Korean scientists fished the lithium out of perovskite solar cells — and the cells stopped dying young

Perovskite solar cells are cheap and brilliant and frustratingly short-lived, partly because lithium ions inside them wander off and corrode the works. A Korea Institute of Energy Research team led by Se Jin Ahn, publishing in Advanced Science, used a nickel-oxide catalyst to capture and extract those lithium ions during manufacture — then filtered the catalyst out with them. The resulting cells hit 25.24% efficiency, kept more than 90% of their performance after 500 hours of continuous operation, and held 95% under damp-heat testing at 85°C and 85% humidity — the punishing conditions that usually kill perovskites. Longer-lived perovskites are a missing piece in making the cheapest solar technology also a durable one.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: tech innovation