Stable Anti-Reflection and Self-Cleaning Coating via Facile Fabrication Enhancing Perovskite Solar Cell Efficiency and Industrial Scalability

Recently, the development of high-performance anti-reflective and self-cleaning (AR-SC) coatings for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has attracted considerable attention. However, conventional AR-SC coatings typically rely on high-temperature sintering, complex nanostructuring, vacuum deposition, or photolithography─processes that are costly, difficult to scale, and often limited to a single functionality. In this work, we present a novel low-temperature-processable and mechanically robust composite coating comprising methyl methacrylate and silicone resin (MMA@MQ), which is prepared via simple magnetic stirring and applied without energy-intensive curing. When optimized and deposited by spin-coating, the MMA@MQ layer markedly improves optical transmittance (from 79.02 to 85.94% on FTO) and confers strong hydrophobicity (water contact angle increased from 21.14 to 103.97°). Integrated into PSCs, it increases the power conversion efficiency from 20.27 to 21.25%. Importantly, we demonstrate the feasibility of scalable fabrication using industry-compatible methods such as dip-coating and scraping, achieving a similar performance. We further propose a “Performance Triangle” to guide future industrial development of AR-SC coatings, balancing optical, self-cleaning, and stability metrics for maximal energy yield in real-world photovoltaic applications. This work offers a facile, scalable, and low-cost strategy to simultaneously achieve multiple functions and durability of AR-SC coatings, thereby facilitating their commercialization.