Mercapto-functionalized scaffold improves perovskite buried interfaces for tandem photovoltaics
Tandem photovoltaics hold great potential to surpass the efficiency limit of single-junction solar cells. Detrimental structural defects and chemical reactions at buried interfaces of subcells considerably impede the performance of integrated tandems. Here, we devise a mercapto-functionalized mesoporous silica layer as a superstructure at the buried interface to modulate the crystallisation, eliminate nanovoids, passivate defects, and suppress the oxidation of Sn(II) in the tin-lead perovskite films, contributing substantially to reduce charge carrier losses and improve stability in positive-intrinsic-negative structured devices. Consequently, the tin-lead perovskite single-junction cells show efficiency values of up to 23.7% with the best open-circuit voltage of 0.89 V. With the enhanced subcells, our double-junction tandems show efficiency values of 29.6% (certified 29.5% and steady-state 28.7%) and 24.7% on solar cells and 11.3 cm<sup>2</sup> mini-modules, respectively. Encapsulated tandems maintain 90% of initial efficiency after 445 h of maximum power point tracking under simulated 1-sun illumination.
Authors
- Shuaifeng Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1312-075X)
- Atsushi Wakamiya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1430-0947)
- X. Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6499-2745)
- Guanhaojie Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4439-2360)
- Xiaojun Qin
- Neng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9633-6702)
- Zhongyong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1406-0292)
- Yongyan Pan
- Longbin Qiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7696-4901)
- Sanwan Liu
- Qisen Zhou
- Zonghao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4743-6971)
- Hasan Raza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5653-9197)
- Shuang Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8244-3002)
- Fumeng Ren
- Henry James Snaith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8511-790X)
- Jingbai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4743-0318)
- Zhiguo Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5997-5940)
- Wei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2418-9210)
- Bin Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6993-9120)
- Rui Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0445-7847)
- Wentao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0077-8042)
- Jianan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9413-3266)
- Junke Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5849-7297)
- He Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7917-4857)
- Sibo Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5972-5207)
- Chenyang Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2274-4305)
- Jiaqi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7449-4176)
Institutions
- East China University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Shenzhen Polytechnic University (CN)
- Wuhan University of Technology (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Huawei Technologies (China) (CN)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute (CN)
- Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN)
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (CN)
- Hubei University of Education (CN)
- Kyoto University Institute for Chemical Research
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-05-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59891-z
- Citations
- 21
- Primary Topic
- Perovskite Materials and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 15.34
Funders
- UK Research and Innovation
- European Commission
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- JST-Mirai Program