Ambient-Processed Perovskite Solar Cells

Ambient-processed perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are engineered in open‐air environments without the need for stringent inert atmospheres. This approach addresses a key barrier to commercialisation by reducing equipment costs and enabling scalable production. The central challenge lies in controlling moisture and oxygen during film formation and annealing, as these species can disrupt perovskite crystallisation and degrade device performance. Researchers have developed a range of strategies—including anti-solvent engineering, temperature modulation, chemical additives and protective scaffold layers—to produce high‐quality, uniform films with power conversion efficiencies exceeding 20 %. Advances in ambient fabrication not only improve reproducibility but also broaden the potential for flexible, large‐area modules suitable for varied climate conditions. The synergy between deposition parameters, post-treatment protocols and device architecture underpins continual gains in efficiency, stability and manufacturability.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Ambient-processed devices often suffer from film inhomogeneity and variable performance. Recent work has demonstrated that annealing in an air-heated oven under controlled humidity yields perovskite films with superior uniformity and enhanced crystallinity compared with conventional hot-plate treatment. By optimising oven temperature and humidity, the resulting devices achieved near-15 % power conversion efficiency combined with tighter performance distributions, highlighting a reliable pathway towards large-scale production of ambient-processed modules.

Ambient-Processed Perovskite Solar Cells publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in ambient-processed perovskite solar cells across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ambient processing: Fabrication of perovskite layers in open air without the use of inert environment control.

Power conversion efficiency (PCE): The ratio of electrical power output from a solar cell to the incident solar power, expressed as a percentage.

Anti-solvent: A secondary liquid introduced during film deposition to induce rapid crystallisation and improve film quality.

Mesoporous scaffold: A porous layer, typically composed of metal oxides, that supports perovskite crystallisation and enhances charge separation.

Annealing: A heat-treatment process used to improve the crystallinity and remove residual solvents from perovskite films.

References

1. Enhancing performance and uniformity of CH3NH3PbI3−xClx perovskite solar cells by air-heated-oven assisted annealing under various humidities. Scientific Reports (2016).
2. Unveiling the importance of dripping temperature control of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite precursor solution for the fabrication of fully ambient air-processed perovskite solar cells. Solar Energy (2021).
3. Ionic surfactants of different dipole moments as anti-solvent additives for air-processing MAPbI3−xClx perovskite thin films. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics (2023).