Omnidirectional ionic locking network for stable perovskite photovoltaics

Daming Zheng; Tianyin Miao; Zuhong Zhang; Karol Vegso; Tao Zhu; Luyao Wang; Zhiyuan Xu; Sami Ullah; Lenka Pribusova Slusna; Gunhee Kim; Dingqin Hu; Patrick Fong; Zonghao Liu; Jie Lv; Peter Siffalovic; Nada Mrkyvkova; Wei Chen; Antonio Abate; Meng Li; Gang Li

doi:10.1038/s41566-026-01918-y

Omnidirectional ionic locking network for stable perovskite photovoltaics

Daming Zheng (Co-first Author)
, Tianyin Miao (Co-first Author)
, Zuhong Zhang (Co-first Author)
, Karol Vegso
, Tao Zhu
, Luyao Wang^*
, Zhiyuan Xu
, Sami Ullah
, Lenka Pribusova Slusna
, Gunhee Kim
, Dingqin Hu
, Patrick Fong
, Zonghao Liu^*
, Jie Lv
, Peter Siffalovic
, Nada Mrkyvkova
, Wei Chen
, Antonio Abate^*
, Meng Li^*
, Gang Li^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The efficiency–stability trade-off in perovskite solar cells continues to be challenged by issues such as ion migration and defects at grain boundaries and interfaces. Here we address this challenge by an in situ kinetic processing route using a bifunctional spacer, 2-(prop-2-en-1-ylsulfanyl)ethan-1-amine hydrochloride (PYA). Arresting annealing at a metastable stage enables PYA infiltration along widened grain boundaries and incompletely crystallized buried interfaces, whereas deep-ultraviolet activation crosslinks PYA to form a phase-pure 2D ‘nanomesh’ that encapsulates three-dimensional grains. This omnidirectional network enables defect passivation across the surface, bulk and interface; suppresses electrostrictive lattice distortion by over 80%; and reduces iodide migration ratio by more than 55%, linking mechanical reinforcement to operational resilience. Devices deliver a power conversion efficiency of 27.37% (certified, 27.01%) and retain over 90% performance after 2,110 h of 1-sun illumination, over 95% after 2,400 h at 85 °C in a N₂ atmosphere, and 97% after 500 thermal cycles between −40 °C and 85 °C. These results demonstrate a viable pathway towards inherently stable, high-efficiency perovskite photovoltaics. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.

Original language	English
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nature Photonics
Online published	29 May 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-026-01918-y
Publication status	Online published - 29 May 2026

Funding

G.L. acknowledges support from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (GRF 15307922, 15310625, JRS N_PolyU567/24, C4005-22Y); RGC Senior Research Fellowship Scheme (SRFS2223-5S01); the Hong Kong Polytechnic University: Sir Sze-yuen Chung Endowed Professorship Fund (8-8480), RISE (1-CDC6); Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Photonic-Thermal-Electrical Energy Materials and Devices (GDSTC number 2019B121205001). N.M. acknowledges support from IMPULZ project number IM-2023-82 of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV-21-0297), and Joint Research Projects V4-Korea number 2023/727/PVKSC. P.S. acknowledges support from the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV-24-0321) and ITMS project number 313021T081. L.P.S. acknowledges support from the PostdokGrant APD0021, and VEGA 2/0046/23. W.C. and Z.L. acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 52473301 and W2412077); the Fundamental Research Support Program of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2025BRB016), the State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources (LAPS25001), and the Innovation Project of Optics Valley Laboratory (OVL2025YZ004). M.L. acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, General Program Project (number 52472199), and the Outstanding Youth Fund of the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (number 242300421069). The authors thank Shenzhen HUASUAN Technology Co., Ltd for assistance on theoretical calculations.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

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Zheng, D., Miao, T., Zhang, Z., Vegso, K., Zhu, T., Wang, L., Xu, Z., Ullah, S., Slusna, L. P., Kim, G., Hu, D., Fong, P., Liu, Z., Lv, J., Siffalovic, P., Mrkyvkova, N., Chen, W., Abate, A., Li, M., & Li, G. (2026). Omnidirectional ionic locking network for stable perovskite photovoltaics. Nature Photonics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-026-01918-y

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abstract = "The efficiency–stability trade-off in perovskite solar cells continues to be challenged by issues such as ion migration and defects at grain boundaries and interfaces. Here we address this challenge by an in situ kinetic processing route using a bifunctional spacer, 2-(prop-2-en-1-ylsulfanyl)ethan-1-amine hydrochloride (PYA). Arresting annealing at a metastable stage enables PYA infiltration along widened grain boundaries and incompletely crystallized buried interfaces, whereas deep-ultraviolet activation crosslinks PYA to form a phase-pure 2D {\textquoteleft}nanomesh{\textquoteright} that encapsulates three-dimensional grains. This omnidirectional network enables defect passivation across the surface, bulk and interface; suppresses electrostrictive lattice distortion by over 80\%; and reduces iodide migration ratio by more than 55\%, linking mechanical reinforcement to operational resilience. Devices deliver a power conversion efficiency of 27.37\% (certified, 27.01\%) and retain over 90\% performance after 2,110 h of 1-sun illumination, over 95\% after 2,400 h at 85 °C in a N2 atmosphere, and 97\% after 500 thermal cycles between −40 °C and 85 °C. These results demonstrate a viable pathway towards inherently stable, high-efficiency perovskite photovoltaics. {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.",

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AU - Zheng, Daming

AU - Miao, Tianyin

AU - Zhang, Zuhong

AU - Vegso, Karol

AU - Zhu, Tao

AU - Wang, Luyao

AU - Xu, Zhiyuan

AU - Ullah, Sami

AU - Slusna, Lenka Pribusova

AU - Kim, Gunhee

AU - Hu, Dingqin

AU - Fong, Patrick

AU - Liu, Zonghao

AU - Lv, Jie

AU - Siffalovic, Peter

AU - Mrkyvkova, Nada

AU - Chen, Wei

AU - Abate, Antonio

AU - Li, Meng

AU - Li, Gang

PY - 2026/5/29

Y1 - 2026/5/29

N2 - The efficiency–stability trade-off in perovskite solar cells continues to be challenged by issues such as ion migration and defects at grain boundaries and interfaces. Here we address this challenge by an in situ kinetic processing route using a bifunctional spacer, 2-(prop-2-en-1-ylsulfanyl)ethan-1-amine hydrochloride (PYA). Arresting annealing at a metastable stage enables PYA infiltration along widened grain boundaries and incompletely crystallized buried interfaces, whereas deep-ultraviolet activation crosslinks PYA to form a phase-pure 2D ‘nanomesh’ that encapsulates three-dimensional grains. This omnidirectional network enables defect passivation across the surface, bulk and interface; suppresses electrostrictive lattice distortion by over 80%; and reduces iodide migration ratio by more than 55%, linking mechanical reinforcement to operational resilience. Devices deliver a power conversion efficiency of 27.37% (certified, 27.01%) and retain over 90% performance after 2,110 h of 1-sun illumination, over 95% after 2,400 h at 85 °C in a N2 atmosphere, and 97% after 500 thermal cycles between −40 °C and 85 °C. These results demonstrate a viable pathway towards inherently stable, high-efficiency perovskite photovoltaics. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.

AB - The efficiency–stability trade-off in perovskite solar cells continues to be challenged by issues such as ion migration and defects at grain boundaries and interfaces. Here we address this challenge by an in situ kinetic processing route using a bifunctional spacer, 2-(prop-2-en-1-ylsulfanyl)ethan-1-amine hydrochloride (PYA). Arresting annealing at a metastable stage enables PYA infiltration along widened grain boundaries and incompletely crystallized buried interfaces, whereas deep-ultraviolet activation crosslinks PYA to form a phase-pure 2D ‘nanomesh’ that encapsulates three-dimensional grains. This omnidirectional network enables defect passivation across the surface, bulk and interface; suppresses electrostrictive lattice distortion by over 80%; and reduces iodide migration ratio by more than 55%, linking mechanical reinforcement to operational resilience. Devices deliver a power conversion efficiency of 27.37% (certified, 27.01%) and retain over 90% performance after 2,110 h of 1-sun illumination, over 95% after 2,400 h at 85 °C in a N2 atmosphere, and 97% after 500 thermal cycles between −40 °C and 85 °C. These results demonstrate a viable pathway towards inherently stable, high-efficiency perovskite photovoltaics. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105040510900

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U2 - 10.1038/s41566-026-01918-y

DO - 10.1038/s41566-026-01918-y

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 1749-4885

JO - Nature Photonics

JF - Nature Photonics

ER -

Omnidirectional ionic locking network for stable perovskite photovoltaics

Abstract

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YCRG-ExtU-Lead: Fundamental-Studies-Guided Growing of High-Quality, Mechanically Stable, Reduced-Dimensional Perovskites for Scalable Flexible Optoelectronic Devices

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