Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.
Advertisement
Nature Energy (2025)
2129
20
Metrics details
Achieving operational stability in halide perovskite solar cells remains a critical challenge for commercialization. Ionic liquids are promising bulk modifiers, yet their mechanistic role in perovskite crystallization is poorly understood. Here we engineered an ionic liquid, methoxyethoxymethyl-1-methylimidazole chloride (MEM-MIM-Cl), with an ethylene glycol ether side chain that regulates perovskite growth and stabilizes buried interfaces via synergistic interactions with NiOx. MEM-MIM-Cl induces a novel intermediate phase through chelation with undercoordinated Pb(II), suppressing defects and defect-induced degradation. Solar cells incorporating MEM-MIM-Cl achieved a power conversion efficiency of 25.9% and retained 90% of their initial performance after 1,500 h under continuous 1-sun illumination and 90 °C thermal stress—surpassing prior benchmarks under milder ageing conditions. Furthermore, diurnal cyclic ageing revealed unprecedented fatigue resistance, highlighting the dual role of MEM-MIM-Cl in simultaneously enhancing efficiency and operational resilience. This work elucidates design principles for functional ionic liquids while advancing perovskite photovoltaics towards industrial viability.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the Article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.
Khorasani, A., Mohamadkhani, F., Marandi, M., Luo, H. & Abdi-Jalebi, M. Opportunities, challenges, and strategies for scalable deposition of metal halide perovskite solar cells and modules. Adv. Energy Sustain. Res. 5, 2300275 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Duan, L. et al. Stability challenges for the commercialization of perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells. Nat. Rev. Mater. 8, 261–281 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Li, N., Niu, X., Chen, Q. & Zhou, H. Towards commercialization: the operational stability of perovskite solar cells. Chem. Soc. Rev. 49, 8235–8286 (2020).
Article Google Scholar
Faheem, M. B. et al. Insights from scalable fabrication to operational stability and industrial opportunities for perovskite solar cells and modules. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 3, 100827 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Zhao, X. et al. Operationally stable perovskite solar modules enabled by vapor-phase fluoride treatment. Science 385, 433–438 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Ahn, N. & Choi, M. Towards long-term stable perovskite solar cells: degradation mechanisms and stabilization techniques. Adv. Sci. 11, 2306110 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Yang, C. et al. Achievements, challenges, and future prospects for industrialization of perovskite solar cells. Light 13, 227 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Jiang, Q. et al. Towards linking lab and field lifetimes of perovskite solar cells. Nature 623, 313–318 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Liu, X. et al. Stabilization of photoactive phases for perovskite photovoltaics. Nat. Rev. Chem. 7, 462–479 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Agresti, A., Di Giacomo, F., Pescetelli, S. & Di Carlo, A. Scalable deposition techniques for large-area perovskite photovoltaic technology: A multi-perspective review. Nano Energy 122, 109317 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Miao, Y. et al. Green solvent enabled scalable processing of perovskite solar cells with high efficiency. Nat. Sustain. 6, 1465–1473 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Zhu, P. et al. Toward the commercialization of perovskite solar modules. Adv. Mater. 36, 2307357 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Duan, C. et al. Oriented growth for efficient and scalable perovskite solar cells by vapor–solid reaction. Adv. Funct. Mater. 34, 2313435 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Zou, S. et al. Scalable large area perovskite solar cell modules fabricated with high humidity tolerance by vacuum deposition. Mater. Today Energy 40, 101506 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Zhang, G. et al. Suppressing interfacial nucleation competition through supersaturation regulation for enhanced perovskite film quality and scalability. Sci. Adv. 10, eadl6398 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Jeon, N. J. et al. Compositional engineering of perovskite materials for high-performance solar cells. Nature 517, 476–480 (2015).
Article Google Scholar
Zheng, D., Raffin, F., Volovitch, P. & Pauporté, T. Control of perovskite film crystallization and growth direction to target homogeneous monolithic structures. Nat. Commun. 13, 6655 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Li, M. et al. Orientated crystallization of FA-based perovskite via hydrogen-bonded polymer network for efficient and stable solar cells. Nat. Commun. 14, 573 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Frohna, K. et al. The impact of interfacial quality and nanoscale performance disorder on the stability of alloyed perovskite solar cells. Nat. Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01660-1 (2024).
Zhao, C. et al. Stabilization of highly efficient perovskite solar cells with a tailored supramolecular interface. Nat. Commun. 15, 7139 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Liu, Z. et al. A holistic approach to interface stabilization for efficient perovskite solar modules with over 2,000-hour operational stability. Nat. Energy 5, 596–604 (2020).
Article Google Scholar
Mariani, P. et al. Low-temperature strain-free encapsulation for perovskite solar cells and modules passing multifaceted accelerated ageing tests. Nat. Commun. 15, 4552 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Wang, F. et al. Recent progress in ionic liquids for stability engineering of perovskite solar cells. Small Struct. 3, 2200048 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Akin, S., Akman, E. & Sonmezoglu, S. FAPbI3-based perovskite solar cells employing hexyl-based ionic liquid with an efficiency over 20% and excellent long-term stability. Adv. Funct. Mater. 30, 2002964 (2020).
Article Google Scholar
Wang, F. et al. Ionic liquid engineering in perovskite photovoltaics. Energy Environ. Mater. 6, e12435 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Zhu, X. et al. Ionic-liquid-perovskite capping layer for stable 24.33%-efficient solar cell. Adv. Energy Mater. 12, 2103491 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Pei, Y. et al. Ionic liquids for advanced materials. Mater. Today Nano 17, 100159 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Bai, S. et al. Planar perovskite solar cells with long-term stability using ionic liquid additives. Nature 571, 245–250 (2019).
Article Google Scholar
Li, G. et al. Ionic liquid stabilizing high-efficiency tin halide perovskite solar cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 11, 2101539 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Shen, Y. et al. Functional ionic liquid polymer stabilizer for high-performance perovskite photovoltaics. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 135, e202300690 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Wang, Y. et al. Ionic liquid stabilized perovskite solar modules with power conversion efficiency exceeding 20%. Adv. Funct. Mater. 32, 2204396 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Mann, D. S. et al. Interfacial engineering of nickel oxide-perovskite interface with amino acid complexed NiO to improve perovskite solar cell performance. Small 20, 2405953 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Xu, W. et al. Multifunctional entinostat enhances the mechanical robustness and efficiency of flexible perovskite solar cells and minimodules. Nat. Photonics 18, 379–387 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Zhang, D., Li, D., Hu, Y., Mei, A. & Han, H. Degradation pathways in perovskite solar cells and how to meet international standards. Commun. Mater. 3, 58 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Tumen-Ulzii, G. et al. Detrimental effect of unreacted PbI2 on the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells. Adv. Mater. 32, 1905035 (2020).
Article Google Scholar
Ahmad, Z. et al. Understanding the effect of lead iodide excess on the performance of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite solar cells. ACS Energy Lett. 7, 1912–1919 (2022).
Article MathSciNet Google Scholar
Cao, K. et al. Managing excess lead iodide with ordered distribution and reduced photoactivity via chelating ligands for stable inverted perovskite solar cells. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 14, 8604–8611 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Wu, Y. et al. Retarding the crystallization of PbI2 for highly reproducible planar-structured perovskite solar cells via sequential deposition. Energy Environ. Sci. 7, 2934–2938 (2014).
Article Google Scholar
Liu, Z. et al. Eliminating halogen vacancies enables efficient MACL-assisted formamidine perovskite solar cells. Adv. Sci. 11, 2306280 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Chen, X., Kamat, P. V., Janáky, C. & Samu, G. F. Charge transfer kinetics in halide perovskites: on the constraints of time-resolved spectroscopy measurements. ACS Energy Lett. 9, 3187–3203 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Lin, Y. et al. A piperidinium salt stabilizes efficient metal-halide perovskite solar cells. Science 369, 96–102 (2020).
Article Google Scholar
Download references
This work was primarily supported by First Solar Inc. Y.T. and L.D. acknowledge funding support from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy under award nos. DE-EE0009519 and DE-EE0010734. This work was also authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the US Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC36-08GO28308. K.Z. and S.P.H. acknowledge support from the HydroGEN Advanced Water Splitting Materials Consortium, established as part of the Energy Materials Network under the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the US government. The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes.
These authors contributed equally: Wenzhan Xu, Wenhao Shao.
Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Wenzhan Xu, Wenhao Shao, Yuanhao Tang, Chenjian Lin, Yu-Ting Yang, Jeong Hui Kim, Prashant Kumar & Letian Dou
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Hanjun Yang & Letian Dou
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Gangsan Lee
Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Kevin R. Pedersen & Kenneth R. Graham
Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Aidan H. Coffey & Chenhui Zhu
Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
Steven P. Harvey & Kai Zhu
Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Letian Dou
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
L.D., W.X. and W.S. conceived of the idea. L.D. supervised the projects and process. W.X. fabricated perovskite films and devices for performance measurement and characterization. W.S. synthesized the ionic liquids. Y.T. carried out the SEM and EQE measurements. H.Y. conducted the TRPL and data analysis. Y.-T.Y. carried out the FTIR spectroscopy. J.H.K. conducted the Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). G.L. and P.K. prepared the NiOx and part of the J–V measurement. C.L. conducted NMR and data analysis. K.R.P. and K.R.G. conducted the XPS/UPS measurement. A.H.C. and C.Z. carried out Grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). S.P.H. and K.Z. conducted TOF-SIMS. L.D., W.X. and W.S. wrote the original draft. All authors contributed to the revision of the manuscript.
Correspondence to Letian Dou.
L.D., W.X. and W.S. are inventors of a patent application (filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 4 November 2024 and accorded Application No. 63/715,757) related to the molecular design and solar cell applications of the ionic liquids presented in this work. All other authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Energy thanks Bin Chen, Henry Snaith and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary note, Figs. 1–43 and Tables 1–5.
The source data of Supplementary Figs. 6a, 6b, 23, 25a, 25b,27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 41, 42a, 42b, 43a and 43b.
Source Data Fig. 4a Tabulated J–V data. Source Data Fig. 4d The individual data for device efficiency. Source Data Fig. 4e The individual data for device efficiency.
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
Reprints and permissions
Xu, W., Shao, W., Tang, Y. et al. Ionic liquids improve the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells. Nat Energy (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01906-6
Download citation
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01906-6
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative
Advertisement
Nature Energy (Nat Energy)
ISSN 2058-7546 (online)
© 2025 Springer Nature Limited
Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.
