Conjugation-regulated self-assembled molecules for tandem solar cells.

A sterically regulated, spatially conjugated self-assembled monolayer enables perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells on rough textured silicon to reach a 35.1% certified stabilized PCE and 85% fill factor.

• Why it matters: Textured tandem devices are constrained by a SAM trade-off: stronger molecular conjugation can raise conductivity but also promotes aggregation that reduces conformal coverage and harms interfaces.
• What they did: The work designs a molecular spatial conjugation with tailored intramolecular distortion to suppress excess π-π stacking, then forms an ordered, conformal SAM on rough pyramidal textures to optimize energy-level alignment and charge extraction.
• The result: With this interface, the tandem device shows ultrafast charge extraction, improved defect passivation, and robust perovskite film templating, retaining over 94% of initial performance after 1,500 h under ISOS-L-1.

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