Supramolecular hosts for high-performance and sustainable perovskite optoelectronics

Abstract

Metal halide perovskites have revolutionized the field of optoelectronics with their exceptional optoelectronic properties and low-cost processability, enabling remarkable progress in solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and other optoelectronic technologies. However, their practical deployment remains hindered by critical challenges related to structural instability, defect-prone bulk and interfaces, ion migration, and environmental concerns arising from lead toxicity. In recent years, supramolecular hosts, such as cyclodextrins (CDs), crown ethers (CEs), cucurbiturils (CBs), calixarenes (CAs) and porous crystalline frameworks such as metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), have emerged as powerful multifunctional ingredients/modifiers for perovskite-based optoelectronics. These hosts offer unique advantages over conventional small molecule additives, including tunable cavity structures, abundant functional group availability, and flexible chemical modifiability, enabling simultaneous control over crystallization dynamics, defect passivation, grain protection, interfacial engineering, ion regulation, and lead immobilization. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in integrating supramolecular hosts based on macrocyclic molecular and porous crystalline frameworks into perovskite optoelectronic systems. We systematically examine the structure-function-performance relationships of such representative supramolecular hosts, detailing their roles in enhancing device performance, operational longevity, and environmental safety. Finally, we highlight future directions for rational design of hosts–perovskite hybrids, offering insights into the development of next-generation, high-performance, and sustainable optoelectronic technologies.