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Nature Energy (2026)
Flexible perovskite solar cells hold promises for lightweight photovoltaics, yet their performance, durability and scalability lag behind rigid counterparts. Conventional efficiency-enhancing strategies, such as grain enlargement or lead iodide passivation, often degrade mechanical robustness. Here we combine data-driven machine learning with a passivation approach to overcome this trade-off. We design β-cyclodextrin derivatives that form in situ self-assembled amorphous grain boundaries, enhancing optoelectronic properties and mechanical resilience through coordination bonds, hydrogen bonds and host–guest interactions. We achieve flexible solar cells with an efficiency of 24.52% and enhanced durability: 92.5% efficiency retention after 10,000 bending cycles, 95% after 300 days in ambient air and 80% under 650 h of maximum power point tracking. We demonstrate modules with certified efficiencies of 21.09% (aperture area: 21.07 cm2) and 17.38% (aperture area: 0.5 m2, 86.9 W). Larger-area module (aperture area: 1.4725 m2) delivers 226 W power output and power per weight of 558 W kg−1. Our work addresses critical barriers in flexible perovskite photovoltaics.
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This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (62475103,62005099), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2021B1515120003). We sincerely thank our colleagues, Y. Deng from Chongqing University and R. Chen from Hubei University of Technology, for their valuable suggestions.
These authors contributed equally: Mingzhu He, Yujiao Ma.
Institute of New Energy Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
Mingzhu He, Yujiao Ma, Shaohang Wu, Huilin Tan, Dong Wenlong, Liang Liu, Haoyang Zhang, Zexing Zhuang, Yin Gao, Yifan Jiao, Hongliang Liu, Maoyuan Wu, Chong Liu, Jiandong Fan & Yaohua Mai
Key Laboratory of New Semiconductors and Devices of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
Mingzhu He, Yujiao Ma, Shaohang Wu, Huilin Tan, Dong Wenlong, Liang Liu, Haoyang Zhang, Zexing Zhuang, Yin Gao, Yifan Jiao, Hongliang Liu, Maoyuan Wu, Chong Liu, Jiandong Fan & Yaohua Mai
Guangdong Mellow Energy Co. Ltd., Zhuhai, China
Shaohang Wu, Yanyan Gao, Cuiling Zhang, Chong Liu, Jiandong Fan & Yaohua Mai
State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Liyuan Han
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S.W., J.F., L.H. and Y. Mai conceived the idea for the manuscript and designed the experiments. M.H., Y. Ma, L.L., H.Z., Y.J. Z.Z., W.M. and H.T. conducted sample preparation, device fabrication, optimization and characterization. Y. Ma conducted the in situ XRD and photoluminescence measurements. W.D. and J.F. performed the machine learning and calculations. M.H., H.L., H.T., Yanyan Gao, Yin Gao, C.Z. and C.L. assisted with solar cell and module fabrication and characterizations. M.H. and Y. Ma wrote the manuscript. S.W. and J.F. revised the manuscript. S.W., J.F., L.H. and Y. Mai led the project. All authors were involved in discussions of data analysis and commented on the manuscript.
Correspondence to Shaohang Wu, Liyuan Han, Jiandong Fan or Yaohua Mai.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Energy thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Supplementary text, Figs. 1–35 and Tables 1–7.
Molecular structure of ABC.
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He, M., Ma, Y., Wu, S. et al. Amorphous grain boundary engineering for scalable flexible perovskite photovoltaics with improved stability. Nat Energy (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01932-4
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