Ricerc@Sapienza

The article provides a thorough review on advanced materials for architecture focusing on nanomaterials and on the new class of highly innovative materials, so called smart materials, illustrating their properties and their application in the building sector. The article illustrates how, thanks to the huge progress in the field of materials science, the advanced solutions available today can allow to reconcile the architectural features of the buildings with the new challenges of sustainability and energy efficiency.

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of NiO based perovskite solar cells has recently hit a record 22.1%
with a hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite composition and a PCE above 15% in a fully inorganic
configuration was achieved. Moreover, NiO processing is a mature technology, with different industrially
attractive processes demonstrated in the last few years. These considerations, along with the excellent
stabilities reported, clearly point towards NiO as the most efficient inorganic hole selective layer for lead

The operation of halide perovskite optoelectronic devices, including solar
cells and LEDs, is strongly influenced by the mobility of ions comprising the
crystal structure. This peculiarity is particularly true when considering the
long-term stability of devices. A detailed understanding of the ion migrationdriven
degradation pathways is critical to design effective stabilization
strategies. Nonetheless, despite substantial research in this first decade
of perovskite photovoltaics, the long-term effects of ion migration remain

In the framework of the research on dye-sensitized solar cells of p-type (p-DSCs) the definition and optimization of the electrolyte have been a crucial aspect for the reach of the recent records of photo-conversion for these devices. At the basis of this progress there was the replacement of the redox shuttle of reference I-3(-)/I- with opportune redox mediators which deliver higher photocurrents and produce larger open circuit photovoltages.

This work explores two different deposition methods to grow buffer layers of ZnxCd1−xS for application in kesterite (Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS)) solar cells. The introduction of the mixed sulfide of Cd and Zn in CZTS based solar cells represents an important progress due to the improved device performance and minor toxicity with respect to sole CdS. The explored techniques are the chemical bath deposition (CBD) and the precursor ink. For the CBD we focused on the inclusion of zinc into the buffer, i.e. the target solid solution, taking into account the difference in the solubilities of ZnS and CdS.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with photoanodes composed of chirality selected single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been fabricated and tested for first time. Single chirality SWCNTs separation (93% purity) have been achieved by modifying standard size exclusion gel chromatography. Chirality selection has allowed for “tuning” of the energy barrier at the TiO2/SWNT/FTO interface, electronic conductivity enhancement, and reduced SWCNTs-ruthenium dye competition for light absorption resulting in a 81% energy conversion efficiency improvement compared to mixed chirality cells.