Overcoming efficiency and cost barriers for large-area quantum dot photovoltaics through stable ink engineering

Shi G, Ding X, Liu Z, Liu Y, Chen Y, Liu C, Ni Z, Wang H, Ito K, Igarashi K, Feng K, Zhang K, Lüer L, Chen W, Lyu X, Song B, Sun X, Yuan L, Liu D, Li Y, Lu K, Deng W, Li Y, Müller-Buschbaum P, Li T, Zhong J, Uchida S, Kubo T, Li N, Luther JM, Segawa H, Shen Q, Brabec C, Ma W (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Article Number: eaaz8541

DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01746-4

Abstract

The bottom-up construction of electronics from colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) could innovate nanotechnology manufacturing through printing. However, the unstable and expensive semiconductive CQD inks make the scaling up of CQD electronics challenging. Here we develop a strategy for engineering the solution chemistry of lead sulfide (PbS) CQD inks prepared from a low-cost direct synthesis method. By creating an iodine-rich environment in weakly coordinating solvents, we convert the iodoplumbates into functional anions, which condense into a robust surface shell. The fully charged electrostatic surface layer prevents aggregation and epitaxial fusion of CQDs, yielding stable inks. By eliminating the fusion-induced inter-band states, we print a compact CQD film with uniformity in three dimensions, flattened energy landscape and improved carrier transport. We achieved a certified efficiency of 13.40% on 0.04 cm² cells, with a 300-fold increase in active area, scaling up to a 12.60 cm² module with a certified efficiency of 10%.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Soochow University, Suzhou / 苏州大学 China (CN) University of Electro-Communications / 電気通信大学 (Denki-Tsūshin Daigaku) Japan (JP) Northern Illinois University (NIU) United States (USA) (US) University of Tokyo Japan (JP) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) United States (USA) (US) Shenzhen Technology University (SZTU) / 深圳技术大学 China (CN) Technische Universität München (TUM) Germany (DE) Yunnan University China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Shi, G., Ding, X., Liu, Z., Liu, Y., Chen, Y., Liu, C.,... Ma, W. (2025). Overcoming efficiency and cost barriers for large-area quantum dot photovoltaics through stable ink engineering. Nature Energy. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01746-4

MLA:

Shi, Guozheng, et al. "Overcoming efficiency and cost barriers for large-area quantum dot photovoltaics through stable ink engineering." Nature Energy (2025).

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