Perovskite solar cells have attracted widespread attention due to their excellent photovoltaic conversion efficiency and low-cost manufacturing potential. However, in practical applications, insufficient long-term stability and performance degradation in large-area modules remain key bottlenecks limiting their large-scale commercialization. Compared with traditional metal electrodes, carbon electrodes offer advantages such as lower cost, higher stability, and hydrophobicity, which help enhance the overall durability of devices. Additionally, carbon electrodes are more compatible with printing processes, making them an ideal choice for fully printed perovskite modules. Nevertheless, despite these advantages, the power conversion efficiency of carbon-based modules has long lagged significantly behind that of metal-electrode devices, posing a critical challenge in the field.
Recently, a research team led by Professor Shihe Yang (also Senior Researcher at the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory) from the School of Advanced Materials, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, in collaboration with Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and other institutions, proposed a scalable vapor-phase post-treatment strategy. This approach enables uniform passivation of large-area perovskite films, significantly improving both the power conversion efficiency and long-term stability of fully printed carbon-based modules. The study, titled “Vapour-assisted surface treatment for highly stable fully printed carbon-electrode perovskite solar modules”, was published in the internationally renowned journal Nature Photonics.
Figure 1. Fully printed carbon-based perovskite solar cell modules:
(A) Device structure,
(B) Fabrication process,
(C) Chemical structure of the FP molecule and its charge distribution,
(D) Vapor-phase treatment setup and the interaction mechanism,
(E) Outdoor demonstration photograph.
This vapor-phase post-treatment strategy is based on a carefully selected series of low-boiling liquid fluorophenylthiol (FP) molecules (2FP, 3FP, 4FP). Using a mild thermal evaporation technique, it achieves uniform passivation of large-area perovskite films. Experimental results and theoretical calculations show that the thiol groups (–SH) in the FP molecules can effectively bind with uncoordinated Pb⟡⁺ ions on the perovskite surface, efficiently passivating interfacial defects. The study further found that vapor-phase treatment allows molecular adsorption to reach saturation, enabling high-efficiency passivation while avoiding the formation of an excessively thick insulating layer. Moreover, the molecular configuration plays a key role in adsorption kinetics; the structurally symmetric 4FP molecule interacts most strongly with uncoordinated Pb⟡⁺ ions and achieves the highest adsorption. Overall, this strategy significantly reduces surface defect density in large-area perovskite films, suppresses non-radiative recombination, and accelerates charge extraction, thereby greatly enhancing module performance.
Using this approach, the team successfully fabricated fully printed carbon-electrode perovskite solar modules with an active area of 50 cm⟡, achieving a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.41%, with a third-party certified efficiency of 19.26%—the highest reported to date for carbon-based perovskite modules.
In terms of stability, unencapsulated modules maintained nearly unchanged efficiency after continuous operation under 65°C and 1-sun illumination for 1020 hours. Under harsh damp-heat conditions (85°C, 85% relative humidity) for 2280 hours, the modules still retained over 84% of their initial efficiency, demonstrating excellent high-temperature and high-humidity durability.
This study demonstrates that a carefully designed vapor-phase post-treatment strategy can overcome the longstanding trade-off between low-cost, scalable fabrication and high performance in carbon-based perovskite modules, providing a viable technical pathway for industrial-scale application.
Professor Shihe Yang (also Senior Researcher at Shenzhen Bay Laboratory) from the School of Advanced Materials at Peking University, Professor Haining Chen from Beihang University, and Associate Professor Yang Bai from Beijing Institute of Technology are the co-corresponding authors. Doctoral students Xiaozhen Wei and Kai Zhang are co-first authors. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shenzhen Peacock Program, and the Nanshan Leading Team Project.
Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-025-01790-2
