Wearable perovskite devices in the biomedical field

Abstract

Perovskites are characterized by excellent optoelectronic properties, low cost and simple manufacturing process, abundant raw materials, and high structure tunability. These are all favorable properties that enable them to be utilized in biomedical applications on a wearable basis. In this paper, the applications of two types of perovskite devices that have a promising prospect in biomedical field: Perovskite Photodetectors (PPDs) and Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells (FPSCs), are analyzed and discussed. In recent times, a number of approaches have been proposed to mitigate the fluctuation of the dark current in PPDs, their poor thermal stability and to enhance the performance of medical devices. The strategies include suppression of dark current by electric field modulation, fabrication of stable black-phase CsPbI3 films at low temperatures and fabrication of ultra-high-sensitivity graphene–perovskite composite fiber detectors. For FPSCs, this paper presents advances on stability enhancement (with dual hole transport layers), efficiency improvement (with liquid crystal elastomer interlayers), and implementation of Perovskite cells as energy source of autonomous sweat sensors under indoor light. These research results show the tremendous application potential of perovskite wearable devices in the biomedical field. Last but not least, this paper addresses future challenges and opportunities in this field, such as stability of long-term operation, scalability of the manufacturing process, and cost control.