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Nature Energy (2026)
Vacuum deposition is a promising route for the fabrication of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, vacuum-deposited PSCs have not yet matched the performance achieved by solution-processed devices. Here we improve the performance of fully vacuum-deposited PSCs by controlling the solid-state reaction pathway. We find that formamidinium acetate reacts directly with PbI2 to form FAPbI3 seed layers, substantially lowering the barrier to the solid-state conversion of precursors into the crystalline δ-phase and their subsequent transformation into the α-phase perovskite. Moreover, the excess acetate passivates grain boundary defects, thereby suppressing non-radiative recombination. As a result, the PSCs achieve a power conversion efficiency of 25.53% and an electroluminescence external quantum efficiency of 18.38%. Importantly, the solvent-free fabrication also enables excellent device stability, with the devices retaining over 95% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1,000 h under the ISOS-L-1 protocol.
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We acknowledge the assistance from Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) for the GIWAXS measurements.
Y. Chen acknowledges financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 22425903, 62288102 and U24A20568), the Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Disciplines Breakthrough Plan of the Ministry of Education of China (grant number JYB2025XDXM406), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant number 2023YFB4204500), the Basic Research Program of Jiangsu (grant number BK20243057), the Jiangsu Provincial Departments of Science and Technology (grant numbers BE2022023, BK20220010, BZ2023060 and BK20241875) and the open research fund of Suzhou Laboratory (grant number SZLAB-1308-2024-ZD006). Y. Xia acknowledges financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 22379067). Q.G. acknowledges financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number T2441002) and the open research fund of Suzhou Laboratory (grant number SZLAB-1308-2024-ZD006). L.C. acknowledges financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 22409091). Z.H. acknowledges financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 62205142).
State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (LoFE), Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), School of Flexible Electronics (Future Technologies), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), Nanjing, China
Yutian Xu, Tengfei Pan, Xiaorong Shi, Yajing Li, Xinwu Ke, Junhao Liu, Na Meng, Yuanhao Cui, Ziqiang Wang, Kui Xu, Xue Min, Zhelu Hu, Lingfeng Chao, Wei Zhu, Chao Ma, Nana Wang, Qingxun Guo, Yingdong Xia, Yonghua Chen & Wei Huang
Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China
Wei Huang
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Y. Chen and Q.G. conceived the idea and directed the overall project. W.H., Y. Chen, Q.G. and Y. Xia supervised the work. Y. Xu fabricated all the devices and conducted the characterization. T.P. helped with the device fabrication and material characterization. Y.L., X.K. and N.M. performed the PL and EL imaging characterization. J.L., Y. Cui and Z.W. performed the atomic Kelvin probe force microscopy imaging characterization. K.X. and X.S. performed the DFT and molecular dynamics calculations. X.M., L.C., Z.H. and N.W. participated in data analysis. Y. Xia, Q.G. and Y. Chen wrote the paper. All authors read and commented on the paper.
Correspondence to Qingxun Guo, Yingdong Xia, Yonghua Chen or Wei Huang.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Energy thanks Shun-Wei Liu, Mathias Rothmann and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Supplementary Notes 1–9, Figs. 1–66 and Tables 1–8.
The annealing process of perovskite precursor film at 175 °C, performed under ambient air condition with an RH of 20–30%.
The annealing process of perovskite mixed powders at room temperature to 175 °C, performed under ambient air condition with an RH of 20–30%.
Evolution process of PbI2/FAI and FAI/PbI2/FAAc mixed powders during thermal annealing in an air environment with an RH of 20–30%.
Statistical source data for Supplementary Fig. 52.
Statistical source data for Supplementary Fig. 57.
Statistical source data for Supplementary Fig. 59.
Statistical source data.
Statistical source data.
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Xu, Y., Pan, T., Shi, X. et al. Controlled solid-state crystallization with formamidinium acetate for fully vacuum-deposited perovskite solar cells. Nat Energy (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-02093-8
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