GIFT Hao Chen's Team Publishes in Nature Communications: Dimensional Control of Low-Dimensional Perovskite Hybrids for Photovoltaics

A research team led by Associate Professor Hao Chen from the Global Institute of Future Technology (GIFT) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in collaboration with Shenzhen Polytechnic University, the National University of Singapore, has published a paper titled “Dimensional control of low-dimensional perovskite hybrids for photovoltaics” in the journal Nature Communications. Xiang Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow from Associate Professor Hao Chen's research team, is a co‑first author of the paper, and Associate Professor Hao Chen serves as a co‑corresponding author.

Low-dimensional perovskite engineering offers a promising route to enhance both the power conversion efficiency and the stability in perovskite photovoltaic devices, yet the mechanistic relationship between organic ligand design and structural control remains elusive. In this research, the team proposes a bis-imidazolium ligand molecular design strategy that enables precise dimensional tuning of perovskite architectures, successfully constructing multiple dimensional configurations ranging from zero-dimensional, parallel one-dimensional, to bridged zero-dimensional architectures. By systematically varying terminal groups and inter-imidazole spacing, the researchers achieved controlled growth of high-quality hybrid dimensional perovskite films, with markedly optimized crystallization kinetics and charge transport properties.

The strategy enables the photovoltaic devices to achieve a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 27.02% (laboratory measured value: 27.21%). Scaling this dimensional control approach further enabled the fabrication of 30 × 30 cm² perovskite solar modules, which achieved a champion PCE of 21.41%. Moreover, unencapsulated devices retained 94.3% of their initial PCE after 2,000 hours of continuous operation under 60 °C (ISOS‑L‑2I), demonstrating exceptional operational stability.

Figure 1. Low-dimensional ligands and corresponding single‑crystal structures, and the correlation model linking ligand molecular structure to perovskite dimensionality selectivity.

Figure 2. Characterization of perovskite films.

Figure 3. Investigation of crystallinity and crystallization processes in perovskite films.

Figure 4. Photovoltaic device performance.

Paper Link:

Wang, F., Zhang, X., Zeng, J. et al. Dimensional control of low-dimensional perovskite hybrids for photovoltaics. Nat. Commun. (2026).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71845-7

Author Profiles

Xiang Zhang

Postdoctoral researcher (supervisor: Hao Chen) at the Future Photovoltaics Research Center of the Global Institute of Future Technology, SJTU. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Technological Sciences, Wuhan University, and he has conducted postdoctoral research at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Global Institute of Future Technology, SJTU. Research areas: the development of wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells and their application in tandem devices. He has published 25 papers in renowned journals, including Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater., Adv. Energy Mater., and Adv. Funct. Mater., and holds two national patents.

Hao Chen

Tenure‑Track Associate Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the Global Institute of Future Technology (GIFT), SJTU. He is a recipient of the National High‑Level Young Talent (Overseas) program, was selected for the MIT Technology Review “Innovators Under 35” Asia Pacific List, and has received support from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Siyuan Young Scholar Program and the Shanghai Qiyuan Young Scholar Program. Professor Chen received his Ph.D. in 2020 from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences - ShanghaiTech University (joint training), under the supervision of Professor Zhijun Ning. He served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto and Northwestern University, USA, from 2021 to 2024, collaborating with Academician Edward Hartley Sargent. His research focuses on the development and application of efficient and stable single/multi-junction perovskite photovoltaic devices. He has set multiple world records for the certified efficiency of perovskite photovoltaic devices and was the first one to achieve certified efficiencies for inverted-structure perovskite photovoltaic devices, surpassing those of conventional n-i-p structures. Professor Chen has published multiple papers as the first author (including co-first author) or corresponding author in top journals such as Science (3), Nature (3), Nat. Photonics, Nat. Mater., Nat. Energy, Nat. Nanotechnol, Nat. Commun., JACS (2), Adv. Mater.（4）. He serves as a youth editorial board member for Nano-Micro Letters, InfoMat, eScience, and Materials Today Electronics. He is a long-term reviewer for over 20 journals, including Nature Energy, Nature Photonics, JACS, and Advanced Materials.