Chemical Process Design and Simulation of the Production of Gamma‐Valerolactone: A Green Solvent for Halide Perovskites

Abstract

Enabling large‐scale perovskite photovoltaic production requires understanding the integrated chemical process flow of precursor ink. Herein, a chemical process design is proposed for producing halide perovskite ink using biomass‐derived gamma‐valerolactone (GVL) as a green solvent for the first time. The proposed design has a perovskite ink production capacity of 154 kg h−1 (at 1 m concentration), which is roughly equivalent to a peak power generation of 300 GW year−1 from perovskite modules. Process simulations in ASPEN Plus showed that the reactor temperature, feedstock flow rate, and precursor colloidal size greatly impact the final ink quality. Under optimum conditions, 98.4% purity of GVL can be achieved through a catalyzed reaction between levulinic acid and isopropyl alcohol with acetone (99.98%) and water (99.99%) as by‐products. Providing a realistic chemical reaction scheme for halide perovskite ink formation as well as understanding the changes in its chemical properties over time are paramount to further improving the proposed process.