FURI | Spring 2025

From Lab to Industry: Starch as a Green Stabilizer for Cost-Effective Perovskite Solar Cells

This research explores the use of food-based additives, such as starch, to enhance the stability and scalability of perovskite solar cells. Perovskites are promising materials for next-generation solar technology due to their high efficiency and low production costs, but their instability limits widespread adoption. The selected perovskite composition, formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3), exhibits excellent stability but poses significant challenges in processing due to phase instability. The introduction of starch facilitates the conversion of the perovskite lattice to its desirable α-phase. To achieve large-area fabrication, the study employs the blade coating method, a scalable and cost-effective deposition technique. Optimizing this approach aims to develop a commercially viable low-cost solution for improving the performance and manufacturability of perovskite-based solar technology.