Chinese scientist Wang Zhipingan has proposed "atomic-scale interface bonding" technique that employs atomic layer deposition to introduce a tunable hafnium oxide (HfOx) intermediate layer at critical interfaces within the solar cell.

His latest research resutls were published online in a paper on Science, a globally-renowned academic journal. Wang is a professor at the School of Physics Science and Technology, Wuhan University, in the field of efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.

The technique, researched by a team led by Wang, synchronously stabilizes the hole and electron transport interfaces at the atomic scale, addressing the long-standing challenge of improving both efficiency and stability in perovskite solar cells. The p-i-n type perovskite solar cells fabricated using this technology achieved a power conversion efficiency of 27.1% (with a third-party certified efficiency of 26.6%). After operating under conditions of 85°C and continuous one-sun illumination for over 5000 hours, the cells maintained more than 90% of their initial efficiency, with a high-temperature operational lifetime (T90) that is 25 times that of the control devices.