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Solid additives are typically used for improving morphology and efficiency in organic solar cells (OSC). Here, the authors present 3-AR, which optimizes the active layer morphology in all-small-molecule OSCs through selective interactions, achieving a PCE of 18.43% (certified 18.16%).

Yin et al. report linear conjugated polymer donors with chlorinated backbone for modulating polymer aggregation and surface tension, and optimised compatibility with norfullerene acceptors. By using binary blends, a 20.42% efficiency is achieved for organic solar cells.

Hydrogen adsorption/desorption behavior plays a key role in hydrogen evolution reaction catalysis. Here, the authors demonstrate the rational balancing of hydrogen adsorption/desorption by orbital modulation for significantly enhanced hydrogen evolution performance.

Additives used in the charge transport layers of perovskite solar cells contribute to device degradation during operation. Now Kim et al. report a non-volatile, solid-state additive—4-(N-carbazolyl)pyridine—that enhances the thermal and operational stability of the devices.

The variation on molecular topology and aggregation behaviour of tethered small molecule acceptors is critical to device operating performance. Here, the authors designed two isomeric dimers via the thiophene-core engineering and realize device efficiency of 18.1% and long stability in solar cells.

Developing a new π-skeletal aromatic fused-ring for tuning material properties in organic electronics is still a challenge due to limited chemical approach. Here, the authors enrich the chemistry by synthesizing SiO-bridged ladder-type π-skeletons with enhanced planarity and deeper energy levels than CO-bridged counterpart.

In organic photovoltaics, non-fullerene acceptors relax matching rules and allow for the development of new donor polymers. Here, Bin et al. design a donor polymer and obtain high photoconversion efficiencies despite the low energy offset for hole transfer between the acceptor and the donor.

The use of a new hole transport material called spiro-Naph allows the realization of efficient large-area perovskite solar cells.

Organic solar cells processed from green solvents are easier to implement in manufacturing yet their efficiency is low. Chen et al. devise a guest molecule to improve the molecular packing, enabling devices with over 17% efficiency.

It is desired to design cathode interfacial layers to simultaneously improve the efficiency and stability of organic solar cells and tune the cathode properties. Here, Yao et al. develop such interfacial layers for the best donor-acceptor system and achieve a high certified efficiency close to 17%.

While organic semiconductors may be useful in photoelectrochemical water-splitting materials, they show low stability in water. Here, the authors report high-performance and stable organic-semiconductor-based photoanodes passivated using nickel foils, GaIn eutectic, and layered double hydroxides.

Polymer electronics may have a bright future but the poor reproducibility limits the scaled-up manufacturing. Here Lee et al. employ a stepwise-heating protocol in the Stille polycondensation and fabricate polymer solar cells with improved performance and ignorable device-to-device variations.

The binding of multidentate ligands to the surface of lead halide perovskite nanocrystals suppresses the formation of surface defects that result in halide segregation, yielding materials with efficient and colour-stable red emission.

The assessment of the mechanical properties of flexible solar cells lacks consistency. In this Perspective, Fukuda et al. outline standards and best practices for measuring and reporting photovoltaic performance under bending stresses, strain and load orientation.