A new scientific breakthrough could pave the way for brighter, more durable, and energy-efficient LED screens and lighting.
Scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) have developed a novel method to improve perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs)—a promising but previously unstable technology.
Their discovery was published in Nature and marks a major step toward turning PeLEDs into commercially viable products.
Perovskites are a class of materials known for their strong light-emitting ability and low manufacturing cost. Because of these traits, they have attracted intense interest in the development of solar cells, LEDs, and detectors.
However, traditional perovskite materials have a major flaw: the electrons and holes inside them—which need to combine to produce light—often fail to meet efficiently.
This limits the brightness and performance of perovskite-based devices.
To solve this, researchers have often relied on “strongly space-confined” techniques that force the materials into tiny crystal structures to improve efficiency. But this approach brings its own problems, such as reduced stability and increased defects, which shorten the lifespan of the devices.
Led by Professor Xiao Zhengguo, the USTC team took a new approach. Instead of making the perovskite crystals smaller and more confined, they did the opposite. Using a “weakly space-confined” method, they encouraged the formation of larger, more stable crystals. They did this by adding two special ingredients—hypophosphorous acid and ammonium chloride—to the perovskite mixture.
Then, they applied a high-temperature treatment called annealing, which helped form large-grain crystals with fewer defects.
This new type of crystal structure greatly reduced a problem known as non-radiative recombination—where energy is lost as heat instead of light—and also limited ion migration, which can damage the material over time. As a result, the team created perovskite films that were much more stable and far brighter than previous versions.
The performance of the new PeLEDs is remarkable. They achieved a luminous efficiency of more than 22%, matching or exceeding the performance of many commercial LED displays. Even more impressive, their peak brightness reached 1.16 million nits—a massive leap compared to today’s LED screens, which usually top out at several thousand nits. At normal brightness levels (about 100 nits), these PeLEDs could theoretically last over 180,000 hours. That’s equivalent to more than 20 years of continuous use, which easily meets the durability standards for commercial lighting products.
This innovative strategy solves long-standing issues around both the efficiency and lifespan of PeLEDs, making them a serious contender for future high-end displays and ultra-bright lighting. By improving crystal quality with simple and scalable methods, the USTC team has opened the door to using perovskites in everything from next-generation TVs and smartphones to stadium lighting and outdoor billboards.
With this breakthrough, perovskite LEDs may soon move from the lab to everyday life, transforming how we see and light up the world.
Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences.
