# Ning Li
**Ning Li** (李宁) is a materials scientist who works on organic photovoltaics and organic optoelectronic devices. He is affiliated with the Institute of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg[1](https://cris.fau.de/persons/103752090/) and with the Helmholtz-Institut Erlangen-Nürnberg für Erneuerbare Energien (HI ERN) of Forschungszentrum Jülich[2](https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/person/264289704), and he leads a research group at the State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices at South China University of Technology (SCUT) in [Guangzhou](https://www.edgepedia.org/guangzhou)[3](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0709/c24798a631844/page.htm). His published work spans non-fullerene acceptor solar cells, perovskite and tandem devices, and water-processed organic nanoparticle inks.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Field | Organic photovoltaics, organic optoelectronics, perovskite, and tandem solar cells[1](https://cris.fau.de/persons/103752090/) |
| Main affiliations | HI ERN, Forschungszentrum Jülich; State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, SCUT[2](https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/person/264289704) • [3](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0709/c24798a631844/page.htm) • [17](http://www2.scut.edu.cn/materials/2022/1111/c22815a486480/page.htm) |
| Signature work | "Analyzing the efficiency, stability and cost potential for fullerene-free organic photovoltaics in one figure of merit", Energy & Environmental Science, 2018, predicting a ~20% efficiency limit[4](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ee/c8ee00151k) |
| Certified record | About 10% power conversion efficiency on a one-square-centimeter organic single-junction cell, November 2018[5](https://www.tf.fau.eu/2018/11/research/using-fine-tuning-for-record-breaking-performance/) |
| Recent result | Fully spray-coated organic solar cells in air with a power-to-weight ratio above 250 W g⁻¹, and 18.27% efficiency for a spray-coated active layer, 2026[3](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0709/c24798a631844/page.htm) |
| Funder record | DFG GEPRIS lists him at HI ERN and in a research group on NFA degradation mechanisms[2](https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/person/264289704) |
## Career record
The FAU research information system lists Li at i-MEET and in Sonderforschungsbereich 953/3 "Synthetic Carbon Allotropes"[1](https://cris.fau.de/persons/103752090/). The [German Research Foundation](https://www.edgepedia.org/german-research-foundation)'s GEPRIS registry records him with a doctorate at [Forschungszentrum Jülich](https://www.edgepedia.org/forschungszentrum-julich)'s HI ERN in Erlangen[2](https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/person/264289704). In November 2018 the i-MEET laboratory described him as a materials scientist at the institute's chair, working on a DFG-funded project with colleagues at SCUT[6](https://www.i-meet.tf.fau.de/2018/11/congratulations-to-ning-and-baobing-they-report-their-molecular-fine-tuning-for-record-breaking-opv-performance-in-nature-energy/). He participates in a DFG research group project on separating microstructure-conditioned and photo-induced degradation mechanisms in non-fullerene-acceptor-based organic solar cells[2](https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/person/264289704). At SCUT he leads a group at the State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices whose work is funded by the [National Natural Science Foundation of China](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-natural-science-foundation-of-china), a TCL innovation fund, and a Ministry of Education program[3](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0709/c24798a631844/page.htm). Neither his doctoral institution nor start dates for his positions appear in these records.
## Field: organic photovoltaics
Organic photovoltaics (OPV) convert sunlight to electricity in solar cells whose active layer is made of carbon-based semiconductors. Before 2015 the acceptors were fullerene derivatives, which had strong electron transport but narrow spectral absorption, poor energy-level tunability, and high purification cost; after 2015 non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) displaced them[7](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2542435125003502). Over three decades the field's power conversion efficiency rose from under 1% to about 21% by 2025[7](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2542435125003502), with Y6-type acceptors pushing single-junction cells past 15% and later above 19%[8](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35929847/). A 2024 Joule analysis frames the field's industrialization problem as a "golden triangle" of cost, efficiency, and stability, all determined by the donor–acceptor material choice[9](https://www.cell.com/joule/pdfExtended/S2542-4351(24)00298-8).
## Representative work
Li's 2018 Energy & Environmental Science paper "Analyzing the efficiency, stability and cost potential for fullerene-free organic photovoltaics in one figure of merit", of which he was corresponding author, argued that efficiency predictions for OPV usually ignore stability and cost and are therefore less representative[4](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ee/c8ee00151k). Combining an efficiency model with experimentally determined stability data, it predicted the efficiency limit of NFA-based OPV to be close to 20%, insensitive to the donor bandgap, and recommended donors of low synthetic complexity such as P3HT for large-scale production[4](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ee/c8ee00151k) • [10](https://cris.fau.de/publications/201737090/).
## How organics compare with silicon and perovskite
The 2025 Emerging Photovoltaic Materials benchmark reports single-junction perovskite cells above 27% efficiency, organic cells surpassing 20%, and silicon/perovskite tandems exceeding 34%[11](https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202505525). The main gap between organic cells and mature inorganic technologies such as silicon, GaAs, CdTe, and perovskites is their larger energy loss, typically over 0.55 eV, with only a few cases suppressed to 0.5 eV[12](https://doi.org/10.1002/eom2.12281). On the other side of the ledger, state-of-the-art NFA systems have cut open-circuit voltage losses from 0.8–0.9 V to below 0.5 V and show T80 operational lifetimes (time to 80% of initial efficiency) beyond 8,000 hours[7](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2542435125003502).
## Recent developments
Since 2024 Li's output has broadened from single-junction organics into perovskites, tandems, and processing. A 2024 [Nature Communications](https://www.edgepedia.org/nature-communications) paper from his group reported a polymer-acid-metal quasi-ohmic contact for stable perovskite solar cells with an extrapolated lifetime beyond 20,000 hours[1](https://cris.fau.de/persons/103752090/), and a 2025 paper reported a synergistic protection mechanism enabling long-term stable hybrid perovskite–organic multi-junction tandem cells[1](https://cris.fau.de/persons/103752090/). As corresponding author he published a review of organic nanoparticle-based optoelectronic devices in Energy & Environmental Science (volume 18, page 155; the publisher prints it as 2025, while a laboratory publication list prints 2024)[13](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/ee/d4ee03575e) • [14](https://www.i-meet.ww.uni-erlangen.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRABEC-PUBLICATION-LIST-2025-05.pdf). The review argues that dispersing organic semiconductors as nanoparticles in non-toxic water/alcohol solvents solves the toxicity problem of device fabrication, since organic materials otherwise require toxic solvents that hinder processing in air[13](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/ee/d4ee03575e); an earlier Nature Communications study had shown surfactant-stripped nanoparticles reaching a 7.5% record for water-processed devices[15](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07807-5). In 2026 his SCUT group reported a spray-coated active layer with 18.27% efficiency using a D18:L8BO:PYIT ternary blend with solvent-vapor annealing, and fully spray-coated devices made in air with a power-to-weight ratio above 250 W g⁻¹, published in Green Chemistry[3](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0709/c24798a631844/page.htm). In September 2026 the group published "Decoupling Competing Roles of Energetic Disorder and Molecular Structural Order in Organic Photovoltaics" in Advanced Energy Materials, with Li as corresponding author[16](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0915/c24798a635430/page.htm).
## References
1. [Ning Li – FAU CRIS person page](https://cris.fau.de/persons/103752090/)
2. [DFG – GEPRIS – Dr. Ning Li](https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/person/264289704)
3. [SCUT State Key Laboratory: Li Ning group, fully spray-coated organic solar cells](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0709/c24798a631844/page.htm)
4. [Analyzing the efficiency, stability and cost potential for fullerene-free organic photovoltaics in one figure of merit – Energy & Environmental Science](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ee/c8ee00151k)
5. [Using fine-tuning for record-breaking performance – FAU Faculty of Engineering](https://www.tf.fau.eu/2018/11/research/using-fine-tuning-for-record-breaking-performance/)
6. [Congratulations to Ning and Baobing – record-breaking OPV performance in Nature Energy – i-MEET](https://www.i-meet.tf.fau.de/2018/11/congratulations-to-ning-and-baobing-they-report-their-molecular-fine-tuning-for-record-breaking-opv-performance-in-nature-energy/)
7. [Material insights and challenges for organic photovoltaics based on non-fullerene acceptors – Cell Press](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2542435125003502)
8. [Renewed Prospects for Organic Photovoltaics – PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35929847/)
9. https://www.cell.com/joule/pdfExtended/S2542-4351(24)00298-8
10. [Analyzing the efficiency, stability and cost potential for fullerene-free organic photovoltaics in one figure of merit – FAU CRIS](https://cris.fau.de/publications/201737090/)
11. [Device Performance of Emerging Photovoltaic Materials (Version 6)](https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202505525)
12. [Recent advances of non-fullerene organic solar cells – Energy & Environmental Materials](https://doi.org/10.1002/eom2.12281)
13. [A review on organic nanoparticle-based optoelectronic devices – Energy & Environmental Science](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/ee/d4ee03575e)
14. [Brabec group publication list (May 2025)](https://www.i-meet.ww.uni-erlangen.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRABEC-PUBLICATION-LIST-2025-05.pdf)
15. [Overcoming efficiency and stability limits in water-processing nanoparticular organic photovoltaics – Nature Communications](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07807-5)
16. [SCUT State Key Laboratory: decoupling energetic disorder and molecular order in organic photovoltaics](https://www2.scut.edu.cn/skllmd/2026/0915/c24798a635430/page.htm)
17. [黄飞/李宁教授团队在Nature Energy报道有机太阳电池材料设计新思路](http://www2.scut.edu.cn/materials/2022/1111/c22815a486480/page.htm)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineers and computer scientists › Engineers and materials scientists › Researchers in chemical engineering, batteries, solar, and energy materials › Photovoltaics and solar energy conversion › Organic photovoltaics researchers*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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