Publication date: 23rd October 2020
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have a tremendous potential to become a successful technology for generation of renewable energy at low cost to prevent combustion of traditional fossil fuels suchas oil and gas. However, a considerable restriction for PSCs commercialization is related to the health hazards of precursor materials used in PSCs manufacturing. While the main hazard is commonly ascribed to the lead compounds, the topic is hugely debatable and controversial in the scientific community, so a systematic study is needed for evaluating the real toxicity risks associated with the development of the perovskite photovoltaics technology.
Herein, we performed a comparative study for the following panel of materials: lead iodide (PbI2), tin iodide (SnI2), cesium iodide (CsI), methylammonium iodide (MAI), bismuth iodide (BiI3) and formamidinium iodide (FAI), to identify and compare parameters spread in toxicity assessment.
Firstly, we revealed a comparable in vitro toxicity of PbI2 and SnI2, which suggests that replacing lead with tin is not solving the toxicity issue and also is not advisable in the view of lower stability of tin (II) halides. Bismuth iodide was revealed to be much less toxic compared to lead and tin halides, though the efficiency of the solar cells based on complex halobismuthates is still too low for any practical application (<4%). It is also worthy to mention that CsI showed much less pronounced toxicity effects than organic iodides, thus favoring all-inorganic Cs-based perovskite solar cells as a safer option.
Importantly, the performed in vivo acute toxicity tests in mice showed that PbI2is not as toxic as organic halides MAI and FAI. It should be emphasized that toxicity effects of organic species used for fabrication or perovskite solar cells were largely overlooked so far. Summing up, the toxicity assessment scenario should not be biased by focusing entirely on the lead component sinceorganic halides may cause a comparable or even more severe hazard to the human health (occupational risks) and also to the environment (in case of toxic compound leaching from damaged solar panels).
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