Multifunctional SAM Engineering Breaks the Efficiency‐Stability Trade‐Off in Inverted Organic Solar Cells

ABSTRACT The inverted architecture of organic solar cells offers great promise for scalable manufacturing and enhanced operational stability, yet its efficiency still lags behind that of conventional counterparts. A critical and often overlooked challenge lies in the instability of the hole‐transport interface, particularly the diffusion of MoO 3 into the photoactive layer, which leads to progressive performance degradation. Here, we demonstrate a multifunctional interface engineering strategy using a series of tailored SAM‐derived ultra‐thin films (SAMs)‐2PACz, MeO‐2PACz, and Br‐2PACz‐to simultaneously enhance efficiency and stability. By systematically increasing the electronegativity of the terminal group from ─H to ─Br, we strengthen the out‐of‐plane interfacial dipole verified by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), thereby improving energy level alignment and charge extraction. More importantly, the phosphonic acid anchoring groups in the SAMs form strong chemical bonding with evaporated MoO 3 and a robust barrier that effectively inhibits MoO 3 diffusion, as confirmed by defect density of states and XPS analysis. The resulting Br‐2PACz‐based devices achieve a champion PCE of 19.31% and retain 95.5% of their initial efficiency after 1000 h of continuous illumination. This work provides a universal and scalable interfacial design strategy to break the efficiency‐stability trade‐off in inverted OSCs, paving the way for their commercial realization.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Energy Materials
Published
2026-04-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.70986
Primary Topic
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Multifunctional SAM Engineering Breaks the Efficiency‐Stability Trade‐Off in Inverted Organic Solar Cells

C W. LI, Feiyue Lu, Lei Ying, Jialin Wu et al.
Advanced Energy Materials
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
article

Multifunctional SAM Engineering Breaks the Efficiency‐Stability Trade‐Off in Inverted Organic Solar Cells

C W. LI, Feiyue Lu, Lei Ying, Jialin Wu, He Yan, Yanming Sun, Ning Li, Xingwang Kang, Hongyu Zhang, Kang An, Hai‐Qiao Wang, Zhisheng Zhou, Zhipeng Yin, Qin Wang, Wei Meng, Lijun Chen
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The inverted architecture of organic solar cells offers great promise for scalable manufacturing and enhanced operational stability, yet its efficiency still lags behind that of conventional counterparts. A critical and often overlooked challenge lies in the instability of the hole‐transport interface, particularly the diffusion of MoO 3 into the photoactive layer, which leads to progressive performance degradation. Here, we demonstrate a multifunctional interface engineering strategy using a series of tailored SAM‐derived ultra‐thin films (SAMs)‐2PACz, MeO‐2PACz, and Br‐2PACz‐to simultaneously enhance efficiency and stability. By systematically increasing the electronegativity of the terminal group from ─H to ─Br, we strengthen the out‐of‐plane interfacial dipole verified by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), thereby improving energy level alignment and charge extraction. More importantly, the phosphonic acid anchoring groups in the SAMs form strong chemical bonding with evaporated MoO 3 and a robust barrier that effectively inhibits MoO 3 diffusion, as confirmed by defect density of states and XPS analysis. The resulting Br‐2PACz‐based devices achieve a champion PCE of 19.31% and retain 95.5% of their initial efficiency after 1000 h of continuous illumination. This work provides a universal and scalable interfacial design strategy to break the efficiency‐stability trade‐off in inverted OSCs, paving the way for their commercial realization.

Advanced Energy Materials
Ningbo University (CN), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK), Beihang University (CN), University of Hong Kong (HK), South China University of Technology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.