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Nature Energy (2026)
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Incorporating two-dimensional (2D) perovskite phases at the interfaces of three-dimensional (3D) perovskite solar cells improves device performance. These 2D structures form in the bulk and at interfaces of the perovskite film by adding long-chain ammonium salts into the perovskite, but achieving them exclusively at the buried interface remains challenging. Here we sequentially graft thioglycolic acid and oleylamine onto SnO2 nanoparticles. The strong chemical bond between thioglycolic acid and oleylamine ensures that cation exchange with formamidinium iodide, a perovskite precursor, occurs only during thermal annealing, creating a 2D/3D perovskite structure solely at the bottom interface. This localized 2D layer accelerates 3D phase formation, enhances perovskite crystallization and reduces defect concentration at the interface by over tenfold. The resulting solar cells achieve power conversion efficiencies of 26.19% (certified 26.04%, 0.09 cm2), 23.44% (aperture area of 21.54 cm2, certified 22.68%) and 22.22% (aperture area of 64.80 cm2), respectively.
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S.P. acknowledges funding support from the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB1140000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52272255, U23A20141), the Young Taishan Scholar Program (tstp20240521), Key R&D Program of Shandong Province (2024SFGC0102) and Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory (QIBEBT/SEI/QNESL S202305). K.W. acknowledges funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62474142), Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi Province (2025GH-YBXM-011) and Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2024YQ070). X.W. acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22379156). We also thank L. Z. Hao at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for support with the STEM measurements.
These authors contributed equally: Qiangqiang Zhao, Bingqian Zhang, Wei Hui.
State Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Conversion and Utilization of Solar Energy, Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China
Qiangqiang Zhao, Bingqian Zhang, Kun Gao, Hongpei Ji, Xiuhong Sun, Xiaopeng Feng, Cheng Peng, Kaiyu Wang, Caiyun Gao, Xiao Wang & Shuping Pang
Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China
Qiangqiang Zhao, Chenyang Zhang, Qi Zhang & Kai Wang
School of Materials Science and Engineering Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China
Bingqian Zhang, Kun Gao & Li Wang
Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Wei Hui
School of Management, Xián Polytechnic University, Xián, China
Han Wang
Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), Zhangjiang Laboratory, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Zhenhuang Su
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Division of Physical Science and Engineering, and KAUST Solar Center, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Stefaan De Wolf
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S.P., S.D.W. and K.W. supervised the project. S.P., Q. Zhao. and K.W. conceived the ideas. Q. Zhao. designed the experiments and conducted the device fabrication and characterization. B.Z. contributed to the module fabrication and stability test and part of the characterization and analyses. W.H. and Z.S. helped with the GIWAXS characterization and analyses. Q. Zhang. and H.W. helped with ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and FTIR measurements. C.Z. helped with SEM characterization. X.S. and X.F. contributed to part of the TRPL measurements. C.P. and K.W. carried out transient absorption (TA) measurements. C.G. performed the trap state density and SCLC measurements. K.G. and H.J. contributed to part of the perovskite solar cell measurements. X.W. helped with FTIR and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements and analyses. L.W., S.P. and K.W. participated in all the data analyses. S.P., K.W. and Q. Zhao. wrote the paper, and all authors have given approval to the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to Li Wang, Shuping Pang, Stefaan De Wolf or Kai Wang.
S.P., Q.Z., X.W. and K.G. are the inventors of a patent application (filed in the China National Intellectual Property Administration on 10 November 2025 and accorded as application number 2025116336006) related to preparing carboxylate- and aminyl-ligand-modified tin oxide nanoparticles and its applications in this work. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Energy thanks Nam Jeon 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.
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Zhao, Q., Zhang, B., Hui, W. et al. Buried 2D/3D heterojunction in n–i–p perovskite solar cells through solid-state ligand-exchange reaction. Nat Energy (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-01980-4
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