The research team includes Dr. Dheeraj K. Singh and Hardik Kagdada from IITRAM and collaborators Prof. Dr. Arnulf Materny (Jacobs University, Germany) and Dr. Shovit Bhattacharya (BARC, India).
Earth’s surface receives a tremendous amount of energy from the Sun in the form of light and heat, which can easily fulfill the hefty demand for electricity. Solar cells, which are the main part of solar panels can directly convert sunlight into electricity. On the other hand, heat which is unavoidable and available everywhere, such as in car engines, industries, and even our body is heating while running, can generate electricity, by creating the temperature difference between ends of material, known as thermoelectric materials. However, the efficiency of heat-to-electricity conversion is quite low, and therefore, researchers and scientists are working effortlessly. In that direction, for the first time, the authors of the present work contributed to unveiling the fundamental understanding of the conversion of heat and sunlight into electricity using two-dimensional (2D) perovskite materials (named 2-(methylthio)ethylamine (MTEA)-based 2D perovskites). Creating the temperature difference between the two ends of perovskite materials (you can see in the Figure attached), generates massive thermoelectric power, which is even higher than other 2D and three-dimensional perovskite materials. Further, the in-depth analysis of solar energy conversion reveals an excellent theoretical efficiency. This work provided a comprehensive understanding of considered 2D perovskite materials at the atomic level and shed a light on the path for high-efficient solar energy and heat-to-electricity conversion devices.
