Diastereomeric Fullerene Composite Engineering for Enhanced Perovskite Solar Cells

Wu J, Zhang J, Wang L, Jakšić J, Barabash A, Veljković D, Bornschlegl A, Jovanov V, Lahn L, Kasian O, Perez-Ojeda ME, Götz K, Unruh T, Li C, Peng Z, Wang Y, Hauch J, Deng LL, Maslak V, Mitrović A, Li G, Brabec C (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Journal of the American Chemical Society American Chemical Society

Book Volume: 147

Pages Range: 32045-32053

Journal Issue: 35

DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c10340

Abstract

Achieving high performance and long-term stability in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) typically requires the use of surface passivation layers to suppress the interfacial defects. However, these additional passivation agents often introduce chemical and structural instabilities, limiting the device lifetime. Here, we present a molecular engineering strategy utilizing a chiral series of C60-Furan-Sugar (CFS) fullerene derivatives blended with [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) to modify the electron transport layer (ETL). The incorporation of CFSs significantly enhances the electron mobility and dielectric constant of the ETL, while their intrinsic passivation functionality effectively passivates perovskite surface defects. As a result, PSCs employing PCBM:CFS-RS blends achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.81% without the use of additional passivation layers and retain 95% of their initial performance after 1000 h of aging. Notably, CFS-RS is a chiral molecule bearing a side chain with R/S configurational isomers, which facilitates interfacial compatibility and contributes to the enhanced device performance. This work demonstrates that tuning the orientation of polar substituents in fullerene side chains can effectively influence the optoelectronic properties of the blended films, thereby simultaneously enhancing both efficiency and stability in PSCs.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jianchang Wu Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Jiyun Zhang Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Anastasia Barabash Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Andreas Bornschlegl Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Leopold Lahn Professur für Materialien für die elektrochemische Energiekonversion Olga Kasian Professur für Materialien für die elektrochemische Energiekonversion Maria Eugenia Perez-Ojeda Rodriguez Lehrstuhl für Organische Chemie II Klaus Götz Lehrstuhl für Kristallographie und Strukturphysik (ICSP) Tobias Unruh Professur für Nanomaterialcharakterisierung (Streumethoden) Chaohui Li Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Zijian Peng Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Jens Hauch
Christoph Brabec Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET)

Involved external institutions

Helmholtz-Institut Erlangen-Nürnberg für Erneuerbare Energien (HI-ERN) DE Germany (DE) Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) CN China (CN) University of Belgrade / Универзитет у Београду RS Serbia (RS) Xiamen University CN China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Wu, J., Zhang, J., Wang, L., Jakšić, J., Barabash, A., Veljković, D.,... Brabec, C. (2025). Diastereomeric Fullerene Composite Engineering for Enhanced Perovskite Solar Cells. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147(35), 32045-32053. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c10340

MLA:

Wu, Jianchang, et al. "Diastereomeric Fullerene Composite Engineering for Enhanced Perovskite Solar Cells." Journal of the American Chemical Society 147.35 (2025): 32045-32053.

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