MANY MINDEDNew molecule design lifts perovskite solar cell efficiency and durability
Researchers reported in Nature a self-assembled monolayer built around a donor-acceptor-donor resonant molecular structure for perovskite solar cells. The design increases negative charge density at the anchoring group, strengthening the bond between the phosphonic acid and the ITO electrode layer.
The measured results address both efficiency and the durability problems that have dogged perovskites. Devices showed negligible decay under maximum-power-point tracking at 85±5°C for 1,080 hours, retained over 93% of performance after that same period under metal halide lamp illumination, and kept over 98% after 720 thermal cycles between -40°C and 85°C. Certified power conversion efficiency reached 27.69% on small 0.063 cm² devices, 23.63% on larger 15.64 cm² aperture-area cells, and 26.64% on flexible substrates. The paper was published on 22 July 2026.
Perovskites promise solar cells that are cheaper to make than silicon and can be printed on flexible surfaces, but stability under heat and cycling has kept them out of the field. Progress on that durability, alongside high efficiency, moves the technology closer to affordable power generation and to applications silicon cannot easily serve.
The caveats are standard for early research. Nature is providing an unedited early-access version, so errors may remain before final editing, and the article sits behind subscription access. The strongest efficiency figures come from very small lab devices; the larger-area result is lower, which is where real-world panels would live.
Source: Nature