Optimizing materials for energy production and storage is one of the most significant challenges of this century. Solar energy is one of the most important renewable energy resources due to its wide availability and low environmental impact. In this context, PVK-HM materials belong to an unconventional family of ever-expanding crystalline materials. They inherently possess soft crystal grids that not only contribute to exotic and unusual internal carrier dynamics but also have a remarkable interaction with the external environment (matter, light, temperature, electric field, etc.). Since the first studies pointed out the PVK-HM as excellent solar energy collectors, scientific activity has consolidated important achievements that have profoundly affected technological changes beyond solar energy optimization.

Both bulk 3D and low dimensional 2D PVK-HM have emerged as a class of semiconductor materials with exceptional properties, including tunable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, broad absorption spectrum, high charge carrier mobility, and long diffusion lengths, which make possible a wide range of photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications.

In this perspective, our group has carried out and is currently developing numerous studies centered on new synthesis methods and Deep characterization of PVK-HM. We mainly focus on your energy-related applications and discuss current challenges and possible solutions to stimulate new potential applications.

Recent important contributions

• C.A. López, M.V. Martínez-Huerta, M.C. Alvarez-Galván, P. Kayser, P. Gant, A. Castellanos- Gomez, M.T. Fernández-Díaz, F. Fauth, J.A. Alonso, Elucidating the Methylammonium (MA) Conformation in MAPbBr 3 Perovskite with Application in Solar Cells, Inorg. Chem. 56 (2017) 14214–14219. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b02344.
• Abia, C.A. López, M.C. Álvarez-Galván, L. Canadillas-Delgado, M.T. Fernández-Díaz, J.A. Alonso, On the crystal structure thermal evolution of formamidinium lead tribromide, CH(NH2)2PbBr3, J. Mater. Chem. C. (2021) 10.1039.D1TC04642J. https://doi.org /10.1039/D1TC04642J.
• C.A. López, C. Abia, M.C. Alvarez-Galván, B.-K. Hong, M.V. Martínez-Huerta, F. Serrano- Sánchez, F. Carrascoso, A. Castellanos-Gómez, M.T. Fernández-D́ıaz, J.A. Alonso, Crystal Structure Features of CsPbBr 3 Perovskite Prepared by Mechanochemical Synthesis, ACS Omega. 5 (2020) 5931–5938. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b04248.