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Research Team under Physics Professor William Jo Develops Next-generation Perovskite Solar Cells

  • 작성처
  • Date2024.08.12
  • 26784

Research Team under Physics Professor William Jo Develops Next-generation Perovskite Solar Cells


The research team led by Professor William Jo from the Department of Physics at Ewha Womans University as part of the Ewha Frontier 10-10 Project developed a next-generation perovskite solar cell material whose efficiency and stability has been validated after undergoing over 2,000 hours of performance tests. The paper detailing the findings, titled “Autonomous control of ion migration at α-FAPbI3 heterointerfaces via interfacial-self-assembled 2D perovskite,” was published online on August 4 (Sun.), in Advanced Energy Materials (IF 24.4, top 2.6 percent in the energy and fuels category percent), a world-renowned energy and fuels journal.

Professor William Jo, who is also the Director of the New and Renewable Energy Research Center and the corresponding author of the study, leads the Frontier 10-10 Project at the Department of Physics alongside Ph.D. candidate Jihyun Kim (first author). Together, the team introduced a process that incorporates ammonium ions into next-generation perovskite solar cells for the first time in the world, successfully achieving high efficiency and stability through the formation of a two-dimensional perovskite. The solar cells developed by the research team achieved a maximum efficiency of 24.38 percent and retained 92 percent of their initial performance for over 2,000 hours. It passed the longest test in Korea, lasting over twice as long as conventional solar cell performance tests, and achieved one of the highest results for efficiency and stability in the country.


This globally unprecedented feat was achieved by the Ewha research team by introducing a process of adding ammonium ions (NH4+) to tin oxide (SnO2) used in the conventional electron transport layer of perovskite solar cells, thereby preventing charge imbalance within the perovskite thin film and mitigating the decrease in charge extraction capabilities at the interface adjacent to the electron transport layer. The reaction of ammonium ions with tin oxide addresses the defect where ions within the perovskite thin film are adsorbed onto the electron transport layer, thereby improving the efficiency and stability of the cell. Additionally, by utilizing the phenomenon of mutual exchange among cations with low migration barriers, the team induced the self-formation of a two-dimensional perovskite material. This material not only reduced the interface defects in the perovskite but also enhanced device performance by maintaining uniform charge distribution. The research team observed a significant improvement in the charge transport capability of the solar cell, achieving an efficiency of 24.38 percent with a charge rate of 84 percent, while maintaining 91.87 percent of the initial performance stably over 2,070 hours.

The research achievements of Professor Jo’s team are credited with advancing the development of next-generation solar cells, which is essential for achieving carbon neutrality, by offering new insights and perspectives into the correlation between migration barriers and charge distribution uniformity. Moreover, these achievements are expected to facilitate the introduction of the world’s first process for adding ammonium ions to next-generation solar cell materials, thereby addressing carbon neutrality and energy challenges through improved charge distribution control.


This research was conducted through collaborative efforts between the Ewha Frontier 10-10 Project at the Department of Physics, Professor Ji-Sang Park from the Department of Nano Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, and Dr. Gee Yeong Kim from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea, including the Priority Research Institute Program, Mid-Career Researcher Program, and Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Change.