Synergistic effect of carotenoid and silicone-based additives for photooxidatively stable organic solar cells with enhanced elasticity.

Photochemical and mechanical stability are critical in the production and application of organic solar cells. While these factors can individually be improved using different additives, there is no example of studies on the combined effects of such additive-assisted stabilization. In this study, the properties of PTB7:[70]PCBM organic solar cells are studied upon implementation of two additives: the carotenoid astaxanthin (AX) for photochemical stability and the silicone polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for improved mechanical properties.

Quantitative Phase-Change Thermodynamics and Metastability of Perovskite-Phase Cesium Lead Iodide.

The perovskite phase of cesium lead iodide (α-CsPbI or "black" phase) possesses favorable optoelectronic properties for photovoltaic applications. However, the stable phase at room temperature is a nonfunctional "yellow" phase (δ-CsPbI). Black-phase polycrystalline thin films are synthesized above 330 °C and rapidly quenched to room temperature, retaining their phase in a metastable state.

High Chloride Doping Levels Stabilize the Perovskite Phase of Cesium Lead Iodide.

Cesium lead iodide possesses an excellent combination of band gap and absorption coefficient for photovoltaic applications in its perovskite phase. However, this is not its equilibrium structure under ambient conditions. In air, at ambient temperature it rapidly transforms to a nonfunctional, so-called yellow phase.