{"title":"Impact of lithium dopants in hole-transporting layers on perovskite solar cell stability under day–night cycling","authors":"Jinzheng Zhao, Jiupeng Cao, Jingjin Dong, Zihao Li, Ying Chu, Aifei Wang, Fangfang Wang, Bingxu Liu, Rui Xu, Jingyu Zhang, Bocong Zhang, Xiaopeng Hu, Wenjian Yan, Chi Zhang, Shaohua Chen, Laiyuan Wang, Gaojie Chen, Wei Huang, Tianshi Qin","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01856-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01856-z","url":null,"abstract":"Lithium cation dopants enhance hole-transport efficiency and optimize interfacial charge extraction in the hole-transporting layers of perovskite solar cells. Although the migration of lithium cations is known to induce phase transition from α-phase to δ-phase in perovskites, reports of long-term device stability present apparent contradictions. Here we show that, under dark/light alternating conditions, lithium migration induces a rapid degradation of the α-phase perovskite. This degradation is not observed under continuous light-only or dark-only conditions commonly used within the field to test the devices. To address the instability under dark/light cycling, we replace the lithium dopant with a methylammonium dopant. Importantly, we show no unreacted methylammonium dopant in the hole-transport layer film different to the lithium dopant, hinting at a better device stability. We achieve an efficiency of 26.1% (25.6% certified) and T95 lifetimes (that is, time for the device efficiency to decay to 95% of its initial value) of over 1,200 h of continuous light–dark cycling (ISOS-LC-1 certified) and 3,000 voltage-on/off cycles, conditions that are relevant to real-world operation. Lithium doping in spiro-OMeTAD negatively affects the long-term performance of perovskite solar cells. Qin and team map the degradation mechanism under repeated voltage cycling and how lithium-free dopants improve stability.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1226-1236"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144924128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-27DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01843-4
Jang-Yeon Hwang
{"title":"Stability through supersaturation","authors":"Jang-Yeon Hwang","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01843-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01843-4","url":null,"abstract":"As demand for higher-energy batteries grows, pushing cathode voltages to higher voltages often triggers rapid degradation. Now, a co-doping strategy creates an ultrathin metal surface layer on advanced cathode materials, helping them maintain performance at elevated voltages.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 9","pages":"1-2"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-27DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01841-6
Esma Ugur
{"title":"Universal strategy for passivation","authors":"Esma Ugur","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01841-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01841-6","url":null,"abstract":"The passivation of perovskite surface defects is crucial to achieving perovskite solar cells with high performance and stability, but universal strategies remain elusive. Now, a passivation strategy is developed that has a broad processing window and shows applicability to various perovskite compositions and device architectures.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 9","pages":"1-2"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-27DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01819-4
Carys Worsley
{"title":"Reactions at the grain surface","authors":"Carys Worsley","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01819-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01819-4","url":null,"abstract":"The performance of perovskite solar cells with mesoscopic carbon electrodes is limited by inefficient charge transport and charge accumulation at interfaces. Now, by reacting hexamethylene diisocyanate with organic cations at the surface of perovskite grains and passivating defects, 23.2% efficiency can be achieved in small-area devices.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 9","pages":"1-2"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-26DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01852-3
Geon-Tae Park, Nam-Yung Park, Ji-Hyun Ryu, Sung-June Sohn, Tae-Yeon Yu, Myoung-Chan Kim, Sourav Baiju, Payam Kaghazchi, Chong S. Yoon, Yang-Kook Sun
{"title":"Zero-strain Mn-rich layered cathode for sustainable and high-energy next-generation batteries","authors":"Geon-Tae Park, Nam-Yung Park, Ji-Hyun Ryu, Sung-June Sohn, Tae-Yeon Yu, Myoung-Chan Kim, Sourav Baiju, Payam Kaghazchi, Chong S. Yoon, Yang-Kook Sun","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01852-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01852-3","url":null,"abstract":"The increasing demand for high-energy Li-ion batteries for the electrification of personal transportation may lead to uncertainty in the global supply of raw materials (Co and Ni). Here we propose a novel Mn-rich composition, which has a quasi-ordered structure with previously unobserved two intermixed cation-ordering sequences. The partially ordered structure stabilizes the delithiated cathode at a high cut-off voltage, offering strain-free characteristics, with structural variations along both the a and c axes limited to approximately 1%. Consequently, the cathode can operate at 4.6 V while delivering a reversible capacity comparable to that of Ni-rich Li(Ni0.8Co0.1Mn0.1)O2. Moreover, a high capacity is maintained during long-term and high-voltage cycling in full cells with exceptional thermal safety. The high-performance Mn-rich layered cathodes characterized by quasi-ordered crystal structure can potentially relieve supply uncertainty resulting from the rising demand for Ni in the battery industry and environmental concerns associated with the extraction of Ni from its ores. Nickel-heavy battery chemistries raise concerns over cost, supply risk and environmental impact. A new design cuts nickel use by over one-third, replacing it with more abundant manganese—without sacrificing performance.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1215-1225"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-025-01852-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144901423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-22DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01836-3
Xinyu Jin, Shijian Jin, Lu Li, Roy G. Gordon, Pan Wang, Michael J. Aziz, Yunlong Ji
{"title":"Direct air capture of CO2 in an electrochemical hybrid flow cell with a spatially isolated phenazine electrode","authors":"Xinyu Jin, Shijian Jin, Lu Li, Roy G. Gordon, Pan Wang, Michael J. Aziz, Yunlong Ji","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01836-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01836-3","url":null,"abstract":"CO2 capture based on a pH swing driven electrically through the reversible proton-coupled electron transfer of organic molecules could be powered entirely by clean electricity. A major technical challenge is the reversible chemical oxidation of the reduced organics by atmospheric O2, which can lower energy efficiency and capture capacity. Here we report the development of a hybrid phenazine flow cell system that uses a pH-swing direct air capture (DAC) process, utilizing redox-active cyclic poly(phenazine sulfide) fabricated solid electrodes. The system maintains a separation between the air and the O2-sensitive reduced phenazine, enabling stable and effective CO2 capture from gas mixtures containing O2. This flow cell demonstrated substantial oxygen compatibility, exhibiting a coulombic efficiency of 99% and requiring only 73 kJ mol−1 CO2 for simulated flue gas and 104 kJ mol−1 CO2 for DAC. The strategy of isolating vulnerable species offers an efficient pathway for DAC and may be broadly applicable to avoiding undesirable side reactions in other electrochemical devices. Electrochemical CO2 capture is hindered by the oxidation of redox-active organic molecules by O2, affecting energy efficiency and capacity. Here the authors develop a flow cell in which the O2-sensitive components are isolated from O2, achieving 99% coulombic efficiency with low energy requirements.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 9","pages":"1146-1154"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144901083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-21DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01850-5
Giulia Tregnago
{"title":"Manufacturing in full flow","authors":"Giulia Tregnago","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01850-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01850-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 8","pages":"921-921"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144901086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Photocatalytic oxidative coupling of methane to C3+ hydrocarbons via nanopore-confined microenvironments","authors":"Wenfeng Nie, Liwei Chen, Yuchen Hao, Xiangjie Ge, Haodong Liu, Jiani Li, Jialin Wang, Zhao Wang, Hui-Zi Huang, Chao Sun, Cuncai Lv, Shangbo Ning, Linjie Gao, Yaguang Li, Shufang Wang, Bo Wang, Jinhua Ye","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01834-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01834-5","url":null,"abstract":"Photocatalytic oxidative coupling of methane (POCM) enables the production of value-added fuels and chemicals using renewable solar energy. Unfortunately, despite recent advances in the production of C2 chemicals (for example, ethane), POCM systems that selectively produce industrially useful and transportable C3+ hydrocarbons remain elusive. Here we report that Au-embedded porous TiO2, activated by steam during the POCM process, enables efficient and selective flow synthesis of propane with a productivity of 1.4 mmol h−1. At this productivity, we achieve a high propane selectivity of 91.3% and an apparent quantum efficiency of 39.7% at a wavelength of 365 nm. Mechanistic studies reveal that the tensile-strained Au and the nanopore-confined catalytic microenvironment jointly stabilize key ethane intermediates, boosting deeper C2–C1 coupling to form propane. Meanwhile, the steam-activated surface lattice oxygen on TiO2 accelerates hydrogen species transfer, thus enhancing POCM kinetics. This approach is economically feasible for practical application under concentrated solar light. Methane can be converted into other useful chemicals and fuels via photocatalytic oxidative coupling, yet producing molecules with more than two carbon atoms remains difficult. Here the authors show that highly strained Au confined within the nanopores of TiO2 can convert methane to propane with high selectivity.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 9","pages":"1095-1106"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145204895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}