A simple industrial chemical acting as molecular “superglue” has helped Chinese researchers achieve record-breaking efficiency in large-scale, printable solar panels. The innovation addresses one of the final hurdles blocking perovskite solar technology from moving out of labs and onto rooftops worldwide.
Scientists from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have developed a technique using tetramethylammonium chloride (TMACL) – an inexpensive industrial chemical – to dramatically improve how perovskite solar cells are manufactured. Their breakthrough, published in the journal Joule, delivers extraordinary performance in solar panels made entirely through techniques compatible with mass production.
The Sticky Problem with Promising Solar Technology
Perovskite solar cells have tantalized scientists for years with their potential to deliver high-efficiency solar power at a fraction of silicon’s manufacturing cost. But moving from small, lab-made samples to commercial-scale production has proven extraordinarily challenging.
Why? Think of building a solar panel like constructing a multi-layer sandwich. In traditional manufacturing, the “ingredients” tend to clump together unevenly during application, creating tiny holes and imperfections at crucial layer boundaries. These microscopic flaws dramatically reduce efficiency and durability.
How does the molecular glue work?
The research team, led by Professors Dong Yang and Shengzhong Liu, discovered that adding TMACL to the manufacturing process performs two critical functions:
- It acts as a stabilizing agent, preventing nanoparticles from clumping together during the blade-coating process
- It forms chemical bonds between layers, essentially “gluing” them together at the molecular level
- It reduces interference between layers by smoothing surfaces (32% reduction in roughness)
- It decreases interfacial defects by 40%, allowing more efficient electricity extraction
“Our study lowers the barriers to large-scale manufacturing and paves the way for the commercial deployment of high-performance perovskite solar technologies,” said Professor Liu from the Dalian Institute.
Breaking Records with Blade Coating
What makes this discovery particularly significant is that the researchers achieved their results using “blade coating” – a manufacturing method comparable to using a squeegee to spread ink across a screen. Unlike spin-coating techniques typically used in laboratories, blade coating can be scaled up for continuous, assembly-line production.
Using this approach, the team achieved 22.76% efficiency in a perovskite module with an aperture area of 57.20 cm² (about the size of a small tablet). This efficiency was independently certified at 21.60% – setting a new record for blade-coated perovskite modules.
How efficient is that? For context, most commercial silicon solar panels operate at 18-22% efficiency, but require energy-intensive manufacturing processes with temperatures exceeding 1000°C.
Durability Steps Forward
Perhaps most impressive was the durability improvement. Perovskite solar cells have historically struggled with stability – degrading quickly when exposed to moisture, heat, or sunlight.
The unencapsulated devices in this study retained 93.25% of their initial efficiency after 1,500 hours of operation under ambient conditions – significantly outperforming conventional methods. This represents another crucial step toward commercial viability.
Flexible Solar Gets a Boost
The molecular glue approach also showed impressive results with flexible solar cells – critical for applications like vehicle integration, portable power, and wearable electronics.
The technology achieved over 20% efficiency in flexible modules of the same size, which maintained 95.3% of initial performance after 500 bending cycles. This combination of efficiency and mechanical durability opens new possibilities for solar integration into curved surfaces and movable applications.
Will This Finally Make Perovskite Commercial?
Perovskite solar technology has progressed remarkably over the past decade, with laboratory efficiency climbing from 19.3% in 2014 to 26.7% in 2024. But the leap from lab to marketplace requires manufacturing solutions like this one.
What makes this approach particularly promising for commercialization?
- TMACL costs just one-tenth of conventional interface modification materials
- It eliminates need for extra processing steps
- The blade-coating technique allows continuous production of meter-scale films
- Material utilization rates exceed 90% (versus roughly 10% for spin-coating)
- Energy consumption is reduced by approximately 50%
This research represents another significant step toward commercially viable perovskite solar technology. The combination of record-setting efficiency, improved durability, manufacturing compatibility, and low-cost materials addresses several critical barriers simultaneously.
As solar adoption accelerates worldwide, innovations like this “molecular glue” bring us closer to a future where high-efficiency, flexible solar panels can be manufactured at a fraction of today’s cost and environmental impact – potentially transforming how and where we generate clean energy.
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