Environmental lead exposure from halide perovskites in solar cells

Ponti, Corinna; Nasti, Giuseppe; Girolamo, Diego Di; Cantone, Irene; Alharthi, Fahad A.; Abate, Antonio

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2022.01.002

Cited by 43 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…10 Despite the remarkable performance of Pb-based halide perovskites, the materials' stability under ambient conditions and the environmental concerns raised over the presence of Pb remain active challenges toward their large-scale application and commercialization. [11][12][13][14][15] Various strategies are developed to overcome these hindrances. By device or module encapsulation, the halide perovskite materials can be indeed nicely protected from exposure to moisture, UV light, heating, or air, thus mitigating the fast degradation for their long-lasting purpose.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pb-free halide perovskites for solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and photocatalysts

et al. 2022

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Metal halide perovskites have recently emerged as one of the most promising classes of semiconductors for various applications, especially in the field of optoelectronics. Lead-based halide perovskite materials, virtually unexploited for decades, have become prominent candidates due to their unique and intrinsic physicochemical and optical properties. Current challenges faced by the scientific community to capitalize on the properties of Pb-based perovskites are mainly associated with environmental concerns due to the toxicity of Pb and their poor stability. Under this context, over recent years, a number of new Pb-free halide perovskite (and perovskite-like) semiconductor classes have been introduced. This Perspective reviews recent developments in Pb-free halide perovskites, which specifically target their application in solar cells, light-emitting devices, and photocatalysts. Each type of Pb-free material is paired with a specific optoelectronic application, and the latest record performances are reported. Although these materials do not yet exhibit as attractive intrinsic optoelectronic properties as the Pb-based halide perovskites, their potential as alternatives for well-suited applications is discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pb-free halide perovskites for solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and photocatalysts

et al. 2022

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“…Alas, the environmental toxicity of lead-based compounds and the performance and stability of lead halide PSCs (Pb-HPSCs) still represent massive limitations toward commercialising this technology. Lead is a well-known toxic heavy metal, historically connected to numerous diseases in kids and adults, thus, the exposure to Pb-HPSCs would pose safety concerns if used on a large scale 2 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Challenges and strategies toward long-term stability of lead-free tin-based perovskite solar cells

et al. 2022

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Due to their outstanding optoelectronic properties, lead-based halide perovskite materials have been applied as efficient photoactive materials in solution-processed solar cells. Current record efficiencies offer the promise to surpass those of silicon solar cells. However, uncertainty about the potential toxicity of lead-based halide perovskite materials and their facile dissolution in water requires a search for new alternative perovskite-like materials. Thanks to the foresight of scientists and their experience in lead-based halide perovskite preparation, remarkable results have been obtained in a short period of time using lead-free perovskite compositions. However, the lower solar-to-energy conversion efficiency and long-term stability issues are serious drawbacks that hinder the potential progression of these materials. Here, we review and analyse strategies in the literature and the most promising solutions to identify the factors that limit the power conversion efficiency and long-term stability of lead-free tin-based perovskite solar cells. In the light of the current state-of-the-art, we offer perspectives for further developing these promising materials.

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“…Advocates of “potentially toxic element” have raised issues of perception of hazard, for instance, “ Eventually, the pejorative connotation of “heavy” associated with the toxicity of metal induces a kind of fear in society ”, a consequence of which is “ Eventually, one should continue to educate people to avoid the term “heavy metals”, especially in non-peer-reviewed regulations or governments’ research reports ” . No evidence was given to demonstrate that heavy metal does have a pejorative, that is, disparaging, connotation that induces “a kind of fear” in the public or why “potentially toxic element” will assist members of government or the public to understand that “potentially toxic”, for example, for Pb, instead means “one of the most toxic elements in existence” . In effect, the implication is that scientists should be mindful to not scare anyone about the very serious global problem of contamination of air, water, soils/sediments, and biota with highly toxic metals such as Cd and Pb.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The World Health Organization, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the European Environment Agency, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China all refer to Cd and Pb and a small number of other metals/ metalloids as toxic, because they are toxic at low doses. Pb specifically has been described as "one of the most toxic elements in existence", 12 presenting an impending global health crisis due to increasing levels of environmental Pb and concomitantly no safe level of Pb exposure. 13 Cd is one of a relatively elite and small number of items on the list of known carcinogens, as classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…7 No evidence was given to demonstrate that heavy metal does have a pejorative, that is, disparaging, connotation that induces "a kind of fear" in the public or why "potentially toxic element" will assist members of government or the public to understand that "potentially toxic", for example, for Pb, instead means "one of the most toxic elements in existence". 12 In effect, the implication is that scientists should be mindful to not scare anyone about the very serious global problem of contamination of air, water, soils/sediments, and biota with highly toxic metals such as Cd and Pb. Issues with such mitigatory language include risk compensation, whereby the perception of safety may result in riskier behavior and/or co-opting of message 16 by polluters, much as messages around climate change have been muddled.…”

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confidence: 99%

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