Tailoring pyridine bridged chalcogen-concave molecules for defects passivation enables efficient and stable perovskite solar cells

Muhammad Azam; Yao Ma; Boxue Zhang; Xiangfeng Shao; Zhongquan Wan; Huaibiao Zeng; Haomiao Yin; Junsheng Luo; Chunyang Jia

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-55815-z

Tailoring pyridine bridged chalcogen-concave molecules for defects passivation enables efficient and stable perovskite solar cells

Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 11;16(1):602. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-55815-z.

Authors

Muhammad Azam^#¹, Yao Ma^#², Boxue Zhang^#³, Xiangfeng Shao⁴, Zhongquan Wan⁵, Huaibiao Zeng¹, Haomiao Yin¹, Junsheng Luo⁶, Chunyang Jia⁷

Affiliations

¹ National Key Laboratory of Electronic Films and Integrated Devices, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, P. R. China.
² State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, P. R. China.
³ Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris (IRCP) UMR8247, Chimie ParisTech, PSL University CNRS, Paris, France.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, P. R. China. [email protected].
⁵ National Key Laboratory of Electronic Films and Integrated Devices, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, P. R. China. [email protected].
⁶ National Key Laboratory of Electronic Films and Integrated Devices, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, P. R. China. [email protected].
⁷ National Key Laboratory of Electronic Films and Integrated Devices, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, P. R. China. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Suppressing deep-level defects at the perovskite bulk and surface is indispensable for reducing the non-radiative recombination losses and improving efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this study, two Lewis bases based on chalcogen-thiophene (n-Bu4S) and selenophene (n-Bu4Se) having tetra-pyridine as bridge are developed to passivate defects in perovskite film. The uncoordinated Pb²⁺ and iodine vacancy defects can interact with chalcogen-concave group and pyridine group through the formation of the Lewis acid-base adduct, particularly both the defects can be surrounded by concave molecules, resulting in effective suppression charge recombination. This approach enables a power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 25.37% (25.18% certified) for n-i-p PSCs with stable operation at 65 °C and 1-sun illumination for 1300 hours in N₂ (ISOS-L-2 protocol), retaining 94% of the initial efficiency. Our work provides insight into the bowl-shaped Lewis base in defects passivation by coordinated strategy for high-performance photovoltaic devices.

Grants and funding

22175029, 62104031 and 62374029/National Science Foundation of China | National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan Joint Fund (NSFC-Yunnan Joint Fund)