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Nature Photonics (2026)
Metal halide perovskite solar cells have achieved notable progress over the past 15 years. However, due to their ionic nature, they are vulnerable under an electric bias. This issue limits their application in solar modules under partial shade, which often occurs in real-world operation. Here we developed a van der Waals antimony oxide (Sb2O3) interlayer at the perovskite/electron transport layer interface using scalable thermal evaporation. Thanks to its two-dimensional molecular crystal structure, the interlayer forms an atomically compact physical barrier that effectively passivates trap states, suppresses interfacial ion migration and enhances electrical robustness. Devices featuring the Sb2O3 interlayer achieved a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 27.3% and demonstrated a high reverse-bias resistance of −22.3 V. We demonstrate solar modules with an area of 62.37 cm2 and a certified PCE of 23.1%. They retained 96.4% of their initial PCE after 1,000 h of maximum power point tracking at a temperature of 65 ± 5 °C. The modules also maintained 91.2% of their initial PCE after 1,510 h of a shading test at 65 ± 5 °C. Our strategy provides an effective approach for enhancing the reverse-bias stability of perovskite solar cells and paves the way for their practical application in photovoltaic modules.
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Q.C. acknowledges the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22479015). Y. Bai acknowledges the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52172182). C. Zhu acknowledges the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52473272). H.Z. acknowledges the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52125206). Yu Zhang acknowledges the support of National Key R&D Program of China (Grant Nos. 2022YFA1402502 and 2022YFA1402602). We acknowledge the support of C. Zhang from the Tianjin Institute of Power Sources for assistance with device fabrication and the Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Program Project (Grant No. 24ZXZSSS00470).
These authors contributed equally: Teng Cheng, Ying Zhang, Zipeng Xu.
MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, Experimental Center of Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, P. R. China
Teng Cheng, Ying Zhang, Zipeng Xu, Yujiang Du, Yunlu Cui, Mengqi Guo, Lan Wang, Fengtao Pei, Yuheng Man, Fenglong Kang, Yan Yang, Honghe Yao, Mengqi Xiao, Hanyuan Chen, Xu Liu, Tinglu Song, Yan Jiang, Yang Bai & Qi Chen
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, P. R. China
Yue Ma, Shuoyang Xu & Huanping Zhou
School of Physics and Astronomy, Applied Optics Beijing Area Major Laboratory, Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China
Pengxiang Zhang & Wenkai Zhang
School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Yining Bao & Zhenhai Yang
School of Interdisciplinary Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Can Zhang, Yu Zhang, Cheng Zhu & Qi Chen
School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Yeliang Wang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, P. R. China
Haining Chen
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T.C., Y. Bai and Q.C. conceived the idea. Y. Bai, C. Zhu and Q.C. supervised the research. T.C., Ying Zhang and Z.X. carried out the fabrication and characterization of the PSCs. T.C., Ying Zhang, Y.C., Y. Ma, S.X., M.G. and Y.Y. carried out the fabrication and characterization of the perovskite solar modules. Y.D., F.P., Y. Man, F.K., H.Y., Haining Chen, P.Z., Z.X. and W.Z. prepared the samples and carried out the optical spectroscopy characterizations. T.C. and L.W. performed the transient photocurrent and transient photovoltage measurements and data analysis. Y. Bai and T.S. carried out the ToF-SIMS measurements. Hanyuan Chen and X.L. carried out the TEM measurements. Yu Zhang, C. Zhang and Y.W. carried out the STM measurements. Y.D. conducted the DFT calculations. Y. Bao and Z.Y. constructed the comprehensive optoelectronic model for PSCs. Y.J. and H.Z. provided advice on measurements. T.C., Ying Zhang, Y. Bai and Q.C. analysed the data and wrote the article. All authors discussed the results and commented on the paper. T.C., Ying Zhang and Z.X. contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to Cheng Zhu, Yang Bai or Qi Chen.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Photonics thanks Sang Il Seok 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 Methods, Figs. 1–37, Note 1, Tables 1–6 and refs. 1–7.
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Cheng, T., Zhang, Y., Xu, Z. et al. Atomically dense Sb2O3 interlayer for highly stable perovskite photovoltaic modules. Nat. Photon. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-026-01893-4
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