1. |
- Xiao, Manjun, et al.
(författare)
-
Approaching 19% efficiency and stable binary polymer solar cells enabled by a solidification strategy of solvent additive
- 2023
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Ingår i: Science in China Series B. - : SCIENCE PRESS. - 1674-7291 .- 1869-1870. ; 66, s. 1500-1510
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Additives play a crucial role in enhancing the photovoltaic performance of polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, the typical additives used to optimize blend morphology of PSCs are still high boiling-point solvents, while their trace residues may reduce device stability. Herein, an effective strategy of "solidification of solvent additive (SSA)" has been developed to convert additive from liquid to solid, by introducing a covalent bond into low-cost solvent diphenyl sulfide (DPS) to synthesize solid dibenzothiophene (DBT) in one-step, which achieves optimized morphology thus promoting efficiency and device stability. Owing to the fine planarity and volatilization of DBT, the DBT-processed films achieve ordered molecular crystallinity and suitable phase separation compared to the additive-free or DPS-treated ones. Importantly, the DBT-processed device also possesses improved light absorption, enhanced charge transport, and thus a champion efficiency of 11.9% is achieved in the PM6:Y6-based PSCs with an excellent additive component tolerance, reproducibility, and stability. Additionally, the DBT-processed PM6:L8-BO-based PSCs are further fabricated to study the universality of SSA strategy, offering an impressive efficiency approaching 19% as one of the highest values in binary PSCs. In conclusion, this article developed a promising strategy named SSA to boost efficiency and improve stability of PSCs.
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2. |
- Yi, Fan, et al.
(författare)
-
Non-Fully Conjugated Dimerized Giant Acceptors with Different Alkyl-Linked Sites for Stable and 19.13 % Efficiency Organic Solar Cells
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Achieving both high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and device stability is a major challenge for the practical development of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, three non-fully conjugated dimerized giant acceptors (named 2Y-sites, including wing-site-linked 2Y-wing, core-site-linked 2Y-core, and end-site-linked 2Y-end) are developed. They share the similar monomer precursors but have different alkyl-linked sites, offering the fine-tuned molecular absorption, packing, glass transition temperature, and carrier mobility. Among their binary active layers, D18/2Y-wing has better miscibility, leading to optimized morphology and more efficient charge transfer compared to D18/2Y-core and D18/2Y-end. Therefore, the D18/2Y-wing-based OSCs achieve a superior PCE of 17.73 %, attributed to enhanced photocurrent and fill factor. Furthermore, the D18/2Y-wing-based OSCs exhibit a balance of high PCE and improved stability, distinguishing them within the 2Y-sites. Building on the success of 2Y-wing in binary systems, we extend its application to ternary OSCs by pairing it with the near-infrared absorbing D18/BS3TSe-4F host. Thanks to the complementary absorption within 300-970 nm and further optimized morphology, ternary OSCs obtain a higher PCE of 19.13 %, setting a new efficiency benchmark for the dimer-derived OSCs. This approach of alkyl-linked site engineering for constructing dimerized giant acceptors presents a promising pathway to improve both PCE and stability of OSCs. Three new non-fully conjugated dimerized giant acceptors with different alkyl-linked sites are developed. Among them, wing-sited 2Y-wing has fine-tuned packing and better miscibility with donor, allowing to 19.13 % efficiency (which is the highest value among the devices with giant acceptors) and highly stable organic solar cells. image
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3. |
- Fan, Baobing, et al.
(author)
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Correlation of Broad Absorption Band with Small Singlet-Triplet Energy Gap in Organic Photovoltaics
- 2023
-
In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Organic photovoltaics (OPV) are one of the most effective ways to harvest renewable solar energy, with the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the devices soaring above 19% when processed with halogenated solvents. The superior photocurrent of OPV over other emerging photovoltaics offers more opportunities to further improve the efficiency. Tailoring the absorption band of photoactive materials is an effective way to further enhance OPV photocurrent. However, the field has mostly been focusing on improving the near-infrared region photo-response, with the absorption shoulders in short-wavelength region (SWR) usually being neglected. Herein, by developing a series of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) with varied side-group conjugations, we observe an enhanced SWR absorption band with increased side-group conjugation length. The underpinning factors of how molecular structures and geometries improve SWR absorption are clearly elucidated through theoretical modelling and crystallography. Moreover, a clear relationship between the enhanced SWR absorption and reduced singlet-triplet energy gap is established, both of which are favorable for the OPV performance and can be tailored by rational structure design of NFAs. Finally, the rationally designed NFA, BO-TTBr, affords a decent PCE of 18.5% when processed with a non-halogenated green solvent.
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4. |
- Fan, Baobing, et al.
(author)
-
Correlation of Local Isomerization Induced Lateral and Terminal Torsions with Performance and Stability of Organic Photovoltaics
- 2023
-
In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 145:10, s. 5909-5919
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have achieved great progress in recent years due to delicately designed non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). Compared with tailoring of the aromatic heterocycles on the NFA backbone, the incorporation of conjugated side-groups is a cost-effective way to improve the photoelectrical properties of NFAs. However, the modifications of side-groups also need to consider their effects on device stability since the molecular planarity changes induced by side-groups are related to the NFA aggregation and the evolution of the blend morphology under stresses. Herein, a new class of NFAs with localisomerized conjugated side-groups are developed and the impact of local isomerization on their geometries and device performance/stability are systematically investigated. The device based on one of the isomers with balanced side- and terminal-group torsion angles can deliver an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.5%, with a low energy loss (0.528 V) and an excellent photo- and thermal stability. A similar approach can also be applied to another polymer donor to achieve an even higher PCE of 18.8%, which is among the highest efficiencies obtained for binary OPVs. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of applying local isomerization to fine-tune the side-group steric effect and non-covalent interactions between side-group and backbone, therefore improving both photovoltaic performance and stability of fused ring NFA-based OPVs.
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5. |
- Fan, Qunping, et al.
(author)
-
10.13% Efficiency All-Polymer Solar Cells Enabled by Improving the Optical Absorption of Polymer Acceptors
- 2020
-
In: Solar RRL. - : Wiley. - 2367-198X. ; 4:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The limited light absorption capacity for most polymer acceptors hinders the improvement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). Herein, by simultaneously increasing the conjugation of the acceptor unit and enhancing the electron-donating ability of the donor unit, a novel narrow-bandgap polymer acceptor PF3-DTCO based on an A–D–A-structured acceptor unit ITIC16 and a carbon–oxygen (C–O)-bridged donor unit DTCO is developed. The extended conjugation of the acceptor units from IDIC16 to ITIC16 results in a red-shifted absorption spectrum and improved absorption coefficient without significant reduction of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy level. Moreover, in addition to further broadening the absorption spectrum by the enhanced intramolecular charge transfer effect, the introduction of C–O bridges into the donor unit improves the absorption coefficient and electron mobility, as well as optimizes the morphology and molecular order of active layers. As a result, the PF3-DTCO achieves a higher PCE of 10.13% with a higher short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 15.75 mA cm−2 in all-PSCs compared with its original polymer acceptor PF2-DTC (PCE = 8.95% and Jsc = 13.82 mA cm−2). Herein, a promising method is provided to construct high-performance polymer acceptors with excellent optical absorption for efficient all-PSCs.
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6. |
- Fan, Qunping, 1989, et al.
(author)
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A Non-Conjugated Polymer Acceptor for Efficient and Thermally Stable All-Polymer Solar Cells
- 2020
-
In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition. - : Wiley. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 59:45, s. 19835-19840
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A non-conjugated polymer acceptor PF1-TS4 was firstly synthesized by embedding a thioalkyl segment in the mainchain, which shows excellent photophysical properties on par with a fully conjugated polymer, with a low optical band gap of 1.58 eV and a high absorption coefficient >105 cm−1, a high LUMO level of −3.89 eV, and suitable crystallinity. Matched with the polymer donor PM6, the PF1-TS4-based all-PSC achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.63 %, which is ≈45 % higher than that of a device based on the small molecule acceptor counterpart IDIC16. Moreover, the PF1-TS4-based all-PSC has good thermal stability with ≈70 % of its initial PCE retained after being stored at 85 °C for 180 h, while the IDIC16-based device only retained ≈50 % of its initial PCE when stored at 85 °C for only 18 h. Our work provides a new strategy to develop efficient polymer acceptor materials by linkage of conjugated units with non-conjugated thioalkyl segments.
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7. |
- Fan, Qunping, 1989, et al.
(author)
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Fluorinated Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells
- 2019
-
In: Chemistry - An Asian Journal. - : Wiley. - 1861-471X .- 1861-4728. ; 14:18, s. 3085-3095
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over the past decade, organic solar cells (OSCs) have achieved a dramatic boost in their power conversion efficiencies from about 6 % to over 16 %. In addition to developments in device engineering, innovative photovoltaic materials, especially fluorinated donors and acceptors, have become the dominant factor for improved device performance. This minireview highlights fluorinated photovoltaic materials that enable efficient OSCs. Impressive OSCs have been obtained by developing some important molds of fluorinated donor and acceptor systems. The molecular design strategy and the matching principle of fluorinated donors and acceptors in OSCs are discussed. Finally, a concise summary and outlook are presented for advances in fluorinated materials to realize the practical application of OSCs.
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8. |
- Fan, Qunping, 1989, et al.
(author)
-
High-performance all-polymer solar cells enabled by a novel low bandgap non-fully conjugated polymer acceptor
- 2021
-
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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9. |
- Fan, Qunping, 1989, et al.
(author)
-
Mechanically Robust All-Polymer Solar Cells from Narrow Band Gap Acceptors with Hetero-Bridging Atoms
- 2020
-
In: Joule. - : Elsevier BV. - 2542-4351. ; 4:3, s. 658-672
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We developed three narrow band-gap polymer acceptors PF2-DTC, PF2-DTSi, and PF2-DTGe with different bridging atoms (i.e., C, Si, and Ge). Studies found that such different bridging atoms significantly affect the crystallinity, extinction coefficient, electron mobility of the polymer acceptors, and the morphology and mechanical robustness of related active layers. In all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs), these polymer acceptors achieved high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) over 8.0%, while PF2-DTSi obtained the highest PCE of 10.77% due to its improved exciton dissociation, charge transport, and optimized morphology. Moreover, the PF2-DTSi-based active layer showed excellent mechanical robustness with a high toughness value of 9.3 MJ m−3 and a large elongation at a break of 8.6%, which is a great advantage for the practical applications of flexible devices. As a result, the PF2-DTSi-based flexible all-PSC retained >90% of its initial PCE (6.37%) after bending and relaxing 1,200 times at a bending radius of ∼4 mm.
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10. |
- Fan, Qunping, 1989, et al.
(author)
-
Over 14% efficiency all-polymer solar cells enabled by a low bandgap polymer acceptor with low energy loss and efficient charge separation
- 2020
-
In: Energy & Environmental Science. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1754-5692 .- 1754-5706. ; 13:12, s. 5017-5027
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Obtaining both high open-circuit voltage (V-oc) and short-circuit current density (J(sc)) has been a major challenge for efficient all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). Herein, we developed a polymer acceptor PF5-Y5 with excellent optical absorption capability (onset extending to similar to 880 nm and maximum absorption coefficient exceeding 105 cm(-1) in a film), high electron mobility (3.18 x 10(3) cm(2) V-1 s(-1)) and high LUMO level (-3.84 eV) to address such a challenge. As a result, the PBDB-T:PF5-Y5-based all-PSCs achieved a high power conversion efficiency of up to 14.45% with both a high Voc (0.946 V) and a high Jsc (20.65 mA cm(-2)), due to the high and broad absorption coverage, small energy loss (0.57 eV) and efficient charge separation and transport in the device, which are among the best values in the all-PSC field. In addition, the all-PSC shows a similar to 15% improvement in PCE compared to its counterpart small molecule acceptor (Y5)-based device. Our results suggest that PF5-Y5 is a very promising polymer acceptor candidate for applications in efficient all-PSCs.
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11. |
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12. |
- Fan, Qunping, et al.
(author)
-
Unidirectional Sidechain Engineering to Construct Dual-Asymmetric Acceptors for 19.23 % Efficiency Organic Solar Cells with Low Energy Loss and Efficient Charge Transfer
- 2023
-
In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 62:36
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Achieving both high open-circuit voltage (V-oc) and short-circuit current density (J(sc)) to boost power-conversion efficiency (PCE) is a major challenge for organic solar cells (OSCs), wherein high energy loss (E-loss) and inefficient charge transfer usually take place. Here, three new Y-series acceptors of mono-asymmetric asy-YC11 and dual-asymmetric bi-asy-YC9 and bi-asy-YC12 are developed. They share the same asymmetric D(1)AD(2) (D-1=thieno[3,2-b]thiophene and D-2=selenopheno[3,2-b]thiophene) fused-core but have different unidirectional sidechain on D-1 side, allowing fine-tuned molecular properties, such as intermolecular interaction, packing pattern, and crystallinity. Among the binary blends, the PM6 : bi-asy-YC12 one has better morphology with appropriate phase separation and higher order packing than the PM6 : asy-YC9 and PM6 : bi-asy-YC11 ones. Therefore, the PM6 : bi-asy-YC12-based OSCs offer a higher PCE of 17.16 % with both high V-oc and J(sc), due to the reduced E-loss and efficient charge transfer properties. Inspired by the high V-oc and strong NIR-absorption, bi-asy-YC12 is introduced into efficient binary PM6 : L8-BO to construct ternary OSCs. Thanks to the broadened absorption, optimized morphology, and furtherly minimized E-loss, the PM6 : L8-BO : bi-asy-YC12-based OSCs achieve a champion PCE of 19.23 %, which is one of the highest efficiencies among these annealing-free devices. Our developed unidirectional sidechain engineering for constructing bi-asymmetric Y-series acceptors provides an approach to boost PCE of OSCs.
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13. |
- Fan, Qunping, 1989, et al.
(author)
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Weak Makes It Powerful: The Role of Cognate Small Molecules as an Alloy Donor in 2D/1A Ternary Fullerene Solar Cells for Finely Tuned Hierarchical Morphology in Thick Active Layers
- 2020
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In: Small Methods. - : Wiley. - 2366-9608. ; 4:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Herein, a novel small molecule donor is first developed, FSM6, which is a cognate molecule to BTR possessing similar molecular structure with comparable optical absorption but different crystallinity. The efficient fullerene-type ternary small molecular solar cells (SMSCs) based on an alloy donor of BTR and FSM6 in a thick film of 250 nm reveal the improved hierarchical phase separation morphology and molecular structural order of ternary active layers with improved crystallinity of the key donor component BTR. Furthermore, FSM6 as the key third component also plays a role of charge transfer accelerator in ternary SMSCs. As a result, the optimal ternary SMSCs based on BTR:FSM6:PC71BM achieve a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 10.21% with the synergistically improved open-circuit voltage of 0.950 V, short-circuit current density of 13.85 mA cm(-2), and fill factor of 77.6%, in comparison with either the binary SMSCs of BTR:PC71BM (PCE = 9.37%) or FSM6:PC71BM (PCE = 8.00%). This work provides a promising methodology to optimize device morphology for high-performance ternary SMSCs by combining two cognate small molecules with similar absorption spectra but different crystallinity as an alloy donor.
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14. |
- Fu, Huiting, et al.
(author)
-
High Efficiency (15.8%) All-Polymer Solar Cells Enabled by a Regioregular Narrow Bandgap Polymer Acceptor
- 2021
-
In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 143:7, s. 2665-2670
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Y Despite the significant progresses made in all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) recently, the relatively low short-circuit current density (J(sc)) and large energy loss are still quite difficult to overcome for further development. To address these challenges, we developed a new class of narrow-bandgap polymer acceptors incorporating a benzotriazole (BTz)-core fused-ring segment, named the PZT series. Compared to the commonly used benzothiadiazole (BT)-containing polymer PYT, the less electron-deficient BTz renders PZT derivatives with significantly red-shifted optical absorption and up-shifted energy levels, leading to simultaneously improved J(sc) and open-circuit voltage in the resultant all-PSCs. More importantly, a regioregular PZT (PZT-gamma) has been developed to achieve higher regiospecificity for avoiding the formation of isomers during polymerization. Benefiting from the more extended absorption, better backbone ordering, and more optimal blend morphology with donor component, PZT-gamma-based all-PSCs exhibit a record-high power conversion efficiency of 15.8% with a greatly enhanced J(sc) of 24.7 mA/cm(2) and a low energy loss of 0.51 eV.
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15. |
- Harillo-Baños, Albert, et al.
(author)
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High-Throughput Screening of Blade-Coated Polymer:Polymer Solar Cells: Solvent Determines Achievable Performance
- 2022
-
In: ChemSusChem. - : Wiley. - 1864-5631 .- 1864-564X. ; 15:4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optimization of a new system for organic solar cells is a multiparametric analysis problem that requires substantial efforts in terms of time and resources. The strong microstructure-dependent performance of polymer:polymer cells makes them particularly difficult to optimize, or to translate previous knowledge from spin coating into more scalable techniques. In this work, the photovoltaic performance of blade-coated devices was studied based on the promising polymer:polymer system PBDB-T and PF5-Y5 as donor and acceptor, respectively. Using the recently developed high-throughput methodology, the system was optimized for multiple variables, including solvent system, active layer composition, ratio, and thickness, among others, by fabricating more than 500 devices with less than 24 mg of each component. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of the blade-coated devices varied from 0.08 to 6.43 % in the best device. The performed statistical analysis of the large experimental data obtained showed that solvent selection had the major impact on the final device performance due to its influence on the active layer microstructure. As a conclusion, the use of the plot of the device efficiency in the Hansen space was proposed as a powerful tool to guide solvent selection in organic photovoltaics.
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16. |
- Huang, Yuting, et al.
(author)
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Host-Guest Strategy Enabling Nonhalogenated Solvent Processing for High-Performance All-Polymer Hosted Solar Cells
- 2023
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In: Chinese journal of chemistry. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1001-604X .- 1614-7065. ; 41:9, s. 1066-1074
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs), usually processed from low-boiling-point and toxic solvents, have reached high values of 18%. However, poor miscibility and uncontrollable crystallinity in polymer blends lead to a notable drop in the PCEs when using green solvents, limiting the practical development of all-PSCs. Herein, a third component (guest) BTO was employed to optimize the miscibility and enhance the crystallinity of PM6/PY2Se-F host film processed from green solvent toluene (TL), which can effectively suppress the excessive aggregation of PY2Se-F and facilitate a nano-scale interpenetrating network morphology for exciton dissociation and charge transport. As a result, TL-processed all-polymer hosted solar cells (all-PHSCs) exhibited an impressive PCE of 17.01%. Moreover, the strong molecular interaction between the host and guest molecules also enhances the thermal stability of the devices. Our host-guest strategy provides a unique approach to developing high-efficiency and stable all-PHSCs processed from green solvents, paving the way for the industrial development of all-PHSCs.
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17. |
- Liu, Yanfeng, et al.
(author)
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In Situ Optical Spectroscopy Demonstrates the Effect of Solvent Additive in the Formation of All-Polymer Solar Cells
- 2022
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In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7185. ; 13:50, s. 11696-11702
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 1-Chloronaphthalene (CN) has been a common solvent additive in both fullerene- A nd nonfullerene-based organic solar cells. In spite of this, its working mechanism is seldom investigated, in particular, during the drying process of bulk heterojunctions composed of a donor:acceptor mixture. In this work, the role of CN in all-polymer solar cells is investigated by in situ spectroscopies and ex situ characterization of blade-coated PBDB-T:PF5-Y5 blends. Our results suggest that the added CN promotes self-aggregation of polymer donor PBDB-T during the drying process of the blend film, resulting in enhanced crystallinity and hole mobility, which contribute to the increased fill factor and improved performance of PBDB-T:PF5-Y5 solar cells. Besides, the nonradiative energy loss of the corresponding device is also reduced by the addition of CN, corresponding to a slightly increased open-circuit voltage. Overall, our observations deepen our understanding of the drying dynamics, which may guide further development of all-polymer solar cells.
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18. |
- 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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19. |
- Ma, Ruijie, et al.
(author)
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All-polymer solar cells with over 16% efficiency and enhanced stability enabled by compatible solvent and polymer additives
- 2022
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In: Aggregate. - : Wiley. - 2692-4560 .- 2766-8541. ; 3:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Considering the robust and stable nature of the active layers, advancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) has long been the priority for all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). Despite the recent surge of PCE, the photovoltaic parameters of the state-of-the-art all-PSC still lag those of the polymer:small molecule-based devices. To compete with the counterparts, judicious modulation of the morphology and thus the device electrical properties are needed. It is difficult to improve all the parameters concurrently for the all-PSCs with advanced efficiency, and one increase is typically accompanied by the drop of the other(s). In this work, with the aids of the solvent additive (1-chloronaphthalene) and the n-type polymer additive (N2200), we can fine-tune the morphology of the active layer and demonstrate a 16.04% efficient all-PSC based on the PM6:PY-IT active layer. The grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements show that the shape of the crystallites can be altered, and the reshaped crystallites lead to enhanced and more balanced charge transport, reduced recombination, and suppressed energy loss, which lead to concurrently improved and device efficiency and stability.
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20. |
- Mendez Romero, Ulises, 1988, et al.
(author)
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Lateral size reduction of graphene oxide preserving its electronic properties and chemical functionality
- 2020
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In: RSC Advances. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2046-2069. ; 10:49, s. 29432-29440
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Graphene oxide (GO) is widely considered as a graphene precursor when chemically reduced. Nevertheless, through the precise control of two parameters: lateral size and oxidation degree, GO can be useful in many applications as modified graphene oxide or functional reduced graphene oxide. Commonly, the decrease in GO lateral size, involves a change in the C/O ratio and therefore a modification in a large number of characteristics. Here, a simple but effective approach to synthesize GO with lateral dimensions below 100 nm and without modification of its chemical, optical and electronic features is presented. The use of a sonifier at low temperature allows to rapidly reduce the lateral size in similar to 82% while preserving the C/O ratio and consequently the chemical stability, the band gap, the electronic energy levels and the functionality. This method will allow several applications from biomedicine to energy, where reliable reduced size of GO is required.
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21. |
- Qi, Feng, et al.
(author)
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Dimer Acceptor Adopting a Flexible Linker for Efficient and Durable Organic Solar Cells
- 2023
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In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 62:21
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Organic solar cells (OSCs) have advanced rapidly due to the development of new photovoltaic materials. However, the long-term stability of OSCs still poses a severe challenge for their commercial deployment. To address this issue, a dimer acceptor (dT9TBO) with flexible linker is developed for incorporation into small-molecule acceptors to form molecular alloy with enhanced intermolecular packing and suppressed molecular diffusion to stabilize active layer morphology. Consequently, the PM6 : Y6 : dT9TBO-based device displays an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.41 % with excellent thermal stability and negligible decay after being aged at 65 degrees C for 1800 h. Moreover, the PM6 : Y6 : dT9TBO-based flexible OSC also exhibits excellent mechanical durability, maintaining 95 % of its initial PCE after being bended repetitively for 1500 cycles. This work provides a simple and effective way to fine-tune the molecular packing with stabilized morphology to overcome the trade-off between OSC efficiency and stability.
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22. |
- Su, Wenyan, et al.
(author)
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13.4 % Efficiency from All-Small-Molecule Organic Solar Cells Based on a Crystalline Donor with Chlorine and Trialkylsilyl Substitutions
- 2021
-
In: ChemSusChem. - : Wiley. - 1864-5631 .- 1864-564X. ; 14:17, s. 3535-3543
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- How to simultaneously achieve both high open-circuit voltage (Voc) and high short-circuit current density (Jsc) is a big challenge for realising high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in all-small-molecule organic solar cells (all-SM OSCs). Herein, a novel small molecule (SM)-donor, namely FYSM−SiCl, with trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions was designed and synthesized. Compared to the original SM-donor FYSM−H, FYSM−Si with trialkylsilyl substitution showed a decreased crystallinity and lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level, while FYSM−SiCl had an improved crystallinity, more ordered packing arrangement, significantly lower HOMO level, and predominant “face-on” orientation. Matched with a SM-acceptor Y6, the FYSM−SiCl-based all-SM OSCs exhibited both high Voc of 0.85 V and high Jsc of 23.7 mA cm−2, which is rare for all-SM OSCs and could be attributed to the low HOMO level of FYSM−SiCl donor and the delicate balance between high crystallinity and suitable blend morphology. As a result, FYSM−SiCl achieved a high PCE of 13.4 % in all-SM OSCs, which was much higher than those of the FYSM−H- (10.9 %) and FYSM−Si-based devices (12.2 %). This work demonstrated a promising method for the design of efficient SM-donors by a side-chain engineering strategy via the introduction of trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions.
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23. |
- Su, Wenyan, et al.
(author)
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Nonconjugated Terpolymer Acceptors with Two Different Fused-Ring Electron-Deficient Building Blocks for Efficient All-Polymer Solar Cells
- 2021
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In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 13:5, s. 6442-6449
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ternary polymerization strategy of incorporating different donor and acceptor units forming terpolymers as photovoltaic materials has been proven advantageous in improving power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of polymer solar cells (PSCs). Herein, a series of low band gap nonconjugated terpolymer acceptors based on two different fused-ring electron-deficient building blocks (IDIC16 and ITIC) with adjustable photoelectric properties were developed. As the third component, ITIC building blocks with a larger pi-conjugation structure, shorter solubilizing side chains, and red-shifted absorption spectrum were incorporated into an IDIC16-based nonconjugated copolymer acceptor PF1-TS4, which built up the terpolymers with two conjugated building blocks linked by flexible thioalkyl chain-thiophene segments. With the increasing ITIC content, terpolymers show gradually broadened absorption spectra and slightly down-shifted lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels. The active layer based on terpolymer PF1-TS4-60 with a 60% ITIC unit presents more balanced hole and electron mobilities, higher photoluminescence quenching efficiency, and improved morphology compared to those based on PF1-TS4. In all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs), PF1-TS4-60, matched with a wide band gap polymer donor PM6, achieved a similar open-circuit voltage (V-oc) of 0.99 V, a dramatically increased short-circuit current density (J(sc)) of 15.30 mA cm(-2), and fill factor (FF) of 61.4% compared to PF1-TS4 = 0.99 V, J(sc) = 11.21 mA cm(-2), and FF = 55.6%). As a result, the PF1-TS4-60-based all-PSCs achieved a PCE of 9.31%, which is similar to 50% higher than the PF1-TS4-based ones (6.17%). The results demonstrate a promising approach to develop high-performance nonconjugated terpolymer acceptors for efficient all-PSCs by means of ternary polymerization using two different A-D-A-structured fused-ring electron-deficient building blocks.
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24. |
- 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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25. |
- Sun, Huiliang, et al.
(author)
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Reducing energy lossviatuning energy levels of polymer acceptors for efficient all-polymer solar cells
- 2020
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In: Science China Chemistry. - : Science China Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany. - 1674-7291 .- 1869-1870. ; 63, s. 1785-1792
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The open-circuit voltage (V-oc) 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 limitingV(oc)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 largeV(oc)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 largeV(oc)and drives the further development of all-PSCs.
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26. |
- Wu, Jingnan, et al.
(author)
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Carboxylate substituted pyrazine: A simple and low-cost building block for novel wide bandgap polymer donor enables 15.3% efficiency in organic solar cells
- 2021
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In: Nano Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 2211-2855. ; 82
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In addition to high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and good stability, the low-cost of photovoltaic materials is also very important for the practical application of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, we synthesized a carboxylate substituted pyrazine-based electron-deficient building block (DTCPz) with a simple structure and low synthetic cost, and then developed a novel wide bandgap polymer donor PFBCPZ. Due to the synergistic electron-withdrawing effects of the fluorination in donor unit (BDT-TF) and esterification and C=N double-bond in DTCPz unit, PFBCPZ shows a deeper HOMO level of −5.60 eV, a strong intermolecular π-π interaction, good crystallinity and stacking, and high hole-mobility of 2.11 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1. Matched with a low bandgap acceptor IT-4F, excellent charge transfer, weak recombination, and small non-radiative energy loss in OSCs was achieved, resulting in an impressive fill factor of 0.785 and a high open-circuit voltage of 0.92 V. As a result, a PCE of up to 15.3% is obtained in OSCs, which is the highest value in the IT-4F-based binary OSCs so far and indicates that low-cost DTCPz with a simple structure is a promising building block to construct high-performance polymer donors for application in efficient OSCs.
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27. |
- Wu, Jingnan, 1994, et al.
(author)
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New Electron Acceptor with End-Extended Conjugation for High-Performance Polymer Solar Cells
- 2021
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In: Energy & Fuels. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5029 .- 0887-0624. ; 35:23, s. 19061-19068
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To develop high-efficiency polymer solar cells (PSCs), the acceptors in a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blend are supposed to possess complementary absorption bands in the near-infrared region and a suitable energy level to be well-matched with the donors. In this work, a new small molecular acceptor (SMA) named IDTT8-N based on an indacenodithienothiophene (IDTT) core was designed and synthesized. In comparison to the counterpart molecule IDTN with an indacenodithiophene (IDT) core, IDTT8-N with the extended π-conjugation length of an IDT core not only exhibits a red shift of ca. 35 nm in optical absorption but also has little change on its lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level. Therefore, PSCs based on PM6:IDTT8-N exhibit a superior short-circuit current density (Jsc) and high open-circuit voltage (Voc). Moreover, apart from the strong face-on molecular stacking, distinct end-group π-πstacking of IDTT8-N can be observed in the blends, facilitating the charge transport. Therefore, the optimized PM6:IDTT8-N-based devices exhibit dramatically high and balanced electron mobility (μe) and hole mobility (μh), whose magnitudes are over 10-3 cm2 V-1 s-1. Consequently, an extraordinary PCE of 14.1% with a relatively high Jsc of 20.98 mA cm-2 and a Voc of 0.94 V was recorded. To our knowledge, it is the new record among PSCs with a SMA based on 2-(3-oxocyclopentylidene)malononitrile (INCN) as end groups. These results indicate that extending the π-conjugation length of the fused ring core of a SMA is an efficient method to both enhance the absorption and the molecular interaction of the acceptor as well as the photovoltaic performance of PSCs.
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28. |
- Yao, Nannan, et al.
(author)
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In Situ Study the Dynamics of Blade-Coated All-Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Formation and Impact on Photovoltaic Performance of Solar Cells
- 2023
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In: Solar RRL. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2367-198X. ; , s. 1-8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have achieved impressive progress by employing acceptors polymerized from well performing small-molecule non-fullerene acceptors. Herein, the device performance and morphology evolution in blade-coated all-PSCs based on PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends prepared from two different solvents, chlorobenzene (CB), and ortho-xylene (o-XY) are studied. The absorption spectra in CB solution indicate more ordered conformation for PF5–Y5. The drying process of PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends is monitored by in situ multifunctional spectroscopy and the final film morphology is characterized with ex situ techniques. Finer-mixed donor/acceptor nanostructures are obtained in CB-cast film than that in o-XY-cast ones, corresponding to more efficient charge generation in the solar cells. More importantly, the conformation of polymers in solution determines the overall film morphology and the device performance. The relatively more ordered structure in CB-cast films is beneficial for charge transport and reduced non-radiative energy loss. Therefore, to achieve high-performance all-PSCs with small energy loss, it is crucial to gain favorable aggregation in the initial stage in solution.
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