Synergistic Graphene Polishing Enabling van der Waals Anchors for Efficient and Robust Carbon‐Based Perovskite Solar Cells

ABSTRACT Carbon‐based perovskite solar cells (C‐PSCs) offer a low‐cost, stable alternative to metal electrodes; however, the high porosity of carbon electrodes leads to poor interfacial contact and weak mechanical adhesion to the underlying carrier transport layer, limiting device performance and robustness. Here, we report a solvent‐free additive polishing strategy using a synergistic combination of two‐dimensional (2D) graphene nanoplatelets and 3D graphite flakes to densify the hole‐transport‐layer (HTL)/carbon interface by creating conformal van der Waals (vdW) anchors. This graphene/graphite additive polishing process fills micro‐voids on the porous carbon electrode surface, reduces carbon electrode surface roughness, and creates a graphene anchor that increases interfacial fracture energy and promotes the carbon surface heating release. Electrically, the polished interface facilitates superior charge extraction, thereby reducing charge‐transfer resistance. Consequently, regular n ‐ i ‐ p perovskite solar devices achieve a promised power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.28% (0.09 cm 2 ) and maintain a high PCE of 19.62% at a scalable 1.0 cm 2 area. This work provides a high‐throughput, dry‐processing paradigm for more affordable, robust, and highly efficient carbon‐based perovskite photovoltaics.

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Journal
Small
Published
2026-07-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.74696
Primary Topic
Perovskite Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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Synergistic Graphene Polishing Enabling van der Waals Anchors for Efficient and Robust Carbon‐Based Perovskite Solar Cells

Yizhao Wang, Christopher Picart, Khawaja Kz, Lin Li et al.
Small
Perovskite Materials and Applications
article

Synergistic Graphene Polishing Enabling van der Waals Anchors for Efficient and Robust Carbon‐Based Perovskite Solar Cells

Yizhao Wang, Christopher Picart, Khawaja Kz, Lin Li, Feng Yan, Muzhi Li, Nicholas Rolston
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Carbon‐based perovskite solar cells (C‐PSCs) offer a low‐cost, stable alternative to metal electrodes; however, the high porosity of carbon electrodes leads to poor interfacial contact and weak mechanical adhesion to the underlying carrier transport layer, limiting device performance and robustness. Here, we report a solvent‐free additive polishing strategy using a synergistic combination of two‐dimensional (2D) graphene nanoplatelets and 3D graphite flakes to densify the hole‐transport‐layer (HTL)/carbon interface by creating conformal van der Waals (vdW) anchors. This graphene/graphite additive polishing process fills micro‐voids on the porous carbon electrode surface, reduces carbon electrode surface roughness, and creates a graphene anchor that increases interfacial fracture energy and promotes the carbon surface heating release. Electrically, the polished interface facilitates superior charge extraction, thereby reducing charge‐transfer resistance. Consequently, regular n ‐ i ‐ p perovskite solar devices achieve a promised power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.28% (0.09 cm 2 ) and maintain a high PCE of 19.62% at a scalable 1.0 cm 2 area. This work provides a high‐throughput, dry‐processing paradigm for more affordable, robust, and highly efficient carbon‐based perovskite photovoltaics.

Small
Arizona State University (US)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Perovskite Materials and Applications
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