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 volume 10, pages 1084–1094 (2025)
4143
8
20
Metrics details
Hole-conductor-free printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells, fabricated by infiltrating perovskite into the preprinted porous TiO2/ZrO2/carbon triple-layer scaffold, offer an approach for the industrial production of photovoltaic panels. Here we introduce a reactive post-processing strategy using hexamethylene diisocyanate to enable efficient collection and transport of holes from the perovskite to the carbon electrode. Hexamethylene diisocyanate reacts with excess organic cations at the perovskite crystal terminations through an electrophilic reaction and reconstructs the grain boundaries and the back interface. The treatment passivates defects, facilitates hole transport in perovskite and enhances hole transfer from the perovskite to the carbon electrode. We achieve an efficiency of 23.2% for the laboratory-size device with an aperture area of 0.1 cm2 and 19.4% for the minimodule with an aperture area of 57.3 cm2. The devices retain 95% of their initial efficiency after 900 h of continuous operation at the maximum power point under elevated temperatures of 55 ± 5 °C.
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
The data that support the findings of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.
Mei, A. et al. A hole-conductor–free, fully printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cell with high stability. Science 345, 295–298 (2014).
Article Google Scholar
Liu, J. et al. Electron injection and defect passivation for high-efficiency mesoporous perovskite solar cells. Science 383, 1198–1204 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Yang, C. et al. Achievements, challenges, and future prospects for industrialization of perovskite solar cells. Light.: Sci. Appl. 13, 227 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Mei, A. et al. Stabilizing perovskite solar cells to IEC61215:2016 standards with over 9,000-h operational tracking. Joule 4, 2646–2660 (2020).
Article Google Scholar
Chen, K. et al. Record-efficiency printable hole-conductor-free mesoscopic perovskite solar cells enabled by the multifunctional Schiff base derivative. Adv. Mater. 36, 2401319 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Worsley, C. et al. Quantifying infiltration for quality control in printed mesoscopic perovskite solar cells: a microscopic perspective. ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 7, 1938–1948 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Worsley, C. et al. Age-induced excellence with green solvents: the impact of residual solvent and post-treatments in screen-printed carbon perovskite solar cells and modules. Mater. Adv. 5, 4354–4436 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Tsuji, R. et al. Role and function of polymer binder thickeners in carbon pastes for multiporous-layered-electrode perovskite solar cells. Chem. Mater. 35, 8574–8589 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Bogachuk, D. et al. Nanoarchitectonics in fully printed perovskite solar cells with carbon-based electrodes. Nanoscale 15, 3130–3134 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Rong, Y. et al. Challenges for commercializing perovskite solar cells. Science 361, eaat8235 (2018).
Article Google Scholar
Bogachuk, D. et al. Perovskite solar cells with carbon-based electrodes—quantification of losses and strategies to overcome them. Adv. Energy Mater. 12, 2103128 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Li, D. et al. A review on scaling up perovskite solar cells. Adv. Funct. Mater. 31, 2008621 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Worsley, C. et al. γ-Valerolactone: a nontoxic green solvent for highly stable printed mesoporous perovskite solar cells. Energy Technol. 9, 2100312 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Shockley, W. & Queisser, H. J. Detailed balance limit of efficiency of p–n junction solar cells. J. Appl. Phys. 32, 510–519 (1961).
Article Google Scholar
Qiu, C. et al. Exploring the charge dynamics and energy loss in printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 12, 2202813 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Xiong, W. et al. Controllable p- and n-type behaviours in emissive perovskite semiconductors. Nature 633, 344–350 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Chen, H. et al. Improved charge extraction in inverted perovskite solar cells with dual-site-binding ligands. Science 384, 189–193 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Fei, C. et al. Strong-bonding hole-transport layers reduce ultraviolet degradation of perovskite solar cells. Science 384, 1126–1134 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Azmi, R. et al. Double-side 2D/3D heterojunctions for inverted perovskite solar cells. Nature 628, 93–98 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Chen, H. et al. Regulating surface potential maximizes voltage in all-perovskite tandems. Nature 613, 676–681 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Huang, Z. et al. Anion–π interactions suppress phase impurities in FAPbI3 solar cells. Nature 623, 531–537 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Jiang, Q. et al. Surface reaction for efficient and stable inverted perovskite solar cells. Nature 611, 278–283 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Zhou, S. et al. Aspartate all-in-one doping strategy enables efficient all-perovskite tandems. Nature 624, 69–73 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Lin, R. et al. All-perovskite tandem solar cells with 3D/3D bilayer perovskite heterojunction. Nature 620, 994–1000 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Liu, C. et al. Two-dimensional perovskitoids enhance stability in perovskite solar cells. Nature 633, 359–364 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Liu, S. et al. Buried interface molecular hybrid for inverted perovskite solar cells. Nature 632, 536–542 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Tan, Q. et al. Inverted perovskite solar cells using dimethylacridine-based dopants. Nature 620, 545–551 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Wang, W.-T. et al. Water- and heat-activated dynamic passivation for perovskite photovoltaics. Nature 632, 294–300 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Zheng, Z. et al. Enhancing the performance of Fa-based printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells via the polymer additive. Adv. Energy Mater. 13, 2204335 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Xiao, X. et al. Depth-dependent post-treatment for reducing voltage loss in printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells. Adv. Sci. 10, 2206331 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Du, J. et al. Minimizing the voltage loss in hole-conductor-free printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 12, 2102229 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Zhao, L. et al. Enabling full-scale grain boundary mitigation in polycrystalline perovskite solids. Sci. Adv. 8, eabo3733 (2022).
Article MathSciNet Google Scholar
Ni, Z. et al. High grain boundary recombination velocity in polycrystalline metal halide perovskites. Sci. Adv. 8, eabq8345 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Xiao, T. et al. Elimination of grain surface concavities for improved perovskite thin-film interfaces. Nat. Energy 9, 999–1010 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Gharibzadeh, S. et al. Two birds with one stone: dual grain-boundary and interface passivation enables >22% efficient inverted methylammonium-free perovskite solar cells. Energy Environ. Sci. 14, 5875–5893 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Hao, M. et al. Flattening grain-boundary grooves for perovskite solar cells with high optomechanical reliability. Adv. Mater. 35, 2211155 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Adhyaksa, G. W. P. et al. Understanding detrimental and beneficial grain boundary effects in halide perovskites. Adv. Mater. 30, 1804792 (2018).
Article Google Scholar
You, P. et al. 2D materials for conducting holes from grain boundaries in perovskite solar cells. Light Sci. Appl. 10, 68 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Yao, K. et al. Plasmon-induced trap filling at grain boundaries in perovskite solar cells. Light Sci. Appl. 10, 219 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Zhu, C. et al. Topochemical assembly minimizes lattice heterogeneity in polycrystalline halide perovskites. Joule 7, 2361–2375 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Liang, Z. et al. Homogenizing out-of-plane cation composition in perovskite solar cells. Nature 624, 557–563 (2023).
Article Google Scholar
Ying, H. et al. Dynamic urea bond for the design of reversible and self-healing polymers. Nat. Commun. 5, 3218 (2014).
Article Google Scholar
Hao, M. et al. Nanoscopic cross-grain cation homogenization in perovskite solar cells. Nat. Nanotechnol. 20, 630–638 (2025).
Article Google Scholar
Kresse, G. et al. Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set. Comput. Mater. Sci. 6, 15–50 (1996).
Article Google Scholar
Kresse, G. et al. Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set. Phys. Rev. B 54, 11169–11186 (1996).
Article Google Scholar
Perdew, J. P. et al. Generalized gradient approximation made simple. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865–3868 (1996).
Article Google Scholar
Kresse, G. et al. From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method. Phys. Rev. B 59, 1758–1775 (1999).
Article Google Scholar
Blöchl, P. E. Projector augmented-wave method. Phys. Rev. B 50, 17953–17979 (1994).
Article Google Scholar
Monkhorst, H. J. et al. Special points for Brillouin-zone integrations. Phys. Rev. B 13, 5188–5192 (1976).
Article MathSciNet Google Scholar
Grimme, S. et al. A consistent and accurate ab initio parametrization of density functional dispersion correction (DFT-D) for the 94 elements H–Pu. J. Chem. Phys. 132, 154104 (2010).
Article Google Scholar
Grimme, S. et al. Effect of the damping function in dispersion corrected density functional theory. J. Comput. Chem. 32, 1456–1465 (2011).
Article Google Scholar
Fu, Z. et al. Encapsulation of printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells enables high temperature and long-term outdoor stability. Adv. Funct. Mater. 29, 1809129 (2019).
Article Google Scholar
Li, S. et al. van der Waals mixed valence tin oxides for perovskite solar cells as UV-stable electron transport materials. Nano Lett. 20, 8178–8184 (2020).
Article Google Scholar
Chen, W. et al. Efficient and stable large-area perovskite solar cells with inorganic charge extraction layers. Science 350, 944–948 (2015).
Article Google Scholar
Li, M. et al. Acceleration of radiative recombination for efficient perovskite LEDs. Nature 630, 631–635 (2024).
Article Google Scholar
Download references
This work was supported by financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 22439001 and 91733301 to H.H., 52172198 and 51902117 to A.M.). We thank the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) for performing various characterization and measurements. The computing work in this Article is supported by the Public Service Platform of High-Performance Computing by the Network and Computing Center of HUST.
These authors contributed equally: Yongming Ma, Jiale Liu, Xiayan Chen.
Michael Grätzel Center for Mesoscopic Solar Cells, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Yongming Ma, Jiale Liu, Xinran Zhao, Jianhang Qi, Chuanzhou Han, Guodong Zhang, Jiayu Xie, Kai Chen, Yanjie Cheng, Junwei Xiang, Yang Zhou, Furi Ling, Yinhua Zhou, Anyi Mei & Hongwei Han
WonderSolar Institute, Wuhan, China
Xiayan Chen, Bin She, Shuang Liu, Youyu Jiang & Yusong Sheng
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Li-Ming Yang
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
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
PubMed Google Scholar
H.H. organized the study; H.H. and A.M. conceived ideas for experiments and manuscript; H.H., A.M. and Y.M. designed the experiments; Y.M. was involved in all experiments; J.L., X.C., J.Q., B.S., S.L., Y.J. and Y.S. contributed to the fabrication of high-performance devices and modules; X.Z. and F.L. contributed to the numerical simulations; L.-M.Y. and C.H. conducted the DFT calculation; G.Z., J. Xie and K.C. contributed to the conductivity measurements; Y.C. and J. Xiang helped with the KPFM measurement; all authors were involved in the discussion of the results. H.H., A.M. and Y.M. wrote the manuscript, and Yang Zhou and Yinhua Zhou helped with revising.
Correspondence to Anyi Mei or Hongwei Han.
H.H. is the founder, adviser and chief scientist of WonderSolar. A.M. is a chief scientist of WonderSolar. The other authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Energy thanks Gerrit Boschloo, Carys Worsley and the other, anonymous, reviewers 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 Figs. 1–28 and Tables 1–13.
The source data of Supplementary Figs. 21, 22, 24 and 25.
The source data of Fig. 4.
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
Ma, Y., Liu, J., Chen, X. et al. Enhancing hole-conductor-free, printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells through post-fabrication treatment via electrophilic reaction. Nat Energy 10, 1084–1094 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01823-8
Download citation
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01823-8
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
Nature Energy (2025)
Nature Communications (2025)
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.
