The space environment is harsh and full of extreme radiation. Scientists designing spacecraft and satellites need materials that can withstand these conditions.
In a article published in January 2024, my team of materials researchers have shown that a next generation semiconductor material called metal halide perovskite can actually restore and heal to protect themselves from radiation damage.
Metal halide perovskites are a class of materials discovered in 1839 which are abundant in the Earth’s crust. They absorb sunlight and convert it efficiently into electricity, making them potentially suitable for space based solar panels that can drive satellites or future space habitats.
Researchers make perovskites in the shape of inkand then the ink is applied to glass plates or plastic, creating thin, film-like devices that are light and flexible.
Surprisingly enough, these thin film solar cells perform as well as conventional silicon solar cells in laboratory demonstrations, even though they are almost 100 times thinner than traditional solar cells.
Related: Space-based solar power could move one step closer to reality, thanks to this key test (video)
But these films can degrade when exposed to moisture or oxygenResearchers and industry are currently working to address these stability issues for terrestrial deployment.
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To test how they would hold up in roomMy team developed a radiation experiment. We exposed perovskite solar cells to protons at both low and high energies and found a unique, new building.
The high energy protons healed the damage caused by the low-energy protons, allowing the device to recover and continue to do its job. Conventional semiconductors used for space electronics do not exhibit this healing.
My team was surprised by this finding. How can a material that degrades when exposed to oxygen and moisture not only withstand the harsh radiation of space, but also repair itself in an environment that destroys conventional silicon semiconductors?
In our article we started to unravel this mystery.
Why it matters
Scientists predict that in the next 10 years, satellites will be sent to near-Soil track will increase exponentiallyand space agencies such as NASA strive for establish bases on the moon.
Materials that can withstand extreme radiation and heal themselves would change the world.
Researchers estimate that deploying just a few kilograms of perovskite materials in space could generate up to 10,000,000 watts of power. It currently costs about US$4,000 per kilogram ($1,818 per pound) to launch materials into spaceso efficient materials are important.
What is not yet known
Our findings shed light on a remarkable aspect of perovskites: their tolerance to damage and defects. Perovskite crystals are a kind of soft materialwhich means that their atoms can enter different states that scientists call vibrational modes.
Atoms in perovskites are normally arranged in a lattice formation. But radiation can knock the atoms out of place, damaging the material. The vibrations can help move the atoms back into place, but we still don’t know exactly how this process works.
What’s next?
Our findings suggest that soft materials could be particularly useful in extreme environments, including space.
But radiation isn’t the only stress that materials in space are exposed to. Scientists don’t yet know how perovskites will behave when exposed to vacuum conditions and extreme temperature variations, along with radiation, all at the same time. Temperature could play a role in the healing behavior that my team saw, but we’ll need to do more research to determine how.
These results tell us that soft materials can help scientists develop technology that works well in extreme environments. Future research could delve deeper into how the vibrations in these materials relate to self-healing properties.
The Research report is a brief review of interesting academic work.