Radiation-resistant: Russia creates "space" material for solar panels

The development is planned to be used in conditions of intense solar radiation

Russian scientists have made a breakthrough in the field of solar energy by creating a new material for solar panels with high resistance to radiation. The development is a modified perovskite that can withstand prolonged exposure to harsh radiation.

According to Ivan Zhidkov, Head of the Department of Electrophysics at the Ural Federal University, the efficiency of perovskite solar cells has already exceeded 26 percent. However, their fragility under radiation has hindered the introduction of this technology.

We solved this problem by partially replacing lead cations (Pb2+) in complex halides with calcium, strontium, and barium cations. The replacement of lead was from one to ten percent, since the complete replacement with alkaline earth metal cations leads to the fact that the material becomes practically unsuitable for use as a light absorber in photovoltaic devices.
Pavel Troshin, Head of the complex of laboratories of functional organic and hybrid materials at the Federal Research Center for Chemical Physics and Medicinal Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences

The modification of perovskites led to an improvement in the photostability and radiation resistance of the material.

The best of the developed samples were able to successfully withstand high doses of gamma rays (5.5 million grays) and electron fluxes (30 quadrillion per square centimeter). Such doses, for example, will be received by a spacecraft in 15 years of flight.
Ivan Zhidkov, Head of the Department of Electrophysics at the Ural Federal University

The international research team included specialists from the Ural Federal University, the Federal Research Center for Chemical Physics and Medicinal Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Metal Physics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the University of Tennessee, and the HIT Research Institute in Zhengzhou. The study opens up new opportunities for the use of solar panels in extreme conditions in space or in regions with intense solar radiation.

Earlier, www1.ru reported that a new protection against radiation was invented in Krasnoyarsk.

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