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Intermediate phase evolution for stable and oriented evaporated wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells

Nature Materials (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Efficient wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells have pushed tandem efficiencies to 34.9%, reinforcing their promise for next-generation photovoltaics. However, their commercial adoption is hindered by stability issues of wide-bandgap perovskites, especially under high-temperature maximum power point tracking conditions. Here we report the stabilization of ~1.7-eV wide-bandgap perovskites via intermediate phase evolution, enabling a self-guided crystal-growth mode. A CsI2Br intermediate phase forms during early stage deposition, directing the oriented growth of polycrystalline films with unique texturing. Atomic-scale scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals that the CsI2Br \((1\bar{2}3)\) facet, with a 2.9-Å interplanar spacing, matches the perovskite (200) facet, guiding coherent {100} growth. This results in enhanced crystallinity, with a 2-order-magnitude increase in the (100) diffraction intensity and a reduced full-width at half-maximum from 0.249° to 0.148°, compared with solution-processed films. The resulting solar cells exhibit outstanding thermal and operational stability, maintaining performance under maximum power point tracking for over 3,000 h at room temperature and over 500 h at 110 °C, with a projected lifetime of ~70,000 h. With 21.37% power conversion efficiency and >84% fill factor, this work presents a compelling route towards stable, high-efficiency tandem photovoltaics.

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Fig. 1: Atomic-scale high-resolution STEM images and SCG induced by CsI2Br intermediate phase.
Fig. 2: Structural evolution of perovskites under thermal stress revealed by STEM.
Fig. 3: Revealing facet-dependent thermal degradation pathway.
Fig. 4: Projecting operational lifetime of perovskites with SCG in different environments.

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The data supporting this study are included in the article and its Supplementary Information. Further information are available from the corresponding authors on request.

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Acknowledgements

Y.H. acknowledges support from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) under its MTC IRG Grant (M23M6c0108). We are affiliated with the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), a research institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS). SERIS is supported by the NUS, the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF), the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). We acknowledge that computational work involved in this research work is fully supported by NUS IT’s Research Computing group under grant number NUSREC-HPC-00001. J.A.S. acknowledges financial support from the Australian Research Council (DE230100173). We thank the staff of the BL11 NCD-SWEET beamline at ALBA Synchrotron for their assistance in recording the GIWAXS data.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Zijing Dong, Jingcong Hu, Xiao Guo.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Zijing Dong, Jingcong Hu, Xiao Guo, Zhuojie Shi, Ran Luo, Qilin Zhou, Nengxu Li, Tao Wang, Jinxi Chen, Yuduan Wang, Jia Li & Yi Hou

  2. Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Zijing Dong, Xiao Guo, Zhuojie Shi, Ran Luo, Qilin Zhou, Nengxu Li, Tao Wang, Jinxi Chen, Ling Kai Lee, Yuduan Wang, Jia Li & Yi Hou

  3. State Key Laboratory of Materials Low-Carbon Recycling, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China

    Jingcong Hu, Manling Sui & Yue Lu

  4. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, Institute of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, China

    Haijie Chen & Yunluo Wang

  5. Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Julian A. Steele

  6. School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Julian A. Steele & Zachary Degnan

  7. NCD-SWEET beamline, ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

    Eduardo Solano

  8. Electronic Engineering Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Nikhil Kalasariya & Martin Stolterfoht

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Contributions

Z. Dong and Y.H. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. Y.H. directed and supervised the project. Z. Dong fabricated the PSCs and conducted stability tests under accelerated aging. J.H., Y.L. and M. Sui conducted the STEM characterization and data analysis. Z. Dong and X.G. investigated the thermal degradation mechanisms and conducted the material and device characterizations. Z.S. helped with the XRD measurement. Q.Z., T.W. and L.K.L. helped with the device fabrication. J.A.S., Z. Degnan and E.S. performed the in situ GIWAXS measurements. H.C. and Yunluo Wang helped with the pole figure measurements. R.L. contributed to the DFT simulations. J.C. helped with the XPS measurements. N.K. and M. Stolterfoht helped with the bias-assisted charge extraction measurement. J.L., N.L. and Yuduan Wang helped with the thermal evaporation of perovskite films. Z. Dong and Y.H. analysed the results and composed the paper. All authors discussed and polished the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yue Lu or Yi Hou.

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Y.H. is the founder of Singfilm Solar, a company commercializing perovskite photovoltaics. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Materials thanks Shangfeng Yang and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–27, Tables 1–6 and Notes 1–4.

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Dong, Z., Hu, J., Guo, X. et al. Intermediate phase evolution for stable and oriented evaporated wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells. Nat. Mater. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02375-8

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