Yan Research Group
We now have opening positions for graduate students and postdocs to work on thin-film solar cells.
Jiahao’s new work, “A chlorinated organic cation enables stable 2D/3D tin iodide perovskite photovoltaics”, has been published in Nature Materials.
Jiahao performed the DFT calculations showing how 4ClPEA raises the barriers for oxygen and water diffusion through the organic interlayer, helping explain the improved air stability of the 2D tin perovskite.
Congratulations Jiahao!
Mohsin’s new work, “Molecular Additive Engineering for Process-Humidity Robustness and Reproducible Fabrication of Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules”, has been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Using DPVP as a Lewis-base additive, the study stabilizes perovskite crystallization across 20-40% relative humidity and demonstrates reproducible high-performance cells and blade-coated mini-modules.
Congratulations Mohsin!
Xiaoming’s new work, “Ab Initio Theory of Optical Activity in α-Quartz in the GW-Bethe-Salpeter-Equation Framework”, has been published in Physical Review Letters.
The work develops a GW-Bethe-Salpeter-equation theory of optical activity in solids and reproduces the optical rotatory dispersion of α-quartz, showing that excitonic many-body effects are essential.
Congratulations Xiaoming!
Sabin’s new work, “Forming Gas Annealing Improves the Performance of Ex Situ Sb-Doped CdSeTe Thin-Film Solar Cells”, has been published in Small.
The study combines ex situ Sb doping with forming-gas annealing to improve hole density, carrier lifetime, and device-contact energetics, yielding 19.2% efficient CdSeTe cells with stronger stability than Cu-doped controls.
Congratulations Sabin!
Alisha's new work on Antimony chalcogenide-based thin-film solar cells has been published in Solar RRL: 2025, DOI:/10.1002/solr.202500699
Congratulations Alisha!
Xiaoming's first principle study on light-induced excited state structural symmetry breaking in Cu (II) halide perovskites has now been published in Nature Communications: 2025, DOI:/10.1038/s41467-025-60007-w
Congratulations Xiaoming!
Alisha's new research on Process Optimization of Antimony Sulfide Solar Cells has been published in ACS Applied Energy Materials: 2025, DOI:/10.1021/acsaem.4c03160
Congratulations Alisha!
Sheng's new work on highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells enabled by an on-demand Lewis base molecule formation strategy has been released: Nature Nanotechnology: 2025, DOI:/10.1038/s41565-025-01900-9
Congratulations Sheng!
A collaborative work by Xiaoming shows how a C60-based ionic salt can improve ETL interface in inverted perovskite solar cells: Science: 2025, DOI:/10.1126/science.adv4701
Congratulations Xiaoming!
Congratulations on Sabin's two new publications on CdSeTe thin-film solar cells! Joule: 2024, DOI:10.1016/j.joule.2024.09.013, ACS Energy Letters: 2024, DOI:10.1021/acsenergylett.4c02874
Sheng's paper on improved durability of all-perovskite tandem solar cells is published in Joule: 2024, DOI:/10.1016/j.joule.2024.05.007
Congratulations Sheng!
Kshitiz's paper on four-terminal perovskite-CdSeTe tandem solar cells is published in Solar RRL: 2024, DOI:/10.1002/solr.202400148
Congratulations Kshitiz!
Dr. Yanfa Yan is listed among Clarivate's 2023 Highly Cited Researchers for the fifth consecutive year.
Lei's review on the durability of Sn-containing perovskite solar cells is published in Advanced Science: 2023, DOI:/10.1002/advs.202304811
Congratulations Lei!
Nannan's new paper on scalable production of perovskite solar cells is published in Advanced Functional Materials: 2023, DOI:/10.1002/adfm.202309894
Congratulations Nannan!
Yeming's new paper on SOC in LHPs is published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: 2023, DOI:/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02161
Congratulations Yeming!
You's new paper on perovskite solar modules is published in Solar RRL: 2023, DOI:/10.1002/solr.202300541
Congratulations You!
Lei and Chongwen's new paper on tin-lead perovskite solar cells is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2023, DOI:/10.1002/aenm.202301218
Congratulations Lei! Congratulations Chongwen!
Powering clean future|Good News! The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded Dr. Yanfa Yan and Dr. Zhaoning Song a $1 million grant for continued research into solar cells producing clean hydrogen. UToledo will provide an additional $250,000 to the project, for a total investment of $1.25 million.
Zhaoning's new paper on solar hydrogen production is published in ACS Energy Letters: 2023, DOI:/10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00654
Congratulations Zhaoning
Jaehoon's new paper is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2023, DOI:/10.1002/aenm.202300595
Congratulations Jaehoon
Dengbing's new paper is published in ACS Energy Letters: 2023, DOI:/10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00141
Congratulations Dengbing
Chongwen's new paper on phosphorus stabilization of perovskites is published in Science: 2023, DOI:/10.1126/science.ade397
Congratulations Chongwen
Sandip's new paper on flexible CdTe solar cells is published in ACS Applied Energy Materials: 2023, DOI:/10.1021/acsaem.2c03287
Congratulations Sandip
Xiaoming's new paper on optical activity of solids is published in Physical Review B: 2023, DOI:/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.045201
Congratulations Xiaoming
Powering innovation|Good News! The U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday the launch of the Cadmium Telluride Accelerator Consortium, a $20 million initiative designed to make cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells less expensive, more efficient and develop new markets for solar cell products. The University of Toledo, a leader in solar energy innovation for more than 30 years, will lead the consortium!
Zhaoning's new paper is published in Advanced Materials: 2021, DOI:/10.1002/adma.202106805
Congratulations Zhaoning
Suman's new paper is published in Advanced Functional Materials: 2021, DOI:/10.1002/adfm.202110032
Congratulations Suman
Good News! The U.S. Department of Energy awarded UToledo a one-year, $300,000 grant to advance research that could lead to the integration of promising perovskite solar cell technology into existing production lines for cadmium-selenide-telluride (CST)-based solar cells
Sandip's new paper is published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces: 2021, DOI:/10.1021/acsami.1c11784
Congratulations Sandip
Chongwen's new paper Low-bandgap mixed tin–lead iodide perovskites with reduced methylammonium for simultaneous enhancement of solar cell efficiency and stability is published in Nature Energy: 10.1038/s41560-020-00692-7
Congratulations, Chongwen
Cong's new paper Arylammonium-Assisted Reduction of the Open-Circuit Voltage Deficit in Wide-Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells: The Role of Suppressed Ion Migration is published in ACS Energy Letters: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01350
Congratulations, Cong
Congratulations! Chongwen was awarded David Turnbull Scholarship in Materials Science.
Dengbing's new paper Maximize CdTe solar cell performance through copper activation engineering is published in Nano Energy: 2020, 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.104835
Congratulations, Dengbing
Dengbing's new paper CuSCN as the Back Contact for Efficient ZMO/CdTe Solar Cells is published in Materials: 2020, 10.3390/ma13081991
Congratulations, Dengbing
Rasha's new paper Influence of Charge Transport Layers on Capacitance Measured in Halide Perovskite Solar Cells is published in Joule: 2020, 10.1016/j.joule.2020.01.012
Congratulations, Rasha
Yunkang's new paper Correlating Hysteresis and Stability with Organic Cation Composition in the Two-Step Solution-Processed Perovskite Solar Cells is published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces: 2020, 10.1021/acsami.9b23374
Congratulations, Yunkang
Zhaoning's new paper High Remaining Factors in Photovoltaic Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells after High-Fluence Electron Beam Irradiations is published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C: 2019, 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b11483
Congratulations, Zhaoning
Xiaolu's new paper Interface Modification of Sputtered NiOx as the Hole-Transporting Layer for Efficient Inverted Planar Perovskite Solar Cells is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry C: 2019, 10.1039/C9TC05759E
Congratulations, Xiaolu
Niraj and Zhaoning's new paper Charge Compensating Defects in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Suppressed by Formamidinium Inclusion is published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: 2019, 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03234
Congratulations, Niraj and Zhaoning
Good News! U.S. Department of Energy Invests $5.7 Million in UToledo Solar Technology Research
Rasha's new paper Influences of buffer material and fabrication atmosphere on the electrical properties of CdTe solar cells is published in Progress in Photovoltaics: 2019, 10.1002/pip.3192
Congratulations, Rasha
Congratulations to Chongwen's new baby girl Chloe.
The baby was born on August 9th, 2019
Zhaoning's new paper Wide-bandgap, low-bandgap, and tandem perovskite solar cells is published in Semiconductor Science and Technology: 2019, 10.1088/1361-6641/ab27f7
Congratulations, Zhaoning
Xinxing's new paper Dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]pyrrol-Cored Hole Transport Material Enabling Over 21% Efficiency Dopant-Free Perovskite Solar Cells is published in Advanced Functional Materials: 2019, 10.1002/adfm.201904300
Congratulations, Xinxing
Good News! Breakthrough in new material to harness solar power could transform energy :
Zhaoning's new paper Carrier lifetimes of >1 us in Sn-Pb perovskites enable efficient all-perovskite tandem solar cells is published in Science: 2019, 10.1126/science.aav7911
Congratulations, Zhaoning
Cong's new paper Achieving a high open-circuit voltage in inverted wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells with a graded perovskite homojunction is published in Nano Energy: 2019, 10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.04.069
Congratulations, Cong
Changlei's new paper Improving performance and stability of planar perovskite solar cells through grain boundary passivation with block copolymer is published in Solar RRL: 2019, 10.1002/solr.201900078
Congratulations, Changlei
Good News! UToledo physicist awarded $1.1 million to boost performance of solar cells :
Baicheng's new paper A new metal�organic open framework enabling facile synthesis of carbon encapsulated transition metal phosphide/sulfide nanoparticle electrocatalysts is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A: 2019, 10.1039/C9TA00404A
Congratulations, Baicheng
Dengbing's new paper Eliminating S-Kink To Maximize the Performance of MgZnO/CdTe Solar Cells is published in ACS Applied Energy Materials: 2019, 10.1021/acsaem.9b00233
Congratulations, Dengbing
Changlei's new paper Low-Bandgap Mixed Tin-Lead Perovskites and Their Applications in All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells is published in Advanced Functional Materials: 2019, 10.1002/adfm.201808801
Congratulations, Changlei
Xinxing's new paper A Cu3PS4 nanoparticle hole selective layer for efficient inverted perovskite solar cells is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A: 2019, 10.1039/C8TA12100A
Congratulations, Xinxing
the Cover of Energy and Environmental Science :Wan-jian and Baicheng's paper Oxide perovskites, double perovskites and derivatives for electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photovoltaics
Xiaoming's new paper Unraveling the impact of halide mixing on perovskite stability is published in Journal of the American Chemical Society: 2019, 10.1021/jacs.8b11210
Congratulations, Xiaoming
Xiaoming's new paper Atomistic Mechanism of Broadband Emission in Metal Halide Perovskites is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: 2019, 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03717
Congratulations, Xiaoming
Rasha and Dengbing's new paper The Effects of Hydrogen Iodide Back Surface Treatment on CdTe Solar Cells is published in Solar RRL: 2019, 10.1002/solr.201800304
Congratulations, Rasha and Dengbing
Chongwen and Zhaoning's new paper Reducing Saturation-Current Density to Realize High-Efficiency Low-Bandgap Mixed Tin-Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2018, 10.1002/aenm.201803135
Congratulations, Chongwen and Zhaoning
Dewei, Cong and Changlei's new paper Efficient two-terminal all-perovskite tandem solar cells enabled by high-quality low-bandgap absorber layers is published in Nature Energy: 2018, 10.1038/s41560-018-0278-x
Congratulations, Dewei, Cong and Changlei
Jiajun and Xiaoming's new paper Efficient and stable emission of warm-white light from lead-free halide double perovskites is published in Nature: 2018, 10.1038/s41586-018-0691-0
Congratulations, Jiajun and Xiaoming
Zhaoning's new paper Probing the origins of photodegradation in organic-inorganic metal halide perovskites with time-resolved mass spectrometry is published in Sustainable Energy & Fuels: 2018, 10.1039/C8SE00358K
Congratulations, Zhaoning
Wan-jian and Baicheng's new paper Oxide perovskites, double perovskites and derivatives for electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photovoltaics is published in Energy & Environmental Science: 2018, 10.1039/C8EE01574K
Congratulations, Wan-jian and Baicheng
Hai's new paper Pressure-Assisted Annealing Strategy for High-Performance Self-Powered All-Inorganic Perovskite Microcrystal Photodetectors is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: 2018, 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01960
Congratulations, Hai
Shin's new paper Band Tail Engineering in Kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Thin-Film Solar Cells with 11.8% Efficiency is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: 2018, 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01433
Congratulations, Shin
Xinxing's new paper Binary hole transport materials blending to linearly tune HOMO level for high efficiency and stable perovskite solar cells is published in Nano Energy: 2018, 10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.07.027
Congratulations, Xinxing
Changlei's new paper Synergistic effects of thiocyanate additive and cesium cations on improving the performance and initial illumination stability of efficient perovskite solar cells is published in Sustainable Energy & Fuels: 2018, 10.1039/C8SE00200B
Congratulations, Changlei
Congratulations to Changlei's new baby girl.
The baby was born on May 26th, 2018
Baicheng's new paper Metal�Organic Framework-Derived CoWP@C Composite Nanowire Electrocatalyst for Efficient Water Splitting is published in ACS Energy Letters: 2018, 10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00584
Congratulations, Baicheng
FACULTY MEMBERS RECOGNIZED FOR OUTSTANDING SCHOLARLY AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY is published in https://utnews.utoledo.edu/index.php/05_17_2018/faculty-members-recognized-for-outstanding-scholarly-and-creative-activity
Hai's new paper Double Coating for the Enhancement of the Performance in a MA0.7FA0.3PbBr3 Photodetector is published in ACS Photonics: 2018, 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b00562
Congratulations, Hai
Weiwei's new paper Stability, Electronic and Optical Properties of M4M'X4 (M = Ga or In, M' = Si, Ge, or Sn, X = Chalcogen) Photovoltaic Absorbers is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C: 2018, 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b03706
Congratulations, Weiwei
Dengbing's new paper Stable and efficient CdS/Sb2Se3 solar cells prepared by scalable close space sublimation is published in Nano Energy: 2018, 10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.04.044
Congratulations, Dengbing
Receiving Outstanding Research and Scholarship Awards were, from left, Dr. Vijay Devabhaktuni, Dr. Yanfa Yan and Nicole Buonocore Porter.
Hai's new paper Self-Powered All-Inorganic Perovskite Microcrystal Photodetectors with High Detectivity is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: 2018, 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00700
Congratulations, Hai
Guang and Cong's new paper Effective Carrier-Concentration Tuning of SnO2 Quantum Dot Electron-Selective Layers for High-Performance Planar Perovskite Solar Cells is published in Advanced Materials: 2018, 10.1002/adma.201706023
Congratulations, Guang and Cong
This is a collaboration work with Prof. Guojia Fang at Wuhan University.
Dewei and Changlei's new paper Four-Terminal All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells Achieving Power Conversion Efficiencies Exceeding 23% is published in ACS Energy Letters: 2018, 10.1021/acsenergylett.7b01287
Congratulations, Dewei and Changlei
Baicheng's new paper Barium Bismuth Niobate Double Perovskite/Tungsten Oxide Nanosheet Photoanode for High-Performance Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2017, 10.1002/aenm.201701655
Congratulations, Baicheng
Yuhao, Changlei and Dewei's new paper A New Hole Transport Material for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells With Reduced Device Cost is published in Solar RRL: 2017, 10.1002/solr.201700175
Congratulations, Yuhao, Changlei and Dewei
This is a collaboration work with Prof. Weihua Tang at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
Yue successfully defended her Ph. D. thesis. Congratulations, Dr. Yu!
Lei and Xinxing's new paper Cost-Effective Hole Transporting Material for Stable and Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells with Fill Factors up to 82% is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A: 2017, 10.1039/C7TA08053K
Congratulations, Lei and Xinxing
Alexander's new paper Tracking the maximum power point of hysteretic perovskite solar cells using a predictive algorithm is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry C: 2017, 10.1039/C7TC03482B
Congratulations, Alexander
Wenbin and Dewei's new paper Highly Sensitive Low-Bandgap Perovskite Photodetectors with Response from Ultraviolet to the Near-Infrared Region is published in Advanced Functional Materials: 2017, 10.1002/adfm.201703953
Congratulations, Wenbin and Dewei
This is a collaboration work with Prof. Fujun Zhang at Beijing Jiaotong University.
Zewen's new paper Progress in Theoretical Study of Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cell Materials is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2017, 10.1002/aenm.201701136
Congratulations, Zewen
Changlei's new paper Water Vapor Treatment of Low-Temperature Deposited SnO2 Electron Selective Layers for Efficient Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells is published in ACS Energy Letters: 2017, 10.1021/acsenergylett.7b00644
Congratulations, Changlei
Xinxing and Lei's new paper One-step facile synthesis of a simple carbazole-cored hole transport material for high-performance perovskite solar cells is published in Nano Energy: 2017, 10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.08.016
Congratulations, Xinxing and Lei
Zewen's new paper Chemical Origin of the Stability Difference between Cu(I)- and Ag(I)-Based Halide Double Perovskites is published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition: 2017, 10.1002/anie.201705113
Congratulations, Zewen
Yu-Meng You (Southeast University), Weiqiang, and Dewei's new paper An organic-inorganic perovskite ferroelectric with large piezoelectric response is published in Science: 2017, doi:10.1126/science.aai8535
Congratulations, Weiqiang and Dewei
Weiwei's new paper is published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: 2017, doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b01042
Congratulations, Weiwei
Ke-zhao Du (Duke) and Weiwei's new paper is published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition: 2017, doi:10.1002/anie.201703970
Congratulations, Weiwei
Changlei's new paper is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2017, doi:10.1002/aenm.201700414
Congratulations, Changlei
Yue's new paper is published in ACS Energy Letters: 2017, doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.7b00278
Congratulations, Yue
Our work is reported by Solar Novus Today: All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cell Sets Efficiency World Record
Our work is reported by UT News: Bright Work: UT Research Shines, Sets Low-Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cell World Record For Efficiency
Zewen's new paper is published in Journal of the American Chemical Society: 2017, doi:10.1021/jacs.7b02227
Congratulations, Zewen
Changlei's new paper is published in Nano Energy: 2017, doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.03.048
Congratulations, Changlei
Dewei's new paper is published in Nature Energy: 2017, doi:10.1038/nenergy.2017.18
Congratulations, Dewei
Happy Chinese New Year! 2017 is the Year of the Rooster.
Zewen's new paper is published in Materials Horizons: 2017, DOI:/10.1039/c6mh00519
Congratulations, Zewen. Nice cover page!
Baicheng and Zewen's new paper is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2016, DOI:/10.1002/aenm.201602260
Congratulations Baicheng and Zewen
Alex successfully passed his Ph D thesis defense
Congratulations Dr. Cimaroli!
Jie's new paper is published in Advanced Energy Materials: 2016, DOI:/10.1002/aenm.201601803
Congratulations Jie
Baicheng's new paper is published in Energy Environmental Science: 2016, DOI:/10.1039/e03088b
Congratulations Baicheng
Zewen's new paper is published in ACS Energy Letters: 2016, DOI:/10.1002/ccsenergylett.6b00577:
Congratulations Zewen
Jie's new paper is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A: 2016, DOI:/10.1039/c6ta06702f:
Congratulations Jie
Dr. Dengbing Li visits our group
Welcome Dengbing
Yue's new paper is published in ChemSusChem: 2016, DOI:/10.1002/cssc.20160102:
Congratulations, Yue
Congratulations to Rasha's new baby boby.
The boy was born on October 19, 2016
Weiqiang and Dewei's JACS paper was highlighted by ACS New
Congratulations, Weiqiang, Dewei
Dr. Xiaoming Wang joined our group
Welcome, Xiaoming
Congratulations to Baicheng's new baby boy.
Kevin Weng arrived on September 15, 2016