A short review on long persistent luminescence materials and their application prospects in emerging photovoltaic devices

Considering global climate change concerns, issues related to the energy crisis and technologies reliant on non-fossil renewable energy sources are in high demand. Solar energy emerges as one of the alternatives among all renewable energy resources due to its economic viability and environmental sustainability. There are various types of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies available for commercial applications, such as organic solar cells, silicon-based solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and perovskite solar cells. Notably, one of the drawbacks of PV devices is their inability to generate power at night or during cloudy days (i.e., low-light conditions). One solution to this problem is to provide backup to the PV devices, such as batteries or energy storage packs. Another less explored alternative backup is the application of long persistent luminescence (LPL) materials as a secondary light source or down shifter. LPL materials can provide an afterglow that can last for hours which can be harvested by PV devices for power generation under low-light conditions. This short overview article discusses the fundamental mechanisms of LPL materials and the feasibility and challenges of integrating LPL materials into PV, which is hoped can provide useful insights for future research directions.