Recent work led by a multidisciplinary team from the University of Surrey and Queen Mary University of London has resulted in advances in solar energy research through the precise control of strain in perovskite materials.

Published in Science Advances, the study titled “Strain relaxation in halide perovskites via 2D/3D perovskite heterojunction formation” presents a novel approach to reducing internal mechanical strain in perovskite films, new materials for next-generation solar cells.

The research team demonstrated that by forming two-dimensional (2D) perovskite layers on top of the conventional three-dimensional (3D) structure, it is possible to release built-up tensile strain in a controlled manner, improving both the structural integrity and optoelectronic performance of the material. This breakthrough allowed the researchers to further boost the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells while improving their long-term stability, marking an important step forward in the development of low-cost, high-efficiency renewable energy technologies for real-world application.

Congratulations to Dr Dongtao Liu (first author), and the wider multidisciplinary research team, including the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London, the University of Surrey and the University of Cambridge.