Reversing Degradation: Recovery of Ion-Induced Performance Losses in Perovskite Solar Cells

Reversing Degradation: Recovery of Ion-Induced Performance Losses in Perovskite Solar Cells | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Reversing Degradation: Recovery of Ion-Induced Performance Losses in Perovskite Solar Cells Felix Lang, Paria Forozi Sowmeeh, Jarla Thiesbrummel, Andres Felipe Castro Mendez, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9643570/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Although perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are widely recognized for their partial self-healing behaviour, the fundamental mechanisms linking degradation and recovery remain poorly understood, particularly the role of mobile ions. By directly comparing a stable and a poorly stable system, we demonstrate in this work that characterization at the fresh stage alone is inadequate to predict long-term stability or ionic behaviour. Instead, light/dark cycling emerges as a reliable indicator, unveiling the cumulative nature of ion-driven degradation, which ultimately dictates the extent and reversibility of performance losses. Intriguingly, devices that appear to exhibit minimal ionic effects in their fresh state can evolve into highly unstable systems under operation, while others with stronger initial ionic signatures may demonstrate greater operational stability. Furthermore, we identify temperature and dark resting time as important control parameters for regulating ion migration and recovery. Together, these findings highlight test protocols based on light/dark cycling as a transformative approach for understanding and controlling degradation, offering new pathways toward extending the lifetime of PSCs. Physical sciences/Physics/Electronics, photonics and device physics/Photonic devices Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Semiconductors Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ReversingdegradationSIforozietal.pdf Reversing Degradation: Recovery of Ion-Induced Performance Losses in Perovskite Solar Cells Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9643570","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":636958441,"identity":"3be71ba1-7ced-4448-8ec4-573c1779683e","order_by":0,"name":"Felix 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