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The article offers information on the advancements in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), emphasizing their efficiency improvements over the past decade. Topics include the exploration of various strategies to enhance the quality of the perovskite layer, such as using excess precursors, additives, or passivating agents.

The [1]benzothieno[3,2‐b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT) planar system was used to functionalize the phthalocyanine ring aiming at synthesizing novel electron‐rich π‐conjugated macrocycles. The resulting ZnPc−BTBT and ZnPc−(BTBT)4 derivatives are the first two examples of a phthalocyanine subclass having potential use as solution‐processable p‐type organic semiconductors. In particular, the combination of experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations suggests compatible energy level alignments with mixed halide hybrid perovskite‐based devices. Furthermore, ZnPc−(BTBT)4 features a high aggregation tendency, a useful tool to design compact molecular films. When tested as hole transport materials in perovskite solar cells under 100 mA cm−2 standard AM 1.5G solar illumination, ZnPc−(BTBT)4 gave power conversion efficiencies as high as 14.13 %, irrespective of the doping process generally required to achieve high photovoltaic performances. This work is a first step toward a new phthalocyanine core engineerization to obtain robust, yet more efficient and cost‐effective materials for organic electronics and optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tetra-n-butoxy zinc phthalocyanine (n-BuO)4ZnPc has been synthesized in a single step, starting from commercial precursors, and easily purified. The molecule can be solution processed to form an effective and inexpensive hole transport layer for organic and perovskite solar cells. These appealing features are suggested by the results of a series of chemical, optical, and voltammetric characterizations of the molecule, supported by the results of ab initio simulations. Preliminary measurements of (n-BuO)4ZnPc-methylammonium lead triiodide perovskite-based devices confirm such suggestion and indicate that the interface between the photoactive layer and the hole transporting layer is characterized by hole-extracting and electron-blocking properties, potentially competitive with those of other standards de facto in the field of organic hole transport materials, like the expensive Spiro-OMeTAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]