Latest JACS from Zhu Zonglong et al. at City University of Hong Kong: 26.08%! High-efficiency and scalable inverted perovskite solar cells achieved through a polymetallic interface

Inverted perovskite solar cells are facile to fabricate, but their interfacial properties must be optimized and energy losses minimized to prevent efficiency degradation as the active photovoltaic area is increased. In light of this, on May 1, 2024, Xiaocheng Zeng, Zonglong Zhu of City University of Hong Kong, together with Nicholas J. Long of Imperial College London, published in JACS a study on high-efficiency, scalable inverted perovskite solar cells achieved through a polycyclopentadienyl-metal interface. The paper reports a series of ferrocene-based molecules that can tune the perovskite surface, enabling the fabrication of both small- and large-area perovskite solar cells. The study reveals that perovskite–ferrocene interactions give rise to hybrid complexes characterized by enhanced surface coordination strength and activated electronic states, thereby reducing non-radiative recombination at the interface and minimizing resistive losses in charge transport. As a result, the efficiency of small-area perovskite solar cell devices has been boosted to 26.08%, while large-area devices (1.0208 cm ² ) the efficiency was increased to 24.51%. Furthermore, under one-sun illumination and at 65°C, large-area perovskite solar cells maintained more than 92% of their initial efficiency after 2,000 hours of continuous operation at the maximum power point.