We are going to explain what this mineral is and how it contributes to improving efficiency in terms of solar energy, so that you do not have any doubts.
What is perovskite?
It is a mineral composed of calcium and titanium oxide zimbabwe email list Although it may sound like something new, because it is not very well known, the truth is that it was discovered in 1839 in Russia. It owes its name to the Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski, although its discoverer was the German geologist Gustav Rose.
The peculiarity of this mineral is that it has a cubic crystalline structure. The calcium atoms occupy the vertices of the cube, while the titanium is located in the center. Meanwhile, the oxygen atoms are in the centers of the cube's faces.
Perovskite -based materials have remarkable optical and electronic properties. They demonstrate a very good capacity to absorb light, and also excel in terms of charge mobility and photoluminescence. In fact, they can tolerate a certain number of defects in their structure without this significantly affecting their performance.
For all these reasons, perovskite is revolutionizing the field of solar cells, as it allows for high energy conversion efficiency and is relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, this material is also used in the manufacture of LED lights, X-ray machines and various electronic devices, because it has excellent semiconductor properties.
Composition of perovskite
Installing solar panels with perovskite cells will soon be a common occurrence. To better understand why this mineral is now so valuable, it is necessary to take a closer look at its composition.
The chemical formula of this mineral is CaTiO3. It has a cubic crystal structure that follows the general formula ABX3.
If you imagine a cube, at each of its corners there is a larger cation, a calcium atom. At the center is a smaller cation, a titanium atom. At the center of each of the cube's faces are anions, oxygen atoms.
