Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ECOPV (Green solvent recycling for sustainable, eco-friendly perovskite photovoltaics)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-04-01 al 2026-03-31
Perovskite photovoltaics (PSCs) are a promising renewable energy technology, with power conversion efficiency (PCE) approaching that of commercial silicon PV and lower fabrication costs. However, their sustainable development faces three key challenges: dependence on hazardous organic solvents in processing and recycling, low atomic efficiency of existing recycling methods, and environmental risks associated with lead-containing waste. These issues conflict with the EU’s European Green Deal, "Fit for 55" plan, and UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), limiting PSCs’ commercialization potential. The ECOPV project aimed to address these gaps by advancing circularity in PSC technology, with three core objectives: clarify PSC degradation mechanisms to inform recycling design, develop eco-friendly recycling systems to replace hazardous solvents, and verify the performance of high-efficiency recycled PSCs with recovery of key components. The project’s supports EU policy goals related to resource conservation and pollution reduction, while enhancing the Experienced Researcher’s (ER) technical and leadership capabilities in circular renewable energy research.
The project carried out three technical work packages: WP1 (Materials Degradation and Analysis) conducted accelerated degradation tests on high-performance PSCs under controlled humidity, oxygen, and light conditions, using ICP-MS, NMR, XPS, and TRPL to characterize degraded species and identify three main degradation pathways. WP2 (Recycling Degraded Perovskites) developed a water-based recycling system with NaOAc/NaI/H₃PO2 additives, achieving 99.0±0.4wt% atomic recycling efficiency and 99.999312% crystal purity, with DFT calculations validating the Ligand-Modulated Coordination Management (LiMCOM) mechanism. WP3 (Device Fabrication and Characterization) extended recycling to spiro-OMeTAD, gold electrodes, and SnO2-ITO substrates, fabricating recycled PSCs with a champion PCE of 23.4%—retaining 99% of the efficiency of fresh devices (exceeding the 95% target)—and confirming stability across five degradation-recycling cycles. Key outcomes included a first-authored publication in Nature detailing the degradation and recycling system.
The project’s results improved upon the current state of the art in PSC sustainability: ECOPV characterized degradation pathways under multiple common stimuli (humidity, oxygen, light) and their corresponding degraded species, providing clear reference for targeted recycling design. The water-based recycling system developed achieved 99.0±0.4wt% atomic efficiency, which is notably higher than the existing hazardous solvent-based methods, while eliminating the use of toxic organic solvents. Additionally, the project made progress in component recovery by achieving effective recycling of key PSC parts (perovskite, spiro-OMeTAD, gold electrodes, SnO2-ITO substrates), moving beyond the conventional perovskite-only recovery approach. Based on life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis data, these results contribute to reducing PSC module production costs by 30% and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) by 18.8–31.3%, while lowering human toxicity (cancer effects) by 68.8% and resource depletion by 96.6%.