TEMPO molecule technique advances perovskite solar cell durability and efficiency

TEMPO molecule technique advances perovskite solar cell durability and efficiency

by Erica Marchand

Paris, France (SPX) May 26, 2025

A team of researchers has introduced a novel method to dramatically enhance the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells, overcoming a longstanding barrier to their widespread use. The approach, featured in Joule, employs the molecule TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl) and a brief infrared heating pulse to repair internal crystal defects within the solar cell material.

Led by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and supported by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and the Politecnico di Milano, the study demonstrates that this bulk passivation technique significantly increases efficiency-surpassing 20%-while maintaining performance for months under real-world conditions.

Using positron annihilation spectroscopy, the researchers confirmed that TEMPO treatment reduces vacancy-type defects within the perovskite layer. This fast, solvent-free method is also compatible with scalable roll-to-roll manufacturing processes, similar to those used in the printing industry.

“The proposed method is fast, solvent-free, and compatible with roll-to-roll processing, similar to that used in the printing industry. This makes the technology promising not just in the lab, but also for future industrial-scale production,” said Rafael Ferragut, physicist at the Politecnico di Milano and co-author of the paper.

The findings represent a leap toward commercial production of lightweight and durable solar panels that could be integrated into buildings or used in flexible electronics and wearable devices.

Research Report:TEMPO bulk passivation boosts the performance and operational stability of rapid-annealed FAPI perovskite solar cells