In the findings just published, the researchers have covered the sensitive layer of perovskite with a few atomic
layers of aluminum oxide to protect against degradation caused by humidity.
Using a technique common in the semiconductor industry called atomic layer deposition (ALD), they coated pieces of silver with
layers of aluminum oxide only 1 atom thick.
The addition of a few nanometers of a thin
layer of aluminum oxide protects a perovskite solar cell against humidity — still a major stumbling block to the commercial application of this new type of solar cell.
That porous polymer then serves as a template, which the researchers coats with a thin
layer of aluminum oxide using atomic layer deposition.
Nanostructured, enhanced with silicon oxide, covered with a nanometer - thin
layer of aluminum oxide and cobalt oxide — these treatments optimize the electrochemical properties of the material, but are nonetheless simple to apply.
Not exact matches
To ensure that the coating spread evenly across the cloth, they treated the fabrics with thin
layers of aluminum, titanium or zinc
oxide.
They arranged concentric
layers of silver and
aluminum oxide into a half cylinder and carved tightly spaced lines on the inside.
The fact that the protective
aluminum oxide layer is not incorporated on the outside, as often attempted by other researchers, also makes it possible to apply a broad range
of materials on both sides
of the solar cell and allows the maximum penetration
of light in the perovskite
layer and thereby the optimum utilization
of electrical current.