Bulk nano-heterointerface secures molecular contacts in perovskite solar cells

Nature Materials (2026)Cite this article The development of molecule-based selective contacts has boosted the power conversion efficiencies of inverted perovskite solar cells. However, these molecular films, often assembled as monolayer or multiple layers on the substrate, are prone to molecular desorption and structural deformation, limiting the long-term stability of devices. This instability, in essence, originates from the weak contacting structure between the transparent conductive oxide and molecular layer, with a limited interface offering insufficient adhering forces to immobilize the molecules. A general architectural strategy that circumvents this fundamental limitation without compromising electronic functionality is highly demanded, but remains underexplored. We now report a universal architecture of a bulk nano-heterointerface that reconstructed the molecule-based selective layer. The substantially increased chemical interface and strengthened binding force between the molecules and rationally designed nanoscale scaffolds greatly improved the device operational stability, achieving high efficiency. The strategy proved versatile, successfully applied to various molecular systems to enhance device performances, and remained effective in upscaled devices produced via scalable blade coating.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any timeSubscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per yearonly $21.58 per issueBuy this articleUSD 39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutAll data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the article or its Supplementary Information. 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Xue acknowledges support from the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province of China (grant numbers LR24F040001 and DG25E020001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 62274146), the Scientific Research Innovation Capability Support Project for Young Faculty (SRICSPYF-ZY2025093), the Central Guidance Funds for Local Science and Technology Development Projects (grant number 2025ZY01012) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. Y.L. acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 625B2166). Y.T. acknowledges a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 624B2117). R.W. acknowledges grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 62474143) and Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province of China (grant numbers LD24E020001 and QKWL25E1301), support from the Key R&D Program of Zhejiang (grant number 2024SSYS0061), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Intelligent Synthetic Biology (2024ZY01025), Muyuan Laboratory (programme ID 14136022401) and support from the Scientific Research Innovation Capability Support Project for Young Faculty (grant number SRICSPYF-BS2025014). H.-f.W. acknowledges the National Key Instrumentation Development grant by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 21727802).These authors contributed equally: Yixin Luo, Jiahui Shen.State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaYixin Luo, Jiahui Shen, Ke Zhao, Yuan Tian, Lu Jin, Xuechun Sun, Qinggui Li, Runda Li, Hengyu Zhang, Haimeng Xin, Jiazhe Xu, Donger Jin, Zhenyi Ni, Deren Yang & Jingjing XueDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, ChinaJiahui Shen, Ke Zhao, Shenglong Chu, Yuan Tian, Lu Jin, Xuechun Sun, Libing Yao, Qingqing Liu, Jiazhe Xu, Jingjing Zhou & Rui WangSchool of Chemistry and Materials, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, ChinaJiahui Shen & Ruzhang LiuShangyu Institute of Semiconductor Materials, Shaoxing, ChinaKe Zhao & Jingjing XueDepartment of Physics, Marmara University, Istanbul, TurkeyCaner Değer & Ilhan YavuzDepartment of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaBo-jun Zhao, Li Zhang & Hong-fei WangDepartment of Chemistry, Westlake University, Hangzhou, ChinaBo-jun Zhao & Li ZhangZhejiang Key Laboratory of Precise Synthesis of Functional Molecules, Instrumentation and Service Center for Molecular Sciences and Research Center for Industries of the Future, Westlake University, Hangzhou, ChinaXiaohe MiaoDepartment of Nano Engineering, Department of Nano Science and Technology, SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of KoreaSeung-Gu ChoiDepartment of Energy Systems Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of KoreaJin-Wook LeeSchool of Transdisciplinary Innovations, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of KoreaJin-Wook LeeDepartment of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of KoreaHyo Jae YoonSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJ. Xue conceived the idea and supervised the project. Y.L. and J.S. performed the experiments and data analysis under the supervision of J. Xue. K.Z., S.C. and L.J. fabricated the solar cell devices. B.-j.Z. and L.Z. performed the SFG-VS measurements under the supervision of H.-f.W. C.D. and I.Y. conducted the theoretical calculations. Q. Liu synthesized the molecules. Y.T., X.S., L.Y., X.M., Q. Li, R. Li, H.X., J. Xu, J.Z. and D.J. assisted with the characterizations and device fabrication. S.-G.C. performed the cross-sectional KPFM under the supervision of J.-W.L. H.Z. performed the cross-sectional TRPL mapping under the supervision of Z.N. R. Liu, R.W., H.J.Y. and D.Y. provided helpful discussions. J. Xue wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the paper.Correspondence to Jingjing Xue.The authors declare no competing interests.Nature Materials thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary Notes 1–10, Figs. 1–130, and Tables 1 and 2.Statistical source data.Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.Reprints and permissionsLuo, Y., Shen, J., Zhao, K. et al. Bulk nano-heterointerface secures molecular contacts in perovskite solar cells. Nat. Mater. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02546-1Download citationReceived: 15 October 2025Accepted: 11 February 2026Published: 06 April 2026Version of record: 06 April 2026DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02546-1Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative