Harnessing Molecular Tautomerism to Tune Precursor Coordination Chemistry for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

ABSTRACT Homogeneous crystallization remains a critical challenge for high‐performance perovskite photovoltaics, as conventional molecular additives typically exhibit fixed coordination characteristics that limit precise regulation of precursor evolution. Here, we demonstrate molecular tautomerism as an effective design principle for tuning precursor coordination chemistry by employing purine as a prototype coordination modulator. The intrinsic tautomerism of purine redistributes electron density among multiple nitrogen sites, enabling tautomer‐dependent Pb–N coordination and hydrogen‐bonding interactions with different precursor species. Density functional theory calculations reveal distinct interaction strengths of purine tautomers toward precursor species, establishing the fundamental basis for tautomerism‐enabled tunable coordination. Such tunable molecular interactions modulate the precursor coordination network and regulate intermediate‐state evolution, thereby retarding nucleation and promoting homogeneous crystal growth. Consequently, the resulting perovskite films exhibit enhanced crystallinity and a more homogeneous energetic landscape. The optimized solar cells achieve a champion power conversion efficiency of 27.05% (certified 26.51%), and the corresponding mini‐module delivers an aperture‐area (12.95 cm 2 ) efficiency of 21.52%. This work establishes molecular tautomerism as a design principle for tunable precursor coordination, providing a molecular‐level approach to controlling perovskite crystallization for efficient and scalable photovoltaics.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2026-08-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.7848549
Primary Topic
Perovskite Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

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

Harnessing Molecular Tautomerism to Tune Precursor Coordination Chemistry for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Zeke Liu, Cheng Liu, Wanli Ma, Jiayu Zhang et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Perovskite Materials and Applications
article

Harnessing Molecular Tautomerism to Tune Precursor Coordination Chemistry for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Zeke Liu, Cheng Liu, Wanli Ma, Jiayu Zhang, Junwei Shi, Fangchao Li, Zuomiao Zhang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Homogeneous crystallization remains a critical challenge for high‐performance perovskite photovoltaics, as conventional molecular additives typically exhibit fixed coordination characteristics that limit precise regulation of precursor evolution. Here, we demonstrate molecular tautomerism as an effective design principle for tuning precursor coordination chemistry by employing purine as a prototype coordination modulator. The intrinsic tautomerism of purine redistributes electron density among multiple nitrogen sites, enabling tautomer‐dependent Pb–N coordination and hydrogen‐bonding interactions with different precursor species. Density functional theory calculations reveal distinct interaction strengths of purine tautomers toward precursor species, establishing the fundamental basis for tautomerism‐enabled tunable coordination. Such tunable molecular interactions modulate the precursor coordination network and regulate intermediate‐state evolution, thereby retarding nucleation and promoting homogeneous crystal growth. Consequently, the resulting perovskite films exhibit enhanced crystallinity and a more homogeneous energetic landscape. The optimized solar cells achieve a champion power conversion efficiency of 27.05% (certified 26.51%), and the corresponding mini‐module delivers an aperture‐area (12.95 cm 2 ) efficiency of 21.52%. This work establishes molecular tautomerism as a design principle for tunable precursor coordination, providing a molecular‐level approach to controlling perovskite crystallization for efficient and scalable photovoltaics.

Angewandte Chemie
Suzhou University of Science and Technology (CN), Soochow University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Perovskite Materials and Applications
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.