Bottom-Up Regulation of Perovskite Growth and Energetics via Oligoether Functionalized Self-Assembling Molecules for High-Performance Solar Cells

Yang Wang; Xiaozhen Huang; Taiyu Wang; Wenjie Chen; Zhengye Wang; Zhiye Lin; Di Wang; Xiaofeng Li; Diwei Zhang; Shidong Cai; Xiafeng He; Jie Gao; Dong Wei; Hongfang Du; Youchao Wei; Yue Wang; Mingwei An

doi:10.1002/anie.202507513

Bottom-Up Regulation of Perovskite Growth and Energetics via Oligoether Functionalized Self-Assembling Molecules for High-Performance Solar Cells

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Jul 1:e202507513. doi: 10.1002/anie.202507513. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yang Wang¹, Xiaozhen Huang², Taiyu Wang², Wenjie Chen², Zhengye Wang³, Zhiye Lin³, Di Wang³, Xiaofeng Li⁴, Diwei Zhang², Shidong Cai⁵, Xiafeng He⁵, Jie Gao⁵, Dong Wei⁵, Hongfang Du⁶, Youchao Wei⁷, Yue Wang², Mingwei An²

Affiliations

¹ Fujian Normal University, Qishan Campus, Fuzhou, CHINA.
² Fujian Normal University - Qishan Campus, Strait Institute of Flexible Electronics, CHINA.
³ Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, CHINA.
⁴ Xiamen University, School of Aerospace Engineering, CHINA.
⁵ Fujian Normal University - Qishan Campus, College of Physics and Energy, CHINA.
⁶ Fujian Normal University, Strait Institute of Flexible Electronics, CHINA.
⁷ Fujian Science and Technology Innovation Laboratory, Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China, CHINA.

PMID: 40598821
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202507513

Abstract

Self-assembling molecules (SAMs) are widely used as interfacial layers to optimize the surface properties of nickel oxides (NiOx) in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, less attention is paid to the effect of SAMs on the regulation of perovskite growth and energetics. Here, based on the donor-acceptor molecular backbone, oligoether chain is introduced with different chain length to endow two novel SAMs namely EPA and MEPA with good capability of bottom-up regulation of perovskite formation and energetics. Compared to the model SAM MPA, EPA and MEPA can render NiOx with better coverage and conductivity. Moreover, the oligoether chain-containing SAMs are able to assist the formation of perovskite film with ordered growth, high crystallization and importantly well-matched energy level alignment at the top surface especially for MEPA. Consequently, a remarkably high efficiency of 25.50% is realized for NiOx/MEPA based PSCs along with good device stability which can maintain 90% of initial efficiency under ISOS-L-1 conditions over 1260 h.

Keywords: Perovskite solar cells; bottom-up regulation; oligoether chain; self-assembling molecules.