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A synthetically tailored conjugated polymer for thermal and charge management in perovskite interfaces

Nature Synthesis (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Limited heat dissipation at perovskite and adjacent-layer interfaces causes local overheating and accelerates degradation in perovskite photovoltaics. Conventional thermal interface materials mitigate heat buildup but often hinder interfacial charge transport. Here we prepare a solution-processable alkynyl-functionalized porphyrin conjugated polymer that offers high charge mobility and efficient heat conduction. Terahertz spectroscopy yields a carrier mobility of 0.76 cm2 V−1 s−1, and laser flash analysis shows a thermal conductivity of 0.97 W m−1 K−1. When incorporated as an interfacial layer between the perovskite and the hole-transport material, the polymer’s favourable charge-transport property enables a 23.04% certified power conversion efficiency in 64.8-cm2-aperture minimodules. Improved interfacial heat conduction lowers the operating temperature under AM 1.5G illumination from 44.0 °C to 40.4 °C, enhancing stability with >95% efficiency retention in unencapsulated devices after 1,000 hours of continuous operation. This work establishes a solution-processable, high-mobility thermal interface material for efficient interfacial thermal management in optoelectronic devices.

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Fig. 1: Synthesis route of the polymer.
Fig. 2: Characterization of polymer properties.
Fig. 3: Distribution analyses of polymer within perovskite film.
Fig. 4: Polymer-driven modulation of perovskite film properties.
Fig. 5: Impact of polymer on heat transfer characteristics.
Fig. 6: Device performance and stability.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the published article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Disciplines Breakthrough Plan of the Ministry of Education of China (grant no. JYB2025XDXM303), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 22371096, 22221001, 22505096 and 22405110) and Chief Scientist Program of Gansu Province (grant no. 25RCKA019). We acknowledge the beamlines BL14B1 and BL03HB at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility for providing beam time. We also thank J. Du, Z. Zhang and X. Zu (School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) for access to the THz testing platform and for valuable technical guidance.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Sibei Mai, Zhen-Yang Suo, Chen Lu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Natural Product Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, P.R. China

    Sibei Mai, Zhen-Yang Suo, Chen Lu, Guo-Bin Xiao, Xijiao Mu, Yu Tang & Jing Cao

  2. Center for Hydrogen Energy and Low Carbon, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, P.R. China

    Guo-Bin Xiao & Jing Cao

  3. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, P.R. China

    Fan Yang

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Contributions

J.C. conceived and supervised the project. S.M. fabricated and characterized the devices and carried out materials-related experiments and measurements. Z.-Y.S. fabricated the mini-module devices. C.L. and X.M. performed the theoretical calculations. G.-B.X. conducted and analysed the THz measurements. F.Y. performed and analysed the thermal transport and time-resolved TOF-SIMS measurements. Y.T. conducted and analysed the temperature-dependent UV photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. All authors participated in the experiments, discussed the results and contributed to writing the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Guo-Bin Xiao, Fan Yang or Jing Cao.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Synthesis thanks Hanul Min and Shengchun Yang for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available. Primary Handling Editor: Alexandra Groves, in collaboration with the Nature Synthesis team.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (download PDF )

Experimental Section, Figs. 1–60 and Tables 1–6.

Reporting Summary (download PDF )

Peer Review File (download PDF )

Supplementary Video 1. (download MP4 )

Time-resolved IR thermography of perovskite films during continuous illumination. IR thermography videos showing the surface temperature evolution of FTO/SnO2/perovskite (control) and FTO/SnO2/perovskite/polymer (polymer-modified) samples (6 × 6 cm2) under continuous AM 1.5G illumination. The polymer-modified perovskite film maintains a consistently lower surface temperature than the control as heating proceeds.

Supplementary Video 2. (download MP4 )

Polymer concentration-dependent thermal regulation under AM 1.5G illumination. IR thermography videos comparing the temperature rise of perovskite films with different polymer interlayer concentrations under continuous AM 1.5G illumination. A clear concentration-dependent cooling effect is observed, with higher polymer loading leading to a lower steady-state surface temperature.

Supplementary Video 3. (download MP4 )

Accelerated natural cooling of polymer-modified perovskite films after illumination. IR thermography videos recording the natural cooling process of control and polymer-modified perovskite films immediately after terminating AM 1.5G illumination. The polymer-modified sample exhibits a faster temperature decrease, indicating more efficient heat extraction at the perovskite–HTM interface.

Supplementary Video 4. (download MP4 )

Interfacial thermal management in practical device stacks with Spiro-OMeTAD. IR thermography videos showing the surface temperature evolution (centre region) of FTO/SnO2/perovskite/Spiro-OMeTAD stacks with and without an interfacial polymer layer under continuous AM 1.5G illumination. The polymer-modified stack stabilizes at a lower operating temperature than the control, evidencing improved interfacial heat dissipation in device-relevant configurations.

Supplementary Data 1. (download XLSX )

Source data for the supplementary figures.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 2 (download XLSX )

Statistical source data (CSV) for Fig. 2c,e–g,i, including projected localized density of states on the C≡C bond (Fig. 2c), THz photoconductivity dynamics (Fig. 2e), frequency-resolved complex photoconductivity (Fig. 2f,g) and thermal conductivities at different temperatures (Fig. 2i).

Source Data Fig. 3 (download XLSX )

TOF-SIMS depth-profile source data (CSV) for Fig. 3d and original image files (TIF format) for Fig. 3f–i, including the 3D distribution, surficial components and AFM 3D surface plots of perovskite films without or with the polymer.

Source Data Fig. 4 (download XLSX )

Original conductive AFM image files (TIF) for Fig. 4b,c and statistical source data (CSV) for Fig. 4d–i, including I–V curves (Fig. 4d), hole mobility (Fig. 4e), steady-state photoluminescence spectra (Fig. 4f), Mott–Schottky tests (Fig. 4g), hole trap density (Fig. 4h) and electrical impedance spectroscopy (Fig. 4i) of perovskite films without and with polymer.

Source Data Fig. 5 (download XLSX )

Statistical source data (CSV) for Fig. 5c,g, including time-dependent surface temperature profiles extracted from IR thermography under AM 1.5G illumination.

Source Data Fig. 6 (download XLSX )

Statistical source data (CSV) for Fig. 6b,c,e–i, including J–V data of PSCs (Fig. 6b), efficiency statistics among 30 cells (Fig. 6c), module I–V characteristics (Fig. 6e) and module efficiency statistics (Fig. 6f) and stability datasets under humidity stress (Fig. 6g), thermal ageing (Fig. 6h) and maximum power point tracking (Fig. 6i).

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Mai, S., Suo, ZY., Lu, C. et al. A synthetically tailored conjugated polymer for thermal and charge management in perovskite interfaces. Nat. Synth (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-026-01044-1

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