近日，英国伦敦帝国理工学院Maxie M. Roessler团队研究了共轭分子线中的电子跳变及其在太阳能电池中的应用。这一研究成果发表在2026年2月9日出版的《自然-化学》杂志上。

电子转移通过分子导线进行，这一机制支撑着从单分子电子学到基础生物过程，乃至其在（生物）电催化领域应用的众多研究方向。

研究组报道了一系列长度为1-3纳米、以二茂铁封端的共轭分子导线，其锚定于氧化铟锡电极上，其电子转移过程由跳跃机制主导（β值为0.043 Å^-1）。结果发现，电极的特性，即电子给体与受体间的窄能隙，解释了这些短分子导线中出人意料的电子转移机制。

通过实验，研究组证明了这类锚定分子导线可用作锡基钙钛矿太阳能电池中的空穴传输层。相较于锡基钙钛矿太阳能电池中通常使用的传统空穴传输层，采用此类分子导线的器件表现出更优异的性能。该工作不仅为利用分子导线进行界面电子转移的机理研究开辟了新途径，也展示了其在光伏等应用领域的潜在影响力。

附：英文原文

Title: Electron hopping in conjugated molecular wires with application to solar cells

Author: Fang, Fang, Li, Ang, Geoghegan, Blaise L., Webb, Thomas, Dang, Yunfei, Azaden, Amanz, Bennett, Troy L., Fu, Kunrou, Vanin, Francesco, Sills, Adam J., Long, Nicholas J., Haque, Saif A., Roessler, Maxie M.

Issue&Volume: 2026-02-09

Abstract: Electron transfer through molecular wires underpins numerous research fields, ranging from single-molecule electronics to fundamental biological processes and their application in (bio)electrocatalysis. Here we report a series of 1–3-nm-long ferrocene-terminated conjugated molecular wires, anchored to indium tin oxide electrodes, that exhibit an electron transfer mechanism dominated by hopping (with a β value of 0.0431). We show that the nature of the electrode, namely the small energy gap between the electron donor and acceptor, explains the unexpected electron transfer mechanism in these short wires. We demonstrate the applicability of these anchored molecular wires as the hole-extraction layer in a tin perovskite solar cell. We show improved performance in devices employing these molecular wires compared with the more conventional hole-extraction layers typically used in tin perovskite solar cells. This work not only opens avenues for mechanistic investigations of interfacial electron transfer using molecular wires but also showcases their potential impact in applications such as photovoltaics.

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-025-02034-0

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-025-02034-0