Caffeine Gives Perovskite Solar Cells An Energy Boost, Study Says (ieee.org) 77
UCLA professor Yang Yang's lab chock-full of coffee drinkers spent several years searching for a stability-enhancing additive to turn famously unstable perovskite PV cells into a useful product. Then, on a lark, Yang's graduate student Rui Wang suggested they try adding caffeine to the mix. To the team's surprise, caffeine produced longer lasting and more powerful solar cells. IEEE Spectrum reports: The work, completed with collaborators at Hong Kong-based PV firm Solargiga Energy Holdings and two Chinese universities, appears today in energy research journal Joule. Caffeine's calming effect starts during the creation of perovskite crystals. "Without caffeine, the crystallization process will just take 2 seconds, but with caffeine it will take 1 to 2 minutes," says Yang. The more deliberate growth process yields a perovskite material with larger grains of defect-free crystal. They are more stable mechanically and better at moving the charges created from incoming photons.
Caffeine also stabilizes perovskite PV cells during operation because each caffeine molecule can bind to two lead atoms at the boundaries of the crystal grains. This dual molecular lock ties the grains together and, Yang believes, hinders the movement of ions that threaten to reshape the crystal into a weaker pattern. The lab's best caffeine-treated cell captures incoming light with an efficiency of 19.8 percent, up from 17 percent for untreated cells, and retains 86 percent of its output after operating for 1,300 grueling hours at 85C. That's remarkable endurance compared with that of the lab's untreated cells, whose output plummeted by 40 percent after just 175 hours. Still, Yang says they need materials that hold it together through at least one to two years of accelerated testing to provide confidence that they can pump out power for several decades on a rooftop.
Caffeine also stabilizes perovskite PV cells during operation because each caffeine molecule can bind to two lead atoms at the boundaries of the crystal grains. This dual molecular lock ties the grains together and, Yang believes, hinders the movement of ions that threaten to reshape the crystal into a weaker pattern. The lab's best caffeine-treated cell captures incoming light with an efficiency of 19.8 percent, up from 17 percent for untreated cells, and retains 86 percent of its output after operating for 1,300 grueling hours at 85C. That's remarkable endurance compared with that of the lab's untreated cells, whose output plummeted by 40 percent after just 175 hours. Still, Yang says they need materials that hold it together through at least one to two years of accelerated testing to provide confidence that they can pump out power for several decades on a rooftop.
Re: (Score:2)
Any relation to Ling Ling?
Re: (Score:2)
This is the hold my beer version of science. Or in this case, hold my coffee.
JOLT! (Score:2, Funny)
Next Step: Use JOLT Cola
Ok but (Score:5, Funny)
Sure it gives an initial boost, but what about the crash?
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, that and now they can't sleep at night.
Re: (Score:2)
Solar cells that are awake and working at night are optimal!
Great Start (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
Nice to see alchemy is alive and well.
A very large percentage of chemical innovations are a result of trial-and-error.
Increasingly, this trial-and-error is moving to "in silico" computational chemistry, where the experiments are simulated in software, and only verified with real atoms.
These simulations are highly parallel, and make heavy use of GPUs, often by using AWS compute engines.
Re: (Score:1)
These simulations are highly parallel, and make heavy use of GPUs, often by using AWS compute engines.
So you're saying in addition to all the other evils, Amazon is also holding back chemistry?
Add some nicotine and THC (Score:5, Funny)
When they added THC, the crystals grew even more slowly, capturing incoming light at a 30% efficiency. However, the output dropped to 2% after 45 minutes due to the harsh glare.
Adding nicotine restored the power output to caffeine levels, but made the output jittery.
Scientists still are experimenting with more chemical additives.
Let me rephrase that. (Score:2)
Then, on a lark, Yang's graduate student Rui Wang suggested they try adding caffeine to the mix.
Meaning he was either really: wired on coffee, drunk, high or some combination.
Re: (Score:3)
Meaning he was either really: wired on coffee, drunk, high or some combination.
They had already tried tar
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Automated testing. (Score:3)
Interesting discoveries like this is why I think we should use automated robotic testing to brute force some synthesis and testing problems. It could take years with LOTS of robots working in parallel but I think we could stumble on some excellent advancements for things like PV efficiency.
Cigaretts (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And after that, let the solar panels have sex. Worst case scenario, you've got self-replicating solar panels.
Re: (Score:2)
No. Worst case would be solar panels with strange warts or maybe even a fungus.
Re:Now thats (Score:2)
Bacon extract? (Score:5, Funny)
Next step should be to apply bacon extract. After all, everything is better with bacon.
Re: (Score:2)
Good idea. Also: butter + garlic.
Yeah right... (Score:3)
Translation: Someone (I'm looking at you Rui Wang..) spilled a cup of coffee on one of the test setups.
Unless these solar cells are REALLY cheap... (Score:2)
I don't think anyone's interested in a setup that starts breaking down noticeably after 2 months.
Re: (Score:2)
And for most commercial panels right now, that's nothing spectacular.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh! An AC called me a moron!
What EVER shall I do?
*Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*
Re: (Score:2)
That's 85 Celsius which equals 185 degrees Fahrenheit.
There's nowhere on earth with that weather.
Yang Yang? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Imagine how much trouble this guy had getting a driver's licence:
First name: Yang
Last name: Yang
What?
No. Yang.
Yang what?
He's my brother.
Who?
He's my other brother.
Sigh.
Re: (Score:2)
Imagine how much trouble this guy had getting a driver's licence:
First name: Yang Last name: Yang What? No. Yang. Yang what? He's my brother. Who? He's my other brother. Sigh.
A latter day "Who's on first" skit
Likely Room For Further Improvement (Score:2)
Slim odds that caffeine just happens to be the best chemical for slowing crystal formation.
I'm optimistic that further research will lead to further improvement.
Solar will soon rule (Score:2)
Solar is already at a tipping point. The cost of the installation and the power output have reached a point where most people would consider the payoff time reasonable. I think the big inhibitor at this point is battery technology, but we're seeing real, continual improvement on that also.
Like computers from the mid 90s to about 2010, we're about to see a period where the buyers will be asking, "Do I buy a system now, or hold off a month for a better model?" California politicians passed a law requiring