| 1. |
- Luo, Zhenghui, et al.
(author)
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Fine-Tuning Energy Levels via Asymmetric End Groups Enables Polymer Solar Cells with Efficiencies over 17%
- 2020
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In: Joule. - : CELL PRESS. - 2542-4351. ; 4:6, s. 1236-1247
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Generally, it is important to fine-tune the energy levels of donor and acceptor materials in the field of polymer solar cell (PSCs) to achieve a minimal highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy offset, which yet is still sufficient for charge separation. Based on the high-performance small-molecule acceptor (SMA) of BTP-4F, we modified the end groups of BTP-4F from IC-2F to CPTCN-Cl. It was found that when both end groups were substituted by CPTCN-Cl, the energy level upshift was too large that caused unfavorable energetic alignment, thus poor device performance. By using the strategy of asymmetric end groups, we were able to achieve near optimal energy level match, resulting in higher open-circuit voltage (V-OC) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared with those given by the PM6:BTP-4F system. Our strategy can be useful and potentially applied to othermaterial systems for maximizing efficiency of non-fullerene PSCs.
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| 2. |
- Yu, Han, et al.
(author)
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Fluorinated End Group Enables High-Performance All-Polymer Solar Cells with Near-Infrared Absorption and Enhanced Device Efficiency over 14%
- 2021
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In: Advanced Energy Materials. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1614-6832 .- 1614-6840. ; 11:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fluorination of end groups has been a great success in developing efficient small molecule acceptors. However, this strategy has not been applied to the development of polymer acceptors. Here, a dihalogenated end group modified by fluorine and bromine atoms simultaneously, namely IC-FBr, is first developed, then employed to construct a new polymer acceptor (named PYF-T) for all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). In comparison with its non-fluorinated counterpart (PY-T), PYF-T exhibits stronger and red-shifted absorption spectra, stronger molecular packing and higher electron mobility. Meanwhile, the fluorination on the end groups down-shifts the energy levels of PYF-T, which matches better with the donor polymer PM6, leading to efficient charge transfer and small voltage loss. As a result, an all-PSC based on PM6:PYF-T yields a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.1% than that of PM6:PY-T (11.1%), which is among the highest values for all-PSCs reported to date. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of fluorination of end-groups in designing high-performance polymer acceptors, which paves the way toward developing more efficient and stable all-PSCs.
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| 3. |
- Fan, Qunping, 1989, et al.
(author)
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High-performance all-polymer solar cells enabled by a novel low bandgap non-fully conjugated polymer acceptor
- 2021
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In: Science in China Series B. - : Springer Nature. - 1674-7291 .- 1869-1870. ; 64, s. 1380-1388
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Anon-fully conjugated polymer as a new class of acceptor materials has shown some advantages over its small molecular counterpart when used in photoactive layers for all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs), despite a low power conversion efficiency (PCE) caused by its narrow absorption spectra. Herein, a novel non-fully conjugated polymer acceptor PFY-2TS with a low bandgap of similar to 1.40 eV was developed, via polymerizing a large pi-fused small molecule acceptor (SMA) building block (namely YBO) with a non-conjugated thioalkyl linkage. Compared with its precursor YBO, PFY-2TS retains a similar low bandgap but a higher LUMO level. Moreover, compared with the structural analog of YBO-based fully conjugated polymer acceptor PFY-DTC, PFY-2TS shows similar absorption spectrum and electron mobility, but significantly different molecular crystallinity and aggregation properties, which results in optimal blend morphology with a polymer donor PBDB-T and better device physical processes in all-PSCs. As a result, PFY-2TS-based all-PSCs achieved a PCE of 12.31% with a small energy loss of 0.56 eV enabled by the reduced non-radiative energy loss (0.24 eV), which is better than that of 11.08% for the PFY-DTC-based ones. Our work clearly demonstrated that non-fully conjugated polymers as a new class of acceptor materials are very promising for the development of high-performance all-PSCs.
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| 4. |
- Guo, Han, et al.
(author)
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Transition metal-catalysed molecular n-doping of organic semiconductors
- 2021
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In: Nature. - London, United Kingdom : Nature Publishing Group. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 599:7883, s. 67-73
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Electron doping of organic semiconductors is typically inefficient, but here a precursor molecular dopant is used to deliver higher n-doping efficiency in a much shorter doping time. Chemical doping is a key process for investigating charge transport in organic semiconductors and improving certain (opto)electronic devices(1-9). N(electron)-doping is fundamentally more challenging than p(hole)-doping and typically achieves a very low doping efficiency (eta) of less than 10%(1,10). An efficient molecular n-dopant should simultaneously exhibit a high reducing power and air stability for broad applicability(1,5,6,9,11), which is very challenging. Here we show a general concept of catalysed n-doping of organic semiconductors using air-stable precursor-type molecular dopants. Incorporation of a transition metal (for example, Pt, Au, Pd) as vapour-deposited nanoparticles or solution-processable organometallic complexes (for example, Pd-2(dba)(3)) catalyses the reaction, as assessed by experimental and theoretical evidence, enabling greatly increased eta in a much shorter doping time and high electrical conductivities (above 100 S cm(-1); ref. (12)). This methodology has technological implications for realizing improved semiconductor devices and offers a broad exploration space of ternary systems comprising catalysts, molecular dopants and semiconductors, thus opening new opportunities in n-doping research and applications(12, 13).
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| 5. |
- Liu, Tao, et al.
(author)
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16% efficiency all-polymer organic solar cells enabled by a finely tuned morphology via the design of ternary blend
- 2021
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In: Joule. - : CELL PRESS. - 2542-4351. ; 5:4, s. 914-930
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A SUMMARY There is an urgent demand for all-polymer organic solar cells (AP-OSCs) to gain higher efficiency. Here, we successfully improve the performance to 16.09% by introducing a small amount of BN-T, a B <- N-type polymer acceptor, into the PM6:PY-IT blend. It has been found that BN-T makes the active layer, based on the PM6:PY-IT:BN-T ternary blend, more crystalline but meanwhile slightly reduces the phase separation, leading to enhancement of both exciton harvesting and charge transport. From a thermodynamic viewpoint, BN-T prefers to reside between PM6 and PY-IT, and the fraction of this fine-tunes the morphology. Besides, a significantly reduced nonradiative energy loss occurs in the ternary blend, along with the coexistence of energy and charge transfer between the two acceptors. The progressive performance facilitated by these improved properties demonstrates that AP-OSCs can possibly comparably efficient with those based on small molecule acceptors, further enhancing the competitiveness of this device type.
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| 6. |
- Luo, Yifei, et al.
(author)
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Technology Roadmap for Flexible Sensors
- 2023
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In: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society. - 1936-0851 .- 1936-086X. ; 17:6, s. 5211-5295
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Humans rely increasingly on sensors to address grand challenges and to improve quality of life in the era of digitalization and big data. For ubiquitous sensing, flexible sensors are developed to overcome the limitations of conventional rigid counterparts. Despite rapid advancement in bench-side research over the last decade, the market adoption of flexible sensors remains limited. To ease and to expedite their deployment, here, we identify bottlenecks hindering the maturation of flexible sensors and propose promising solutions. We first analyze challenges in achieving satisfactory sensing performance for real-world applications and then summarize issues in compatible sensor-biology interfaces, followed by brief discussions on powering and connecting sensor networks. Issues en route to commercialization and for sustainable growth of the sector are also analyzed, highlighting environmental concerns and emphasizing nontechnical issues such as business, regulatory, and ethical considerations. Additionally, we look at future intelligent flexible sensors. In proposing a comprehensive roadmap, we hope to steer research efforts towards common goals and to guide coordinated development strategies from disparate communities. Through such collaborative efforts, scientific breakthroughs can be made sooner and capitalized for the betterment of humanity.
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| 7. |
- Ma, Ruijie, et al.
(author)
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Adding a Third Component with Reduced Miscibility and Higher LUMO Level Enables Efficient Ternary Organic Solar Cells
- 2020
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In: ACS Energy Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2380-8195. ; 5:8, s. 2711-2720
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is widely known that the miscibility between donor and acceptor is a crucial factor that affects the morphology and thus device performance of nonfullerene organic solar cells (OSCs). In this Letter, we show that incorporating a third component with lower miscibility and higher lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level into the state-of-the-art PM6:Y6 system can significantly enhance the performance of devices. The best results of the ternary devices are achieved by adding a small molecular acceptor named ITCPTC (similar to 5% w/w), which significantly improves the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the host system from 16.44% to 17.42%. The higher LUMO of the third component increases the open-circuit voltage (V-oc), while the low miscibility enlarges the domains and leads to improved short-circuit current density (J(sc)) and fill factor (FF). The efficacy of this strategy is supported by using other nonfullerene third components including an asymmetric small molecule (N7IT) and a polymer acceptor (PF2-DTC), which play the same role as ITCPTC and boost the PCEs to 16.96% and 17.04%, respectively. Our approach can be potentially applied to a wide range of OSC material systems and should facilitate the development of the OSC field.
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| 8. |
- Sun, Huiliang, et al.
(author)
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A monothiophene unit incorporating both fluoro and ester substitution enabling high-performance donor polymers for non-fullerene solar cells with 16.4% efficiency
- 2019
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In: Energy & Environmental Science. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 1754-5692 .- 1754-5706. ; 12:11, s. 3328-3337
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Thiophene and its derivatives have been extensively used in organic electronics, particularly in the field of polymer solar cells (PSCs). Significant research efforts have been dedicated to modifying thiophene-based units by attaching electron-donating or withdrawing groups to tune the energy levels of conjugated materials. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a novel thiophene derivative, FE-T, featuring a monothiophene functionalized with both an electron-withdrawing fluorine atom (F) and an ester group (E). The FE-T unit possesses distinctive advantages of both F and E groups, the synergistic effects of which enable significant downshifting of the energy levels and enhanced aggregation/crystallinity of the resulting organic materials. Shown in this work are a series of polymers obtained by incorporating the FE-T unit into a PM6 polymer to fine-tune the energetics and morphology of this high-performance PSC material. The optimal polymer in the series shows a downshifted HOMO and an improved morphology, leading to a high PCE of 16.4% with a small energy loss (0.53 eV) enabled by the reduced non-radiative energy loss (0.23 eV), which are among the best values reported for non-fullerene PSCs to date. This work shows that the FE-T unit is a promising building block to construct donor polymers for high-performance organic photovoltaic cells.
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| 9. |
- Sun, Huiliang, et al.
(author)
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A Narrow-Bandgap n-Type Polymer with an Acceptor-Acceptor Backbone Enabling Efficient All-Polymer Solar Cells
- 2020
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In: Advanced Materials. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 0935-9648 .- 1521-4095. ; 32
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Narrow-bandgap polymer semiconductors are essential for advancing the development of organic solar cells. Here, a new narrow-bandgap polymer acceptor L14, featuring an acceptor-acceptor (A-A) type backbone, is synthesized by copolymerizing a dibrominated fused-ring electron acceptor (FREA) with distannylated bithiophene imide. Combining the advantages of both the FREA and the A-A polymer, L14 not only shows a narrow bandgap and high absorption coefficient, but also low-lying frontier molecular orbital (FMO) levels. Such FMO levels yield improved electron transfer character, but unexpectedly, without sacrificing open-circuit voltage (V-oc), which is attributed to a small nonradiative recombination loss (E-loss,E-nr) of 0.22 eV. Benefiting from the improved photocurrent along with the high fill factor andV(oc), an excellent efficiency of 14.3% is achieved, which is among the highest values for all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). The results demonstrate the superiority of narrow-bandgap A-A type polymers for improving all-PSC performance and pave a way toward developing high-performance polymer acceptors for all-PSCs.
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| 10. |
- Sun, Huiliang, et al.
(author)
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Reducing energy loss via tuning energy levels of polymer acceptors for efficient all-polymer solar cells
- 2020
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In: Science China Chemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1869-1870 .- 1674-7291. ; 63:12, s. 1785-1792
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The open-circuit voltage (Voc) of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) is typically lower than 0.9 V even for the most efficient ones. Large energy loss is the main reason for limiting Voc and efficiency of all-PSCs. Herein, through materials design using electron deficient building blocks based on bithiophene imides, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels of polymer acceptors can be effectively tuned, which resulted in a reduced energy loss induced by charge generation and recombination loss due to the suppressed charge-transfer (CT) state absorption. Despite a negligible driving force, all-PSC based on the polymer donor and acceptor combination with well-aligned energy levels exhibited efficient charge transfer and achieved an external quantum efficiency over 10% while maintaining a large Voc of 1.02 V, leading to a 9.21% efficiency. Through various spectroscopy approaches, this work sheds light on the mechanism of energy loss in all-PSCs, which paves an avenue to achieving efficient all-PSCs with large Voc and drives the further development of all-PSCs.
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