Self‐Assembled Bilayers with Improved Solvent Resistance for Stable Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

The self-assembled monolayer (SAM) molecules on ITO or metal oxide transporting layers tend to desorb during perovskite film processing and device operation, leading to reduced power conversion efficiency (PCE) and device degradation. Developing effective strategies to stabilize SAMs at interfaces is therefore crucial for further improving the performance and stability of SAM-based perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Here, a facile method is developed to construct robust self-assembled bilayers (SABs) by depositing cross-linkable organosilanes, n-propyltrimethoxysilane (PTMS) and (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS), onto the widely used Me-4PACz SAM for NiO<sub>x</sub> modification. Me-4PACz enables excellent hole extraction, suppresses interfacial reactions and recombination, while the cross-linked organosilane network forms a robust protective layer that prevents the solvent-induced SAM desorption and fills molecular voids, yielding a more compact and stable interface. In addition, the thiol group in MPTMS can strongly interact with the undercoordinated Pb<sup>2+</sup> at the buried interface of perovskite, further mitigating interfacial defects. Consequently, NiO<sub>x</sub>/Me-4PACz/MPTMS based PVSCs achieve a high PCE of 24.9% with a T<sub>80</sub> lifetime of 475 h under continuous 1 sun equivalent illumination in air, compared to 23.3% and tens of hours for NiO<sub>x</sub>/Me-4PACz-based control device. This work provides important insights into designing robust interfaces for high-performance and highly stable PVSCs.

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Journal
Small
Published
2025-10-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202506226
Primary Topic
Perovskite Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Self‐Assembled Bilayers with Improved Solvent Resistance for Stable Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Zhichuan Wang, Weifei Fu, Hongzheng Chen, Ahmed I. A. Soliman et al.
Small
Perovskite Materials and Applications
article

Self‐Assembled Bilayers with Improved Solvent Resistance for Stable Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Zhichuan Wang, Weifei Fu, Hongzheng Chen, Ahmed I. A. Soliman, Yiran Zheng, Lin Zhang, Haotian Wu, Yiqing Zhang, Guofeng You
article en

Abstract

The self-assembled monolayer (SAM) molecules on ITO or metal oxide transporting layers tend to desorb during perovskite film processing and device operation, leading to reduced power conversion efficiency (PCE) and device degradation. Developing effective strategies to stabilize SAMs at interfaces is therefore crucial for further improving the performance and stability of SAM-based perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Here, a facile method is developed to construct robust self-assembled bilayers (SABs) by depositing cross-linkable organosilanes, n-propyltrimethoxysilane (PTMS) and (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS), onto the widely used Me-4PACz SAM for NiO<sub>x</sub> modification. Me-4PACz enables excellent hole extraction, suppresses interfacial reactions and recombination, while the cross-linked organosilane network forms a robust protective layer that prevents the solvent-induced SAM desorption and fills molecular voids, yielding a more compact and stable interface. In addition, the thiol group in MPTMS can strongly interact with the undercoordinated Pb<sup>2+</sup> at the buried interface of perovskite, further mitigating interfacial defects. Consequently, NiO<sub>x</sub>/Me-4PACz/MPTMS based PVSCs achieve a high PCE of 24.9% with a T<sub>80</sub> lifetime of 475 h under continuous 1 sun equivalent illumination in air, compared to 23.3% and tens of hours for NiO<sub>x</sub>/Me-4PACz-based control device. This work provides important insights into designing robust interfaces for high-performance and highly stable PVSCs.

SmallVol. 21(49)
Nanchang University (CN), Zhejiang University of Science and Technology (CN), Ingenierie des Materiaux polymeres (FR), Zhejiang University (CN), Assiut University (EG)
Openalex Percentile: Top 71%
Perovskite Materials and Applications
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