Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SPIKE (Engineering Water Repellent Coatings by Functional Nano-Sponges: a Springboard to Stable Perovskite Devices (SPIKE))
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-06-30
SolarPower Europe's annual Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2024-2028 envisage a total solar capacity rise to 2 TW by the end of the year. Within this context, new generation solar technologies are climbing up offering new solutions at a minor cost with respect to commercial ones and with a reduced environmental footprint. Emerging hybrid (organic and inorganic) semiconductors have recently made a tremendous breakthrough, leading the innovative solar scenario, thanks to their technological advantages such as flexibility, low material cost, simple scalable processing, and improved sustainability. Hybrid Perovskites (HP) solar technology is a key example, attracting a tremendous interest among European stakeholders and industrial players in solar field. However, this technology lacks durability, being vulnerable to the undesired degradation induced by moisture and oxygen which is responsible of the loss of device integrity, hindering its commercial uptake. Development of innovative solar encapsulation is therefore key to provide excellent durability to new generation technologies, shortening their path to the market. Among them, perovskite solar market is witnessing a significant growth in the next five years with a projected value of $3.9 billion by 2028. Current encapsulation technologies are not ideal for perovskites, involving high energy consuming and high temperature processing which are not suitable for sensitive materials, such as hybrid perovskite solar cells. SPIKE aimed at developing an innovative hydrophobic coating made of functional nano-sponges as a barrier for water and humidity penetration that combines low-cost, reduced thickness, with high transparency and low temperature, solution-based processing, to be used on perovskite solar devices. The main project activity embraces chemical material engineering, at one side, and process scaling up, essential to catapult the product developed from “lab to fab”. SPIKE results are expected to have in the near future a tremendous industrial impact offering a solution for perovskite solar cell stability, with implication also on other perovskite-based optoelectronic applications.
Importantly, the results of the project have been communicated to scientific and general audience, increasing the awareness and the consciousness of the society on the importance of new sustainable solar energy technologies to fulfill the diverse modern needs for energy powering, with an important impact on the society. In addition, with the project my team and I have established new collaborations with companies interested in the field exposing our result to the eye of potential investors.
Importantly, the results of the project have been communicated to scientific and general audience, increasing the awareness and the consciousness of the society on the importance of new sustainable solar energy technologies to fulfill the diverse modern needs for energy powering, with an important impact on the society. In addition, with the project my team and I have established new collaborations with companies interested in the field exposing our result to the eye of potential investors.
The work performed, in agreement with the actions set in the Grant Agreement, involves three main steps. Activity 1 included the technology validation according to the following steps: 1. chemical engineering of the nano-sponges based on using porous metal organic framework MOF (such as ZIF8) and the realization of a protocol to incorporate them into different polymeric matrix (such as PVDF, TPU or POE) at room temperature conditions. As output, my team and I have developed both ZIF8 MOF and a fluorinated-modified version of ZIF8 nanoparticles in form of powder, which, through re-dissolution, we dispersed in the polymeric host, forming a thin film coating. Material and thin film optical, structural and morphological properties have been evaluated, simultaneously testing the water barrier properties. 2. Process engineering through the optimization of the encapsulation method using an industrial laminator. As output, my team and I have optimized the deposition protocol using low temperature (maximum 140 C) obtaining homogeneous coatings over 10 cm2 scale. 3. validation of the new encapsulant testing the perovskite solar cell durability (surpassing the IEC 61215 standards for a stable solar cell). As output, we tested our product on high efficient perovskite solar cells (around 100 devices tests to push the statistics). Results show a minimal loss in the device performances (less than 10%) upon 60 days of test, surpassing the test. A publication is submitted. Activity 2 focused on the realization of a complete business analysis for the market penetration of the technology. For this, I have benefited from a collaboration with a investor company which assisted me in defining the business model, market segments identification, maps of competitors, cost analysis. As output, a power point presentation has been realized containing all the analysis done. Activity 3 aimed at creating a proper Business Plans model and go-to-market strategies for the potential foundation of a spin-off. As outcome, I have developed, with the assistance of the Strategy Board, a full Business model identifying the go-to-market strategy. As a general Outcome of the action, I initiated a discussion with an Italian company leader in the encapsulation segment interested in supporting the spin-off with a dedicated program of seed fundings which I will apply in the next month.
The overall market of perovskite solar cells has been rising at an elevated pace in the last ten years, both in the industrial and in the academic fields. Our innovative coating could significantly impact this market, enabling products with lower price and/or better performance, providing adequate durability and protection against corrosion and delamination. We expect our technique to be readily applicable not only in scientific and research areas (which include labs working on perovskite solar cells), but also in industrial sectors – there is a vast number of companies flourishing in Europe, USA and Asia on perovskite solar cells which can benefit from our technology. I have developed contacts with industrial leaders in the field who provided me very positive feedback on the technology. As a follow up, indeed, I started a new collaboration with ENI company on this topic. As a second benefit, the spread of our device will boost scientific discoveries due to its unrivalled performances, thus enabling a better understanding of basic degradation processes of new generation PVs devices. Finally, the establishment of an innovative start-up company in northern Italy for the development and commercialization of our technology will provide an economic benefit, as it will contribute to the growth of the economy of the region. Further work on spin off creation would be necessary to enable the take-off of SPIKE results in a timely manner.