Protective Role of Oxides on Pb-Free Halide Perovskite Surfaces: Interfacial Effects and Excitonic Optical Properties from First-Principles
Maurizia Palummo, Costanza Borghesi, Azusa Muraoka, Suraya Shaban, Shuzi Hayase, Daniele Varsano, Koichi Yamashita, Giacomo Giorgi · 2026
Read Protective Role of Oxides on Pb-Free Halide Perovskite Surfaces: Interfacial Effects and Excitonic Optical Properties from First-Principles by Maurizia Palummo, Costanza Borghesi, Azusa Muraoka, Suraya Shaban, Shuzi Hayase, Daniele Varsano, Koichi Yamashita, Giacomo Giorgi (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13288393.txt.
Description
Maurizia Palummo and co-authors model a protective oxide skin for lead-free solar materials, in a 2026 study. Halide perovskites promise cheap solar cells, but the best versions contain toxic lead. Tin and germanium versions avoid lead yet degrade quickly. The team used first-principles calculations to test a germanium oxide coating on a mixed tin-germanium perovskite. They asked whether the coating could protect the surface without spoiling light response.
Adding germanium lowered the energy that binds electron pairs, which helps free charges for collection. Model slabs with one quarter germanium were capped with the oxide in several surface arrangements. Band alignment and surface reshaping depended strongly on both mix and surface ending. Some arrangements kept the traits wanted for efficient solar conversion. Models with disordered oxide matched real coatings more closely. The work gives growers specific recipes to try for stable lead-free cells.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Maurizia Palummo, Costanza Borghesi, Azusa Muraoka, Suraya Shaban, Shuzi Hayase, Daniele Varsano, Koichi Yamashita, Giacomo Giorgi |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 43 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |