Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells achieve remarkable efficiencies (> 26%) yet face stability challenges. Quasi-2D alternating-cation-interlayer perovskites offer enhanced stability through hydrophobic spacer cations but suffer from vertical phase segregation and buried interface defects. Herein, we introduce dicyanodiamide (DCD) to simultaneously address these dual limitations in GA(MA)_nPb_nI_3n+1 perovskites. The guanidine group in DCD passivates undercoordinated Pb²⁺ and MA⁺ vacancies at the perovskite/TiO₂ interface, while cyano groups eliminate oxygen vacancies in TiO₂ via Ti⁴⁺–CN coordination, reducing interfacial trap density by 73% with respect to the control sample. In addition, DCD regulates crystallization kinetics, suppressing low-n-phase aggregation and promoting vertical alignment of high-n phases, which benefit for carrier transport. This dual-functional modification enhances charge transport and stabilizes energy-level alignment. The optimized devices achieve a record power conversion efficiency of 21.54% (vs. 19.05% control) and retain 94% initial efficiency after 1200 h, outperforming unmodified counterparts (84% retention). Combining defect passivation with phase homogenization, this work establishes a molecular bridge strategy to decouple stability-efficiency trade-offs in low-dimensional perovskites, providing a universal framework for interface engineering in high-performance optoelectronics.

A new species of a native bushland marsupial – closely related to the kangaroo – has been discovered but is already likely extinct, new research shows.

New findings call into question one of the core assumptions about teeth. Adult male spotted ratfish, a shark-like species native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, have rows of teeth on top of their heads, lining a cartilaginous appendage called the tenaculum, in addition to those in their jaws. They used their tenaculum teeth to grip females while mating in water.

Male “ghost sharks” — eerie deep-sea fish known as chimaeras that are related to sharks and rays — have a strange rod jutting from their foreheads, studded with sharp, retractable teeth. New research reveals these are not merely lookalikes, but real rows of teeth that grow outside the mouth.

A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have revealed a possible molecular connection between air pollution and an increased risk of developing Lewy body dementia.

Hundreds of species have gone extinct in recent centuries, but losses are few among larger classification levels, meaning we are not witnessing a mass extinction just yet, according to a study published September 4^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by John Wiens of the University of Arizona, USA, and Kristen Saban of Harvard University, USA.

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have identified an ancient protein, which they have named SCORE, that has the potential to help defend plants against tens of thousands of different bacteria and other pathogens. In experiments published Sep 4 in Science they proved that swapping out key sections of SCORE with substitutes can predictably change which bacteria it recognizes. This strategy can be to used engineer synthetic SCORE and provide plants, particularly crops and trees, with a means to defend themselves against whatever pathogens is plaguing them.