Abstract

Ambient energy harvesters with multi-source energy harvesting capabilities are highly desirable for developing compact and sustainable power solutions for emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things. In this study, thin films of low-dimensional halide perovskites, (BA)2(MA)n-1PbnBr3n+1 (n = 1, 2), are demonstrated to be both semiconducting and ferroelectric, enabling the harvesting of mechanical and ambient light energy. By incorporating Cr/Cr₂O₃ or phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as a barrier/passivation layer, reproducible ferroelectric properties are consistently achieved in (BA)2(MA)n-1PbnBr3n+1 ₊₁ thin films. The corresponding flexible piezoelectric energy harvesters delivered a peak-to-peak open-circuit voltage of 8 V under a 10 N force, while the photovoltaic devices exhibited an open-circuit voltage of ≈1.2 V under 1 Sun illumination. This study unveils the potential of low-dimensional halide perovskite thin films for lightweight, multi-source energy harvesting and provides key insights into the crucial role of barrier layers in achieving reliable thin-film halide perovskite ferroelectric devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2425192
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Early online date1 Apr 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 1 Apr 2025

Funding

L.K.J. acknowledges funding from UKRI-FLF through MR/T022094/1. This work used the Cirrus UK National Tier-2 HPC Service at EPCC (http://www.cirrus.ac.uk) funded by the University of Edinburgh and EPSRC (EP/P020267/1). C.R.B. and Q.W. acknowledge support of UKRI Frontier Research Guarantee on the “Processing of Smart Porous Electro-Ceramic Transducers – ProSPECT”, project. No. EP/X023265/1. Q.W. acknowledges the support of the UKRI Postdoctoral Fellowship Guarantee (Project No. EP/Y017412/1), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 51902094).

FundersFunder number
UK Research & InnovationMR/T022094/1, EP/Y017412/1, EP/X023265/1
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research CouncilEP/P020267/

Keywords

  • (BA)(MA)PbBr
  • low-frequency P-E loops
  • multi-source energy harvesting
  • semiconducting ferroelectrics
  • thin film ferroelectrics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • General Chemistry
  • Biomaterials
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrochemistry

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