Lithium-ion batteries can fail catastrophically through thermal runaway, but the key trigger has remained unclear. Here we show that the most harmful cause is lithium oxidation reaction (LOR). This makes two types of high-energy-density battery surprisingly most dangerous: all-solid-state batteries with cracked solid separators, whether from manufacturing defects, high-pressure assembly or electrochemical cycling, and batteries with non-flammable liquid electrolytes. In both batteries, oxygen evolved from an oxide cathode passes directly to an anode, triggering highly energetic LOR. In contrast, traditional carbonate- and ether-based electrolytes are safer because they can consume O2 in transit, alleviating or avoiding LOR. These findings apply to both lithium metal and lithiated anodes such as graphite. Safe electrolytes are thus either solid ion conductors that stop O2 crossover under all conditions or materials that scavenge O2 through low-exothermic reactions. Battery safety is critical across applications from consumer electronics to large-scale storage. This study identifies lithium oxidation as the primary driver of thermal runaway in high-energy batteries, reshaping safety approaches for advanced electrolytes.
{"title":"Metrics for evaluating safe electrolytes in energy-dense lithium batteries","authors":"Chao-Yang Wang, Kaiqiang Qin, Shanhai Ge, Nitesh Gupta, Tatsuro Sasaki, Koichiro Aotani","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01887-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01887-6","url":null,"abstract":"Lithium-ion batteries can fail catastrophically through thermal runaway, but the key trigger has remained unclear. Here we show that the most harmful cause is lithium oxidation reaction (LOR). This makes two types of high-energy-density battery surprisingly most dangerous: all-solid-state batteries with cracked solid separators, whether from manufacturing defects, high-pressure assembly or electrochemical cycling, and batteries with non-flammable liquid electrolytes. In both batteries, oxygen evolved from an oxide cathode passes directly to an anode, triggering highly energetic LOR. In contrast, traditional carbonate- and ether-based electrolytes are safer because they can consume O2 in transit, alleviating or avoiding LOR. These findings apply to both lithium metal and lithiated anodes such as graphite. Safe electrolytes are thus either solid ion conductors that stop O2 crossover under all conditions or materials that scavenge O2 through low-exothermic reactions. Battery safety is critical across applications from consumer electronics to large-scale storage. This study identifies lithium oxidation as the primary driver of thermal runaway in high-energy batteries, reshaping safety approaches for advanced electrolytes.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 11","pages":"1382-1390"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145397313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01896-5
Lithium oxidation at the anode, not organic-electrolyte combustion, is found to be the leading cause of thermal runaway and fires in high-energy lithium batteries. For fire safety, electrolytes should be materials that are able to scavenge oxygen through low-exothermic reactions or stop oxygen crossover from cathode to anode.
{"title":"Identifying safe electrolytes for fire-free lithium batteries","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01896-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01896-5","url":null,"abstract":"Lithium oxidation at the anode, not organic-electrolyte combustion, is found to be the leading cause of thermal runaway and fires in high-energy lithium batteries. For fire safety, electrolytes should be materials that are able to scavenge oxygen through low-exothermic reactions or stop oxygen crossover from cathode to anode.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 11","pages":"1303-1304"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145397315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01918-2
Jiehao Fu, Hongxiang Li, Heng Liu, Peihao Huang, Haiyan Chen, Patrick W. K. Fong, Top Archie Dela Peña, Mingjie Li, Xinhui Lu, Pei Cheng, Zeyun Xiao, Shirong Lu, Gang Li
{"title":"Author Correction: Two-step crystallization modulated through acenaphthene enabling 21% binary organic solar cells and 83.2% fill factor","authors":"Jiehao Fu, Hongxiang Li, Heng Liu, Peihao Huang, Haiyan Chen, Patrick W. K. Fong, Top Archie Dela Peña, Mingjie Li, Xinhui Lu, Pei Cheng, Zeyun Xiao, Shirong Lu, Gang Li","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01918-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01918-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"11 1","pages":"150-150"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-025-01918-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145397314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01871-0
Sidney Gathrid, Jeremy Wayland, Stuart Wayland, Ranjit Deshmukh, Grace C. Wu
Strategically planning the phase-out of coal power is critical to achieve climate targets, yet current approaches often fail to account for the context-specific barriers and vulnerabilities to retirement. Here we introduce a framework that combines graph theory and topological data analysis to classify the US coal fleet into eight distinct groups based on technical, economic, environmental and socio-political characteristics. We calculate each non-retiring coal plant’s ‘contextual retirement vulnerability’ score, a metric developed to quantify susceptibility to retirement drivers using the graph-based distance to a coal plant with an announced early retirement. Separately, we identify ‘retirement archetypes’ that explain the key factors driving announced retirements within each group, which are used to inform group-specific strategies for accelerating retirements. Our findings reveal the diverse strategies that are required to accelerate the phase-out of remaining coal plants, including regulatory compliance, public health campaigns and economic incentives. The phase-out of coal will require targeted strategies. New research assesses the retirement vulnerability of coal plants in the USA based on similarity to plants with announced retirements. The findings highlight strategies to guide and accelerate phase-out.
{"title":"Strategies to accelerate US coal power phase-out using contextual retirement vulnerabilities","authors":"Sidney Gathrid, Jeremy Wayland, Stuart Wayland, Ranjit Deshmukh, Grace C. Wu","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01871-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01871-0","url":null,"abstract":"Strategically planning the phase-out of coal power is critical to achieve climate targets, yet current approaches often fail to account for the context-specific barriers and vulnerabilities to retirement. Here we introduce a framework that combines graph theory and topological data analysis to classify the US coal fleet into eight distinct groups based on technical, economic, environmental and socio-political characteristics. We calculate each non-retiring coal plant’s ‘contextual retirement vulnerability’ score, a metric developed to quantify susceptibility to retirement drivers using the graph-based distance to a coal plant with an announced early retirement. Separately, we identify ‘retirement archetypes’ that explain the key factors driving announced retirements within each group, which are used to inform group-specific strategies for accelerating retirements. Our findings reveal the diverse strategies that are required to accelerate the phase-out of remaining coal plants, including regulatory compliance, public health campaigns and economic incentives. The phase-out of coal will require targeted strategies. New research assesses the retirement vulnerability of coal plants in the USA based on similarity to plants with announced retirements. The findings highlight strategies to guide and accelerate phase-out.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1274-1288"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01872-z
US coal power has been on the decline over the past decade, but there is no path forward for a complete phaseout in alignment with climate goals. Targeted early retirement strategies are now made available for major groupings of coal plants using their key group characteristics and similarity to plants with announced retirements.
{"title":"Targeted strategies for accelerating US coal plant retirements","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01872-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01872-z","url":null,"abstract":"US coal power has been on the decline over the past decade, but there is no path forward for a complete phaseout in alignment with climate goals. Targeted early retirement strategies are now made available for major groupings of coal plants using their key group characteristics and similarity to plants with announced retirements.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1191-1192"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-20DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01853-2
Junyi Yue, Simeng Zhang, Xingyu Wang, Jiamin Fu, Yang Xu, Suting Weng, Ye Zhu, Changtai Zhao, Matthew Zheng, Yueyue Wang, Xiangzhen Zhu, Han Wu, Guanzhi Wang, Yu Xia, Mengyan Cao, Qihang Jing, Xuefeng Wang, Wei Xia, Jianwen Liang, Xueliang Sun, Xiaona Li
Conventional strategies for designing inorganic solid-state electrolytes, typically via doping superionic lattices, are constrained by dopant–lattice compatibility. Here we propose solid dissociation in which halide van der Waals materials act as solid solvents to dissolve salts, forming amorphous ion-conductive solids. Using this approach, we discover 73 materials, with 40 exhibiting ionic conductivities exceeding 10−3 S cm−1, conducting Li+, Na+, Ag+ and Cu+. We analyse atomic-scale interactions between solvents and salts, uncovering dynamic structural rearrangements that enable solid dissociation. Across diverse solvent–salt pairs, consistent ionic environments emerge, revealing universal mechanisms governing ion transport in this system. Analogous to the compositional tuning of liquid electrolytes, solid dissociation allows targeted engineering of solid-state electrolytes for specific application conditions. Prototype electrolytes have been developed for fast-charging cells, low-temperature cells and 4.8-V high-voltage cells, and demonstrate enhanced dry-room stability and cost advantages. Solid dissociation offers a versatile platform for advancing next generation solid-state electrolytes. Conventional solid-state electrolyte design is limited by dopant–lattice compatibility. This work introduces solid dissociation, using halide van der Waals materials to dissolve salts and create amorphous conductors with high ionic conductivity and potential for use in devices.
设计无机固态电解质的传统策略，通常是通过掺杂超离子晶格，受到掺杂晶格兼容性的限制。在这里，我们提出固体解离，其中卤化物范德华材料作为固体溶剂溶解盐，形成无定形离子导电固体。利用这种方法，我们发现了73种材料，其中40种材料的离子电导率超过10−3 S cm−1，可以导电Li+， Na+， Ag+和Cu+。我们分析了溶剂和盐之间的原子尺度的相互作用，揭示了使固体解离的动态结构重排。在不同的溶剂-盐对中，一致的离子环境出现，揭示了在该系统中控制离子传输的普遍机制。类似于液体电解质的成分调整，固体解离允许针对特定应用条件对固态电解质进行针对性的工程设计。已开发出用于快速充电电池、低温电池和4.8 v高压电池的原型电解质，并展示了增强的干室稳定性和成本优势。固体解离为推进下一代固态电解质提供了一个通用的平台。传统的固态电解质设计受到掺杂-晶格兼容性的限制。这项工作介绍了固体解离，使用卤化物范德华材料溶解盐并创建具有高离子电导率和潜力的非晶态导体。
{"title":"Universal superionic conduction via solid dissociation of salts in van der Waals materials","authors":"Junyi Yue, Simeng Zhang, Xingyu Wang, Jiamin Fu, Yang Xu, Suting Weng, Ye Zhu, Changtai Zhao, Matthew Zheng, Yueyue Wang, Xiangzhen Zhu, Han Wu, Guanzhi Wang, Yu Xia, Mengyan Cao, Qihang Jing, Xuefeng Wang, Wei Xia, Jianwen Liang, Xueliang Sun, Xiaona Li","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01853-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01853-2","url":null,"abstract":"Conventional strategies for designing inorganic solid-state electrolytes, typically via doping superionic lattices, are constrained by dopant–lattice compatibility. Here we propose solid dissociation in which halide van der Waals materials act as solid solvents to dissolve salts, forming amorphous ion-conductive solids. Using this approach, we discover 73 materials, with 40 exhibiting ionic conductivities exceeding 10−3 S cm−1, conducting Li+, Na+, Ag+ and Cu+. We analyse atomic-scale interactions between solvents and salts, uncovering dynamic structural rearrangements that enable solid dissociation. Across diverse solvent–salt pairs, consistent ionic environments emerge, revealing universal mechanisms governing ion transport in this system. Analogous to the compositional tuning of liquid electrolytes, solid dissociation allows targeted engineering of solid-state electrolytes for specific application conditions. Prototype electrolytes have been developed for fast-charging cells, low-temperature cells and 4.8-V high-voltage cells, and demonstrate enhanced dry-room stability and cost advantages. Solid dissociation offers a versatile platform for advancing next generation solid-state electrolytes. Conventional solid-state electrolyte design is limited by dopant–lattice compatibility. This work introduces solid dissociation, using halide van der Waals materials to dissolve salts and create amorphous conductors with high ionic conductivity and potential for use in devices.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1237-1250"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-20DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01854-1
Inorganic salts can exhibit dissociation behaviour in inorganic solid phases similar to that in liquid solvents. This solid dissociation approach is used to obtain superionic conductors, including over 40 materials with room-temperature ionic conductivities of more than 10−3 S cm−1.
无机盐在无机固相中可以表现出类似于在液体溶剂中的解离行为。这种固体解离方法用于获得超离子导体，包括40多种室温离子电导率超过10−3 S cm−1的材料。
{"title":"A flexible design strategy for solid-state electrolytes","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01854-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01854-1","url":null,"abstract":"Inorganic salts can exhibit dissociation behaviour in inorganic solid phases similar to that in liquid solvents. This solid dissociation approach is used to obtain superionic conductors, including over 40 materials with room-temperature ionic conductivities of more than 10−3 S cm−1.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1193-1194"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ion association in highly concentrated electrolytes and localized highly concentrated electrolytes facilitates solid electrolyte interphase formation but compromises the thermal stability. Here we investigated the thermal behaviours of 20 electrolytes and uncovered that ion association lowers exothermic onset temperature by ~94 °C. To enhance the thermal stability without impairing solid electrolyte interphase formation, we developed a solvent-relay strategy that promotes ion association at ambient temperature while inducing dissociation at elevated temperatures. This approach enabled 4.5-V graphite-NCM811 pouch cells (1.1 Ah) to deliver 1,000 cycles under 0.45 C over 4,100 h with ~81.9% capacity retention and exceptional thermal safety, with a temperature rise lower than 3.5 °C during nail penetration, compared with 555.2 °C for commercial carbonate-based electrolytes. These findings elucidate the pivotal role of ion association in thermal runaway and offer a viable strategy to simultaneously achieve long cycle life, high-voltage operation and enhanced safety in ampere-hour-scale lithium-ion batteries. Ion association in electrolytes enables a robust protective layer on battery electrodes but compromises thermal stability. Here Yi-Chun Lu and colleagues develop an electrolyte-based strategy that preserves this benefit while enabling safer lithium-ion batteries.
{"title":"Designing safe and long-life lithium-ion batteries via a solvent-relay strategy","authors":"Yue Sun, Changjian Zuo, Huwei Wang, Liwei Jiang, Wanwan Wang, Jing Xie, Yi-Chun Lu","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01888-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01888-5","url":null,"abstract":"Ion association in highly concentrated electrolytes and localized highly concentrated electrolytes facilitates solid electrolyte interphase formation but compromises the thermal stability. Here we investigated the thermal behaviours of 20 electrolytes and uncovered that ion association lowers exothermic onset temperature by ~94 °C. To enhance the thermal stability without impairing solid electrolyte interphase formation, we developed a solvent-relay strategy that promotes ion association at ambient temperature while inducing dissociation at elevated temperatures. This approach enabled 4.5-V graphite-NCM811 pouch cells (1.1 Ah) to deliver 1,000 cycles under 0.45 C over 4,100 h with ~81.9% capacity retention and exceptional thermal safety, with a temperature rise lower than 3.5 °C during nail penetration, compared with 555.2 °C for commercial carbonate-based electrolytes. These findings elucidate the pivotal role of ion association in thermal runaway and offer a viable strategy to simultaneously achieve long cycle life, high-voltage operation and enhanced safety in ampere-hour-scale lithium-ion batteries. Ion association in electrolytes enables a robust protective layer on battery electrodes but compromises thermal stability. Here Yi-Chun Lu and colleagues develop an electrolyte-based strategy that preserves this benefit while enabling safer lithium-ion batteries.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 12","pages":"1450-1457"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145382236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01885-8
Jian Qin, Qian Xi, Na Wu, Bowen Liu, Chao Yue, Jin Fang, Zhenguo Wang, Yanbin Du, Qing Zhang, Zhen Wang, Wei Wang, Muhammad Jawad, Jinjing Qiu, Weishi Li, Qun Luo, Chang-Qi Ma
Despite significant advancements in power conversion efficiency, thermal instability remains a key challenge for organic photovoltaics. Here we propose a stabilization strategy that addresses both intrinsic and extrinsic stability. We first introduce the UV–vis absorption onset temperature (Tonset) as a metric for evaluating the intrinsic thermal stability of polymer blends, enabling material screening. Then, we identify interfacial chemical reactions at the polymer blend/MoO3 interface as the primary extrinsic thermal degradation pathway, which can be suppressed by inserting a thin C60 interlayer that consequently improves thermal stability of the cells. Finally, by establishing quantitative models to characterize the moisture diffusion over the encapsulated cells, we can quantify the effectiveness of encapsulation. These advances enable organic photovoltaic cells with approximately 18% efficiency to retain 94% of their initial efficiency after 1,032-hour 85 °C/85% relative humidity damp heat and 200 thermal cycles (−40 °C to 85 °C) tests, among the highest stabilities reported under the damp heat (ISOS-D-3) and thermal cycling (ISOS-T-3) testing standards. Thermal stability remains a key challenge for organic photovoltaics. Qin et al. now propose a strategy that stabilizes multiple components of the devices, enhancing their resilience under damp heat and thermal cycling conditions.
尽管在功率转换效率方面取得了重大进展，但热不稳定性仍然是有机光伏发电的关键挑战。在这里，我们提出了一种稳定策略，解决了内在和外在的稳定性。我们首先介绍了UV-vis吸收起始温度（Tonset）作为评估聚合物共混物固有热稳定性的指标，使材料筛选成为可能。然后，我们确定了聚合物共混物/MoO3界面的界面化学反应是主要的外源性热降解途径，可以通过插入薄的C60中间层来抑制，从而提高电池的热稳定性。最后，通过建立定量模型来表征水分在包封细胞上的扩散，我们可以量化包封的有效性。这些进步使效率约为18%的有机光伏电池在1032小时85°C/85%相对湿度的湿热和200个热循环（- 40°C至85°C）测试后保持其初始效率的94%，在湿热（iso - d -3）和热循环（iso - t -3）测试标准下报告的最高稳定性。热稳定性仍然是有机光伏的一个关键挑战。Qin等人现在提出了一种策略，可以稳定设备的多个组件，增强其在湿热和热循环条件下的弹性。
{"title":"Improved damp heat and thermal cycling stability of organic solar cells","authors":"Jian Qin, Qian Xi, Na Wu, Bowen Liu, Chao Yue, Jin Fang, Zhenguo Wang, Yanbin Du, Qing Zhang, Zhen Wang, Wei Wang, Muhammad Jawad, Jinjing Qiu, Weishi Li, Qun Luo, Chang-Qi Ma","doi":"10.1038/s41560-025-01885-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41560-025-01885-8","url":null,"abstract":"Despite significant advancements in power conversion efficiency, thermal instability remains a key challenge for organic photovoltaics. Here we propose a stabilization strategy that addresses both intrinsic and extrinsic stability. We first introduce the UV–vis absorption onset temperature (Tonset) as a metric for evaluating the intrinsic thermal stability of polymer blends, enabling material screening. Then, we identify interfacial chemical reactions at the polymer blend/MoO3 interface as the primary extrinsic thermal degradation pathway, which can be suppressed by inserting a thin C60 interlayer that consequently improves thermal stability of the cells. Finally, by establishing quantitative models to characterize the moisture diffusion over the encapsulated cells, we can quantify the effectiveness of encapsulation. These advances enable organic photovoltaic cells with approximately 18% efficiency to retain 94% of their initial efficiency after 1,032-hour 85 °C/85% relative humidity damp heat and 200 thermal cycles (−40 °C to 85 °C) tests, among the highest stabilities reported under the damp heat (ISOS-D-3) and thermal cycling (ISOS-T-3) testing standards. Thermal stability remains a key challenge for organic photovoltaics. Qin et al. now propose a strategy that stabilizes multiple components of the devices, enhancing their resilience under damp heat and thermal cycling conditions.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"10 12","pages":"1439-1449"},"PeriodicalIF":60.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145381731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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