications, [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] owing to the favorable properties of perovskite materials, such as tunable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, large bipolar mobility, long carrier diffusion length, small exciton binding energy and high defect tolerance. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSCs has reached 25.7% based on Pb-based perovskites, which has exceeded that of monocrystalline silicon solar cells and exhibited huge a market prospect. [19] However, these perovskite films are prone to be decomposed into the toxic heavy-metal compounds of PbI 2 , Pb, or PbO, etc. because of the uncontrollable environmental condition, including high temperature, high humidity, and strong sunlight. [20,21] The toxicity of Pb leaking from perovskite film has become one of the main obstacles toward commercialization. [22] There have been extensive endeavors to replace Pb with Sn to make the perovskite active layer less toxic, however, Sn-based PSCs demonstrate inferior efficiency and stability compared with their Pb-based counterparts. Thus, the Pb-based perovskites are still indispensable for guaranteeing excellent photoelectric properties and would be the main force of future large-scale applications.The photovoltaic market has been growing rapidly for alleviating energy scarcity and mitigating climate change. The cumulative solar capacity in 2020 reaches ≈773.2 GW around the world. [23] If 20% of this solar capacity is occupied by perovskite solar panels with 500 nm Pb-based perovskite film and ≈20% PCE, 541.24 tons of Pb would be consumed considering ≈0.70 g m −2 of Pb content. [24,25] The widespread deployment of PSCs would provoke a terrible environmental pollution without proper Pb management. World Health Organization (WHO) and many countries have reached a broad consensus on the restriction of the Pb pollution and established strict environmental standards on the Pb usage. Besides, international organizations such as the European Union have also formulated relevant regulations for the management and regulation of waste electrical and electronic equipment, requiring producers to take responsibility for collecting and recycling apparatus waste. [26] Therefore, sustainable Pb management is an essential prerequisite for the commercialization of PSCs. Pb-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) as one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies for commercialization have attracted tremendous attention in recent years. However, the toxicity and leakage of heavy metal Pb from perovskite film have become critical obstacles for eco-friendly development. Extreme weather conditions such as heavy rain, high temperature, or strong sunlight may accelerate the undesired decomp...

Big data driven perovskite solar cell stability analysis

“…Encapsulation has proved to be a simple and effective strategy to improve the external stability of PSCs by preventing the penetration of moisture and oxygen 55 – 57 and to prevent lead leakage 58 , which is a necessary part of commercialization.…”

Lead-free AgBiI4 perovskite artificial synapses for a tactile sensory neuron system with information preprocessing function

“…Since then, a variety of OHPs artificial synapses have been reported 10,[26][27][28][29][30] . In 2020, Pi et al reported an optically stimulated synaptic device based on the hybrid structure of silicon nanomembrane and perovskite, which has great potential in the field of multi-functional and low energy consumption synaptic devices [31][32][33] .However, the toxicity of lead and the intrinsic instability caused by the organic group in OHPs limit the further practical and commercial application of OHPs based artificial synapses in neuromorphic computing. Consequently, it is absolutely necessary to further explore non-or lowtoxicity and stable perovskite material to promote the commercial applications of perovskite artificial synapses 31,[34][35][36] .…”

“…Consequently, it is absolutely necessary to further explore the non-or low-toxicity and stable perovskite material to promote the commercial applications of perovskite artificial synapses. 31,[34][35][36] To solve this problem, large amounts of efforts such as Sn 2+ , Ge 2+ , Bi 3+ and Sb 3+ . [37][38][39][40] have been taken.…”

Ecotoxicity and Sustainability of Emerging Pb‐Based Photovoltaics

“…[ 20 ] With the rapid growth of the PV market, the global cumulative solar capacity reached about 773.2 GW in 2020. [ 21 ] If 1 GW of solar PV capacity using perovskite solar panels with an efficiency of ≈25% containing ≈3.5 tons of lead with a 0.5 μm thick Pb‐based perovskite layer, [ 22,23 ] the total amount of Pb contained in PSCs is ≈541 tons assuming only 20% of 773.2 GW PV market is occupied by perovskite solar panels. [ 21 ] Therefore, a sustainable strategy is an essential prerequisite to handling and disposing of Pb‐based perovskite materials to effectively mitigate the risk of Pb 2+ leakage.…”

“…Furthermore, Pb recycling methods were also developed to mitigate the environmental impacts of PSCs beyond their lifespan. Some recent reviews have provided one or some of the abovementioned aspects in Pb management of PSCs, [ 21,37,38 ] while a comprehensive review of Pb management of emerging Pb PVs is still lacking within the community. As a result, it is important to account for the development and provide insights for the environmental impact assessment, Pb 2+ leakage mitigation, and recycling toward their large‐scale commercialization.…”