Pb-Based Perovskite Solar Cells and the Underlying Pollution behind Clean Energy: Dynamic Leaching of Toxic Substances from Discarded Perovskite Solar Cells

Peidong Su; Yu Liu; Junke Zhang; Cong Chen; Bo Yang; Chunhui Zhang; Xu Zhao

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c00503

Pb-Based Perovskite Solar Cells and the Underlying Pollution behind Clean Energy: Dynamic Leaching of Toxic Substances from Discarded Perovskite Solar Cells

J Phys Chem Lett. 2020 Apr 16;11(8):2812-2817. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c00503.

Authors

Peidong Su^{1

2}, Yu Liu³, Junke Zhang⁴, Cong Chen⁵, Bo Yang², Chunhui Zhang³, Xu Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
² College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
³ School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China.
⁴ Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi 39217, United States.
⁵ School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China.

PMID: 32295350
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c00503

Abstract

Toxicants like Pb in lead-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) may become available to humans through leaching and transport through water, air, and soil. Here, we summarize the potential toxicity of different substances in PSCs and determine the leaching concentration of typical heavy metals used in PSCs through dynamic leaching tests (DLTs). Extraction fluids for the standard toxicity characteristic leaching procedure, synthetic precipitation leaching procedure, and deionized water were used as the DLT leaching solutions. Results indicated that the leaching concentration of Pb exceeded the hazardous waste limit of 5 mg/L. In addition, Pb was found to continuously leach out in the leaching cycles of water extraction. The findings confirmed that discarded PSCs may release Pb when subjected to water, rain, and landfill leachate. Total organic carbon and chemical oxygen demand analyses indicated that discarded PSCs could increase the oxygen consumption and may release CO₂ into the environment.