Dual molecular bridges at perovskite heterointerfaces for efficient inverted solar cells

Qing Lian; Lina Wang; Guoliang Wang; Guojun Mi; Bowei Li; Joel A Smith; Pietro Caprioglio; Manuel Kober-Czerny; Deng Wang; Qiming Yin; Jiong Yang; Sibo Li; Xiao Liang; Shaokuan Gong; Dongyang Li; Hanlin Hu; Xihan Chen; Xugang Guo; Longbin Qiu; Baomin Xu; Gang Li; Anita W Y Ho-Baillie; Wei Zhang; Guangfu Luo; Henry J Snaith; Chun Cheng

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwaf211

Dual molecular bridges at perovskite heterointerfaces for efficient inverted solar cells

Natl Sci Rev. 2025 May 22;12(7):nwaf211. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwaf211. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Authors

Qing Lian¹, Lina Wang¹, Guoliang Wang^{1

2}, Guojun Mi¹, Bowei Li³, Joel A Smith⁴, Pietro Caprioglio⁴, Manuel Kober-Czerny⁴, Deng Wang¹, Qiming Yin¹, Jiong Yang⁵, Sibo Li⁶, Xiao Liang⁷, Shaokuan Gong⁶, Dongyang Li^{1

8}, Hanlin Hu⁷, Xihan Chen⁶, Xugang Guo¹, Longbin Qiu⁶, Baomin Xu¹, Gang Li⁸, Anita W Y Ho-Baillie², Wei Zhang^{9

10}, Guangfu Luo¹, Henry J Snaith⁴, Chun Cheng^{1

6

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
² School of Physics and The University of Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
³ Future Photovoltaic Research Center, Global Institute of Future Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
⁴ Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁶ SUSTech Energy Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁷ Hoffman Institute of Advanced Materials, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁸ Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Research Institute for Smart Energy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China.
⁹ Advanced Technology Institute, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK.
¹⁰ State Centre for International Cooperation on Designer Low-carbon & Environmental Materials (CDLCEM), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
¹¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.

Abstract

Utilizing molecular bridges presents a promising means to enhance the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, concurrently bridging the perovskite absorber and its two adjacent interfaces remains a significant challenge that is yet to be achieved. Here, we construct dual molecular bridges at perovskite heterointerfaces, enabled by a self-organizing additive of 4-fluoro-phenethylammonium formate (4-F-PEAFa) and a synthesized hole transporter of [2-(7H-dibenzo[c, g]carbazol-7-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid (DBZ-2PACz). The molecular bridges spanning two interfaces lead to the formation of an 'integral carrier transport pathway', mitigating both non-radiative recombination and charge-transport losses in the fabricated PSC devices. We thus achieve a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.0% (25.6% certified) in inverted PSCs, accompanied by an exceptionally high fill factor of 0.87 (maximum 0.88 from the certified devices, 97% of its Shockley-Queisser limit) and a low ideality factor of 1.06. The unencapsulated devices retain 96% of their PCEs after aging at 85°C for 2200 h and 90% after maximum power point tracking at an elevated temperature of 50°C for 973 h.

Keywords: heterointerface engineering; molecular bridge; perovskite solar cell; self-assemble material.