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Du Z, Luong HM, Sabury S, Therdkatanyuphong P, Chae S, Welton C, Jones AL, Zhang J, Peng Z, Zhu Z, Nanayakkara S, Coropceanu V, Choi DG, Xiao S, Yi A, Kim HJ, Bredas JL, Ade H, Reddy GNM, Marder SR, Reynolds JR, Nguyen TQ. Additive-free molecular acceptor organic solar cells processed from a biorenewable solvent approaching 15% efficiency. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2023; 10:5564-5576. [PMID: 37872787 DOI: 10.1039/d3mh01133j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
We report on the use of molecular acceptors (MAs) and donor polymers processed with a biomass-derived solvent (2-methyltetrahydrofuran, 2-MeTHF) to facilitate bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with power conversion efficiency (PCE) approaching 15%. Our approach makes use of two newly designed donor polymers with an opened ring unit in their structures along with three molecular acceptors (MAs) where the backbone and sidechain were engineered to enhance the processability of BHJ OPVs using 2-MeTHF, as evaluated by an analysis of donor-acceptor (D-A) miscibility and interaction parameters. To understand the differences in the PCE values that ranged from 9-15% as a function of composition, the surface, bulk, and interfacial BHJ morphologies were characterized at different length scales using atomic force microscopy, grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, resonant soft X-ray scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and 2D solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Our results indicate that the favorable D-A intermixing that occurs in the best performing BHJ film with an average domain size of ∼25 nm, high domain purity, uniform distribution and enhanced local packing interactions - facilitates charge generation and extraction while limiting the trap-assisted recombination process in the device, leading to high effective mobility and good performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhifang Du
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Hoang Mai Luong
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Sina Sabury
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Tech Polymer Network, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
| | | | - Sangmin Chae
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Claire Welton
- University of Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille Institut, Univ. Artois, UMR 8181, Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide, F-59000, Lille, France.
| | - Austin L Jones
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Tech Polymer Network, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
| | - Junxiang Zhang
- University of Colorado Boulder, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, CO 80303, USA.
| | - Zhengxing Peng
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Ziyue Zhu
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Sadisha Nanayakkara
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0088, USA
| | - Veaceslav Coropceanu
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0088, USA
| | - Dylan G Choi
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Steven Xiao
- 1-Material Inc, 2290 Chemin St-Francois, Dorval, Quebec, H9P 1K2, Canada
| | - Ahra Yi
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
- Department of Organic Material Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyo Jung Kim
- Department of Organic Material Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Jean-Luc Bredas
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0088, USA
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - G N Manjunatha Reddy
- University of Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille Institut, Univ. Artois, UMR 8181, Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide, F-59000, Lille, France.
| | - Seth R Marder
- University of Colorado Boulder, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, CO 80303, USA.
| | - John R Reynolds
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Tech Polymer Network, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
| | - Thuc-Quyen Nguyen
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
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Seo S, Lee JW, Kim DJ, Lee D, Phan TNL, Park J, Tan Z, Cho S, Kim TS, Kim BJ. Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-PM6 Polymer Donors for High-Performance and Mechanically Robust Polymer Solar Cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2023; 35:e2300230. [PMID: 36929364 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202300230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
High power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stretchability are the dual requirements for the wearable application of polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, most efficient photoactive films are mechanically brittle. In this work, highly efficient (PCE = 18%) and mechanically robust (crack-onset strain (COS) = 18%) PSCs are acheived by designing block copolymer (BCP) donors, PM6-b-PDMSx (x = 5k, 12k, and 19k). In these BCP donors, stretchable poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) blocks are covalently linked with the PM6 blocks to effectively increase the stretchability. The stretchability of the BCP donors increases with a longer PDMS block, and PM6-b-PDMS19k :L8-BO PSC exhibits a high PCE (18%) and 9-times higher COS value (18%) compared to that (COS = 2%) of the PM6:L8-BO-based PSC. However, the PM6:L8-BO:PDMS12k ternary blend shows inferior PCE (5%) and COS (1%) due to the macrophase separation between PDMS and active components. In the intrinsically stretchable PSC, the PM6-b-PDMS19k :L8-BO blend exhibits significantly greater mechanical stability PCE80% ((80% of the initial PCE) at 36% strain) than those of the PM6:L8-BO blend (PCE80% at 12% strain) and the PM6:L8-BO:PDMS ternary blend (PCE80% at 4% strain). This study suggests an effective design strategy of BCP PD to achieve stretchable and efficient PSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soodeok Seo
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jin-Woo Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong Jun Kim
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Dongchan Lee
- Department of Physics and EHSRC, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 44610, Republic of Korea
| | - Tan Ngoc-Lan Phan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jinseok Park
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Zhengping Tan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Shinuk Cho
- Department of Physics and EHSRC, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 44610, Republic of Korea
| | - Taek-Soo Kim
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Bumjoon J Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
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Phan TNL, Lee JW, Oh ES, Lee S, Lee C, Kim TS, Li S, Kim BJ. Efficient and Nonhalogenated Solvent-Processed Organic Solar Cells Enabled by Conjugated Donor-Acceptor Block Copolymers Containing the Same Benzodithiophene Unit. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2022; 14:57070-57081. [PMID: 36515660 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c16908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) based on conjugated block copolymers (CBCs) have gained considerable attention owing to their simple one-pot solution process. However, their power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) require significant improvement. Furthermore, the majority of efficient CBC-based OSCs are processed using environmentally toxic halogenated solvents. Herein, we develop a new CBC (PBDB-T-b-PY5BDT) and demonstrate efficient and stable OSCs achieved by a halogen-free solution process. We design a (D1-A1)-b-(D1-A2)-type CBC (PBDB-T-b-PY5BDT) that shares the same benzodithiophene (BDT) units in donor and acceptor blocks. This alleviates unfavorable molecular interactions between the blocks at their interfaces. The PBDB-T-b-PY5BDT-based devices exhibit a high PCE (10.55%), and they show good mechanical, thermal, and storage stabilities. Importantly, we discuss the potential of our OSCs by preparing two different control systems: one based on a binary polymer blend (PBDB-T:PY5BDT) and another based on a conjugated random copolymer (CRC, PBDB-T-r-PY5BDT). We demonstrate that the photovoltaic performance, device stability, and mechanical robustness of the CBC-based OSCs exceed those of the binary all-polymer solar cells and CRC-based OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tan Ngoc-Lan Phan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jin-Woo Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Eun Sung Oh
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Seungjin Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Changyeon Lee
- School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea
| | - Taek-Soo Kim
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Sheng Li
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Bumjoon J Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
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Modification of the Surface Composition of PTB7-Th: ITIC Blend Using an Additive. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27196358. [PMID: 36234895 PMCID: PMC9573251 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27196358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the effect of adding p-anisaldehyde (AA) solvent to the ink containing poly[[2,60-4,8-di(5-ethylhexylthienyl)benzo[1,2-b:3,3-b]dithiophene][3-fluoro-2[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophenediyl]](PTB7-Th) and 3,9-bis(2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:20,30-d0]-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b0]-dithiophene(ITIC) on the morphology of the active layer. The present study focuses on determining the effect of the additive on the compositions at the surface of the PTB7-Th: ITIC composite and its morphology, forming one side of the interface of the blend with the MoOX electrode, and the influence of the structural change on the performance of devices. Studies of device performance show that the addition of the additive AA leads to an improvement in device performance. Upon the addition of AA, the concentration of PTB7-Th at the surface of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) increases, causing an increase in surface roughness of the surface of the BHJ. This finding contributes to an understanding of the interaction between the donor material and high work function electrode/interface material. The implications for the interface are discussed.
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Alqahtani O, Lv J, Xu T, Murcia V, Ferron T, McAfee T, Grabner D, Duan T, Collins BA. High Sensitivity of Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells Morphology and Performance to a Processing Additive. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2022; 18:e2202411. [PMID: 35559598 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202202411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Although solvent additives are used to optimize device performance in many novel non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) organic solar cells (OSCs), the effect of processing additives on OSC structures and functionalities can be difficult to predict. Here, two polymer-NFA OSCs with highly sensitive device performance and morphology to the most prevalent solvent additive chloronaphthalene (CN) are presented. Devices with 1% CN additive are found to nearly double device efficiencies to 10%. However, additive concentrations even slightly above optimum significantly hinder device performance due to formation of undesirable morphologies. A comprehensive analysis of device nanostructure shows that CN is critical to increasing crystallinity and optimizing phase separation up to the optimal concentration for suppressing charge recombination and maximizing performance. Here, domain purity and crystallinity are highly correlated with photocurrent and fill factors. However, this effect is in competition with uncontrolled crystallization of NFAs that occur at CN concentrations slightly above optimal. This study highlights how slight variations of solvent additives can impart detrimental effects to morphology and device performance of NFA OSCs. Therefore, successful scale-up processing of NFA-based OSCs will require extreme formulation control, a tuned NFA structure that resists runaway crystallization, or alternative methods such as additive-free fabrication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Obaid Alqahtani
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
- Department of Physics, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, 11942, Saudi Arabia
| | - Jie Lv
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - Tongle Xu
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - Victor Murcia
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Thomas Ferron
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Terry McAfee
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Devin Grabner
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Tainan Duan
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - Brian A Collins
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
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Zhang L, Zhu X, Deng D, Wang Z, Zhang Z, Li Y, Zhang J, Lv K, Liu L, Zhang X, Zhou H, Ade H, Wei Z. High Miscibility Compatible with Ordered Molecular Packing Enables an Excellent Efficiency of 16.2% in All-Small-Molecule Organic Solar Cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2022; 34:e2106316. [PMID: 34773418 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202106316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In all-small-molecule organic solar cells (ASM-OSCs), a high short-circuit current (Jsc ) usually needs a small phase separation, while a high fill factor (FF) is generally realized in a highly ordered packing system. However, small domain and ordered packing always conflicted each other in ASM-OSCs, leading to a mutually restricted Jsc and FF. In this study, alleviation of the previous dilemma by the strategy of obtaining simultaneous good miscibility and ordered packing through modulating homo- and heteromolecular interactions is proposed. By moving the alkyl-thiolation side chains from the para- to the meta-position in the small-molecule donor, the surface tension and molecular planarity are synchronously enhanced, resulting in compatible properties of good miscibility with acceptor BTP-eC9 and strong self-assembly ability. As a result, an optimized morphology with multi-length-scale domains and highly ordered packing is realized. The device exhibits a long carrier lifetime (39.8 μs) and fast charge collection (15.5 ns). A record efficiency of 16.2% with a high FF of 75.6% and a Jsc of 25.4 mA cm-2 in the ASM-OSCs is obtained. These results demonstrate that the strategy of simultaneously obtaining good miscibility with high crystallinity could be an efficient photovoltaic material design principle for high-performance ASM-OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
- Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiangwei Zhu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Dan Deng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Zhen Wang
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Ziqi Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Yi Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Jianqi Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Kun Lv
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Lixuan Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Xuning Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Huiqiong Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Zhixiang Wei
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
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Chaney TP, Levin AJ, Schneider SA, Toney MF. Scattering techniques for mixed donor-acceptor characterization in organic photovoltaics. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2022; 9:43-60. [PMID: 34797358 DOI: 10.1039/d1mh01219c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Precise control of the complex morphology of organic photovoltaic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) active layers remains an important yet challenging approach for improving power conversion efficiency. Of particular interest are the interfacial regions between electron donor and acceptor molecules where charge separation and charge recombination occur. Often, these interfaces feature a molecularly mixed donor-acceptor phase. This mixed phase has been extensively studied in polymer:fullerene systems but is poorly understood in state-of-the-art polymer:non-fullerene acceptor blends. Accurate, quantitative characterization of this mixed phase is critical to unraveling its importance for charge separation and recombination processes within the BHJ. Here, we detail X-ray and neutron scattering characterization techniques and analysis methods to quantify the mixed phase within BHJ active layers. We then review the existing literature where these techniques have been successfully used on several different material systems and correlated to device performance. Finally, future challenges for characterizing non-fullerene acceptor systems are addressed, and emerging strategies are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas P Chaney
- Materials Science and Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
| | - Andrew J Levin
- Materials Science and Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
| | - Sebastian A Schneider
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Michael F Toney
- Materials Science and Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
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Alqahtani O, Hosseini SM, Ferron T, Murcia V, McAfee T, Vixie K, Huang F, Armin A, Shoaee S, Collins BA. Evidence That Sharp Interfaces Suppress Recombination in Thick Organic Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:56394-56403. [PMID: 34787408 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c15570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Commercialization and scale-up of organic solar cells (OSCs) using industrial solution printing require maintaining maximum performance at active-layer thicknesses >400 nm─a characteristic still not generally achieved in non-fullerene acceptor OSCs. NT812/PC71BM is a rare system, whose performance increases up to these thicknesses due to highly suppressed charge recombination relative to the classic Langevin model. The suppression in this system, however, uniquely depends on device processing, pointing toward the role of nanomorphology. We investigate the morphological origins of this suppressed recombination by combining results from a suite of X-ray techniques. We are surprised to find that while all investigated devices are composed of pure, similarly aggregated nanodomains, Langevin reduction factors can still be tuned from ∼2 to >1000. This indicates that pure aggregated phases are insufficient for non-Langevin (reduced) recombination. Instead, we find that large well-ordered conduits and, in particular, sharp interfaces between domains appear to help to keep opposite charges separated and percolation pathways clear for enhanced charge collection in thick active layers. To our knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to isolate the donor/acceptor interfacial width correlated with non-Langevin charge recombination. This new structure-property relationship will be key to successful commercialization of printed OSCs at scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Obaid Alqahtani
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
- Department of Physics, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj 11942, KSA
| | - Seyed Mehrdad Hosseini
- Optoelectronics of Organic Semiconductors Institute, University of Potsdam, Potsdam-Golm 14476, Germany
| | - Thomas Ferron
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
| | - Victor Murcia
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
| | - Terry McAfee
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Kevin Vixie
- Department of Mathematics, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
| | - Fei Huang
- Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China
| | - Ardalan Armin
- Department of Physics, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, U.K
| | - Safa Shoaee
- Optoelectronics of Organic Semiconductors Institute, University of Potsdam, Potsdam-Golm 14476, Germany
| | - Brian A Collins
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
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Liang Q, Hu Z, Yao J, Yin Y, Wei P, Chen Z, Li W, Liu J. Recent advances in intermixed phase of organic solar cells: Characterization, regulating strategies and device applications. JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/pol.20210642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Qiuju Liang
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
| | - Zhangbo Hu
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
| | - Jianhong Yao
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
| | - Yukai Yin
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
| | - Puxin Wei
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
| | - Zhikang Chen
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
| | - Wangchang Li
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
| | - Jiangang Liu
- Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China
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10
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Zhou X, Wu H, Lin B, Naveed HB, Xin J, Bi Z, Zhou K, Ma Y, Tang Z, Zhao C, Zheng Q, Ma Z, Ma W. Different Morphology Dependence for Efficient Indoor Organic Photovoltaics: The Role of the Leakage Current and Recombination Losses. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:44604-44614. [PMID: 34499484 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c09600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Efficient indoor organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have attracted strong attention for their application in indoor electronic devices. However, the route to optimal photoactive film morphology toward high-performance indoor devices has remained obscure. The leakage current dominated by morphology exerts distinguishing influence on the performance under different illuminations. We have demonstrated that morphology reoptimization plays an important role in indoor OPVs, and their optimal structural features are different from what we laid out for outdoor devices. For indoor OPVs, in order to facilitate low leakage current, it is essential to enhance the crystallinity, phase separation, and domain purity, as well as keeping small surface roughness of the active layer. Furthermore, considering the reduced bimolecular recombination at low light intensity, we have shown that PM6:M36-based indoor devices can work effectively with a large ratio of the donor and acceptor. Our work correlating structure-performance relation and the route to optimal morphology outlines the control over device leakage current and recombination losses boosting the progress of efficient indoor OPVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobo Zhou
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
| | - Hongbo Wu
- Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Baojun Lin
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
| | - Hafiz Bilal Naveed
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
| | - Jingming Xin
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
| | - Zhaozhao Bi
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
| | - Ke Zhou
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
| | - Yunlong Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fujian 350002, China
| | - Zheng Tang
- Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Chao Zhao
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
| | - Qingdong Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fujian 350002, China
| | - Zaifei Ma
- Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
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11
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Jiang K, Zhang J, Peng Z, Lin F, Wu S, Li Z, Chen Y, Yan H, Ade H, Zhu Z, Jen AKY. Pseudo-bilayer architecture enables high-performance organic solar cells with enhanced exciton diffusion length. Nat Commun 2021; 12:468. [PMID: 33473135 PMCID: PMC7817662 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20791-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) are a promising candidate for next-generation photovoltaic technologies. However, the short exciton diffusion length of the bulk heterojunction active layer in OSCs strongly hampers the full potential to be realized in these bulk heterojunction OSCs. Herein, we report high-performance OSCs with a pseudo-bilayer architecture, which possesses longer exciton diffusion length benefited from higher film crystallinity. This feature ensures the synergistic advantages of efficient exciton dissociation and charge transport in OSCs with pseudo-bilayer architecture, enabling a higher power conversion efficiency (17.42%) to be achieved compared to those with bulk heterojunction architecture (16.44%) due to higher short-circuit current density and fill factor. A certified efficiency of 16.31% is also achieved for the ternary OSC with a pseudo-bilayer active layer. Our results demonstrate the excellent potential for pseudo-bilayer architecture to be used for future OSC applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kui Jiang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Jie Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Zhengxing Peng
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Francis Lin
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Shengfan Wu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Zhen Li
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Yuzhong Chen
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - He Yan
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
| | - Zonglong Zhu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Alex K-Y Jen
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, 999077, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
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12
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Ericsson LKE, Jalan I, Vaerneus A, Tomtlund T, Ångerman M, van Stam J. An experimental setup for dip-coating of thin films for organic solar cells under microgravity conditions. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2021; 92:015108. [PMID: 33514242 DOI: 10.1063/5.0018223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We report the design and testing of a custom-built experimental setup for dip-coating from volatile solutions under microgravity conditions onboard an aircraft. Function and safety considerations for the equipment are described. The equipment proved to work well, both concerning the safety and the preparation of thin films. No leakage of the solvents, nor the solvent vapors, was detected, not even in a situation with a fluctuating gravitational field due to bad weather conditions. We have shown that the equipment can be used to prepare thin films of polymer blends, relevant for organic solar cells, from solution in a feasible procedure under microgravity conditions. The prepared films are similar to the corresponding films prepared under 1 g conditions, but with differences that can be related to the absence of a gravitational field during drying of the applied liquid coating. We report on some introductory results from the characterization of the thin films that show differences in film morphology and structure sizes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leif K E Ericsson
- Department of Engineering and Physics, Karlstad University, Universitetsgatan 2, SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden
| | - Ishita Jalan
- Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences, Karlstad University, Universitetsgatan 2, SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden
| | - Alf Vaerneus
- Swedish Space Corporation, P.O. Box 4207, SE-171 04 Solna, Sweden
| | - Thomas Tomtlund
- Swedish Space Corporation, P.O. Box 4207, SE-171 04 Solna, Sweden
| | - Maria Ångerman
- Swedish Space Corporation, P.O. Box 4207, SE-171 04 Solna, Sweden
| | - Jan van Stam
- Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences, Karlstad University, Universitetsgatan 2, SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden
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13
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Wang L, Park JS, Lee HG, Kim GU, Kim D, Kim C, Lee S, Kim FS, Kim BJ. Impact of Chlorination Patterns of Naphthalenediimide-Based Polymers on Aggregated Structure, Crystallinity, and Device Performance of All-Polymer Solar Cells and Organic Transistors. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2020; 12:56240-56250. [PMID: 33280373 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c18351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The aggregation properties of conjugated polymers can play a crucial role in their thin film structures and performance of electronic devices. Control of these aggregated structures is particularly important in producing efficient all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs), considering that strong demixing of the polymer donor and polymer acceptor typically occurs during film formation because of the low entropic contribution to the thermodynamics of the system. Here, three naphthalenediimide (NDI)-based polymer acceptors with different backbone chlorination patterns are developed to investigate the effect of the chlorination patterns on the aggregation tendencies of the polymer acceptors, which greatly influence their crystalline structures, electrical properties, and device performances of the resultant all-PSCs and organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). The counterparts of NDI units, dichlorinated bithiophene (Cl2T2), monochlorinated bithiophene (ClT2), and dichlorinated thienylene-vinylene-thienylene (Cl2TVT), are employed to synthesize a series of P(NDIOD-Cl2T2), P(NDIOD-ClT2), and P(NDIOD-Cl2TVT) polymers. The P(NDIOD-Cl2T2) polymer takes advantage of strong noncovalent bonding induced by its chlorine substituents, resulting in the formation of optimal face-on oriented crystalline structures which are suitable for efficient all-PSC devices. In comparison, the P(NDIOD-Cl2TVT) polymer forms bimodal crystalline structures in thin films to yield optimal performances in the resultant OFETs. When the three chlorinated polymers are applied to all-PSCs with the PBDTTTPD polymer donor, P(NDIOD-Cl2T2) achieves a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.22% with an appropriate blend morphology and high fill factor, outperforming P(NDIOD-ClT2) (PCE = 4.80%) and P(NDIOD-Cl2TVT) (PCE = 5.78%). Our observations highlight the effectiveness of the chlorination strategy for developing efficient polymer acceptors and demonstrate the important role of polymer aggregation in modulating the blend morphology and all-PSC performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lixin Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jin Su Park
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun Gyeong Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Geon-U Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Donguk Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Changkyun Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Seungjin Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Felix Sunjoo Kim
- School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Chung-Ang University (CAU), Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea
| | - Bumjoon J Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
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14
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Marina S, Kaufmann NP, Karki A, Gutiérrez-Meza E, Gutiérrez-Fernández E, Vollbrecht J, Solano E, Walker B, Bannock JH, de Mello J, Silva C, Nguyen TQ, Cangialosi D, Stingelin N, Martín J. The Importance of Quantifying the Composition of the Amorphous Intermixed Phase in Organic Solar Cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2020; 32:e2005241. [PMID: 33089554 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202005241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2020] [Revised: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The relation of phase morphology and solid-state microstructure with organic photovoltaic (OPV) device performance has intensely been investigated over the last twenty years. While it has been established that a combination of donor:acceptor intermixing and presence of relatively phase-pure donor and acceptor domains is needed to get an optimum compromise between charge generation and charge transport/charge extraction, a quantitative picture of how much intermixing is needed is still lacking. This is mainly due to the difficulty in quantitatively analyzing the intermixed phase, which generally is amorphous. Here, fast scanning calorimetry, which allows measurement of device-relevant thin films (<200 nm thickness), is exploited to deduce the precise composition of the intermixed phase in bulk-heterojunction structures. The power of fast scanning calorimetry is illustrated by considering two polymer:fullerene model systems. Somewhat surprisingly, it is found that a relatively small fraction (<15 wt%) of an acceptor in the intermixed amorphous phase leads to efficient charge generation. In contrast, charge transport can only be sustained in blends with a significant amount of the acceptor in the intermixed phase (in this case: ≈58 wt%). This example shows that fast scanning calorimetry is an important tool for establishing a complete compositional characterization of organic bulk heterojunctions. Hence, it will be critical in advancing quantitative morphology-function models that allow for the rational design of these devices, and in delivering insights in, for example, solar cell degradation mechanisms via phase separation, especially for more complex high-performing systems such as nonfullerene acceptor:polymer bulk heterojunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Marina
- POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Av. de Tolosa 72, San Sebastián, 20018, Spain
| | | | - Akchheta Karki
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Elizabeth Gutiérrez-Meza
- School of Physics and School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | | | - Joachim Vollbrecht
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Eduardo Solano
- ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, NCD-SWEET Beamline, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08290, Spain
| | - Barnaby Walker
- Centre for Plastic Electronics and Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - James H Bannock
- Centre for Plastic Electronics and Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - John de Mello
- Centre for Plastic Electronics and Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Carlos Silva
- School of Physics and School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Thuc-Quyen Nguyen
- Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Daniele Cangialosi
- Centro de Física de Materiales (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5, San Sebastián, 20018, Spain
- Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 4, San Sebastián, 20018, Spain
| | - Natalie Stingelin
- School of Materials Science & Engineering and School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
- Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques-LCPO, UMR5629 Universitéde Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Pessac Cedex, 33615, France
| | - Jaime Martín
- POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Av. de Tolosa 72, San Sebastián, 20018, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, 48013, Spain
- Universidade da Coruña, Grupo de Polímeros, Departamento de Física e Ciencias da Terra, Centro de Investigacións Tecnolóxicas (CIT), Esteiro, Ferrol, 15471, Spain
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15
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de Sousa LE, Silva Filho DA, de Silva P, Ribeiro L, Oliveira Neto PH. A Genetic Algorithm Approach to Design Principles for Organic Photovoltaic Materials. ADVANCED THEORY AND SIMULATIONS 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/adts.202000042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Demétrio Antônio Silva Filho
- Institute of PhysicsUniversity of BrasiliaBrasilia Brasilia 70919‐970 Brazil
- Institute for Advanced StudiesUniversity of Cergy‐Pontoise1 rue Descartes Neuville‐sur‐Oise 95000 France
| | - Piotr de Silva
- Department of Energy Conversion and StorageTechnical University of Denmark Anker Engelunds Vej 301 Kongens Lyngby 2800
| | - Luciano Ribeiro
- Theoretical and Structural Chemistry GroupState University of GoiasAnapolis 75132-400 Brazil
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16
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Pelse I, Hernandez JL, Engmann S, Herzing AA, Richter LJ, Reynolds JR. Cosolvent Effects When Blade-Coating a Low-Solubility Conjugated Polymer for Bulk Heterojunction Organic Photovoltaics. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2020; 12:27416-27424. [PMID: 32484686 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c04108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The adoption of solution-processed active layers in the production of thin-film photovoltaics is hampered by the transition from research fabrication techniques to scalable processing. We report a detailed study of the role of processing in determining the morphology and performance of organic photovoltaic devices using a commercially available, low-solubility, high-molar mass diketopyrrolopyrrole-based polymer donor. Ambient blade coating of thick layers in an inverted architecture was performed to best model scalable processing. Device performance was strongly dependent on the introduction of either o-dichlorobenzene (DCB), 1,8-diiodooctane, or diphenyl ether cosolvent into the chloroform (CHCl3) solution, which were all shown to drastically improve the morphology. To understand the origin of these morphological changes as a result of the addition of the cosolvent, in situ studies with grazing-incidence X-ray scattering and optical reflection interferometry were performed. Use of any of the cosolvents decreases the domain size relative to the single solvent system and moved the drying mechanism away from what is likely liquid-liquid phase separation to solid-liquid phase separation driven by polymer aggregation. Comparing the CHCl3 + DCB cast films to the CHCl3-only cast films, we observed both the formation of small domains and an increase in crystallinity during the evaporation of DCB due to a high nucleation rate from supersaturation. This resulted in percolated bulk heterojunction networks that performed similarly well with a wide range of film thicknesses from 180 to 440 nm, making this system amenable to continuous roll-to-roll processing methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian Pelse
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Jeff L Hernandez
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Sebastian Engmann
- Nanoscale Device Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Andrew A Herzing
- Materials Measurement Science Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Lee J Richter
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - John R Reynolds
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
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17
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Wang G, Swick SM, Matta M, Mukherjee S, Strzalka JW, Logsdon JL, Fabiano S, Huang W, Aldrich TJ, Yang T, Timalsina A, Powers-Riggs N, Alzola JM, Young RM, DeLongchamp DM, Wasielewski MR, Kohlstedt KL, Schatz GC, Melkonyan FS, Facchetti A, Marks TJ. Photovoltaic Blend Microstructure for High Efficiency Post-Fullerene Solar Cells. To Tilt or Not To Tilt? J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:13410-13420. [PMID: 31379156 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b03770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Achieving efficient polymer solar cells (PSCs) requires a structurally optimal donor-acceptor heterojunction morphology. Here we report the combined experimental and theoretical characterization of a benzodithiophene-benzothiadiazole donor polymer series (PBTZF4-R; R = alkyl substituent) blended with the non-fullerene acceptor ITIC-Th and analyze the effects of substituent dimensions on blend morphology, charge transport, carrier dynamics, and PSC metrics. Varying substituent dimensions has a pronounced effect on the blend morphology with a direct link between domain purity, to some extent domain dimensions, and charge generation and collection. The polymer with the smallest alkyl substituent yields the highest PSC power conversion efficiency (PCE, 11%), reflecting relatively small, high-purity domains and possibly benefiting from "matched" donor polymer-small molecule acceptor orientations. The distinctive morphologies arising from the substituents are investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations which reveal that substituent dimensions dictate a well-defined set of polymer conformations, in turn driving chain aggregation and, ultimately, the various film morphologies and mixing with acceptor small molecules. A straightforward energetic parameter explains the experimental polymer domain morphological trends, hence PCE, and suggests strategies for substituent selection to optimize PSC materials morphologies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Subhrangsu Mukherjee
- Material Science and Engineering Division , National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg , Maryland 20899 , United States
| | - Joseph W Strzalka
- X-ray Science Division , Argonne National Laboratory , Argonne , Illinois 60439 , United States
| | | | - Simone Fabiano
- Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology , Linköping University , SE-60174 Norrköping , Sweden
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Dean M DeLongchamp
- Material Science and Engineering Division , National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg , Maryland 20899 , United States
| | | | | | | | | | - Antonio Facchetti
- Flexterra Corporation , 8025 Lamon Avenue , Skokie , Illinois 60077 , United States
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18
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Wang J, Xu J, Yao N, Zhang D, Zheng Z, Xie S, Zhang X, Zhang F, Zhou H, Zhang C, Zhang Y. A Comparative Study on Hole Transfer Inversely Correlated with Driving Force in Two Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells. J Phys Chem Lett 2019; 10:4110-4116. [PMID: 31259556 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b01383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We report a faster rate of hole transfer under a smaller ΔHOMO in a comparative study of two group organic solar cells (OSCs) consisting of IT-4F as an acceptor and PBDBT and PBDBT-SF as donors. In the OSCs based on PBDBT-SF:IT-4F, a higher short-circuit current (JSC) was observed with a ΔHOMO of 0.31 eV compared to a lower JSC in PBDBT:IT-4F OSCs with a larger ΔHOMO (0.45 eV). Intensive investigation indicates that the rate of transfer of a hole from IT-4F to PBDBT-SF or PBDBT is inversely proportional to the ΔHOMO between IT-4F and donors. The larger JSC in the PBDBT-SF:IT-4F device is attributed to a synergy of faster hole transfer, slower recombination, and rapid charge extraction enabled by desired morphology and balanced charge carrier mobilities with PBDBT-SF, suggesting that under a sufficiently high ΔHOMO, comprehensive considerations of the transport, film morphology, and energy levels are needed when designing new materials for high-performance OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianqiu Wang
- School of Chemistry, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering , Beihang University , No. 37 Xueyuan Road , Beijing 100191 , P. R. China
- Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierachical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , P. R. China
| | - Jianqiu Xu
- School of Physics , Nanjing University , Nanjing , Jiangsu 210093 , P. R. China
| | - Nannan Yao
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM) , Linköping University , Linköping 58183 , Sweden
| | - Dongyang Zhang
- School of Chemistry, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering , Beihang University , No. 37 Xueyuan Road , Beijing 100191 , P. R. China
| | - Zhong Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierachical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , P. R. China
| | - Shenkun Xie
- School of Chemistry, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering , Beihang University , No. 37 Xueyuan Road , Beijing 100191 , P. R. China
- Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierachical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , P. R. China
| | - Xuning Zhang
- School of Chemistry, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering , Beihang University , No. 37 Xueyuan Road , Beijing 100191 , P. R. China
| | - Fengling Zhang
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM) , Linköping University , Linköping 58183 , Sweden
| | - Huiqiong Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierachical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , P. R. China
| | - Chunfeng Zhang
- School of Physics , Nanjing University , Nanjing , Jiangsu 210093 , P. R. China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- School of Chemistry, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering , Beihang University , No. 37 Xueyuan Road , Beijing 100191 , P. R. China
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19
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Lee C, Lee S, Kim GU, Lee W, Kim BJ. Recent Advances, Design Guidelines, and Prospects of All-Polymer Solar Cells. Chem Rev 2019; 119:8028-8086. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 409] [Impact Index Per Article: 81.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Changyeon Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, South Korea
| | - Seungjin Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, South Korea
| | - Geon-U Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, South Korea
| | - Wonho Lee
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, Gyeongbuk 39177, South Korea
| | - Bumjoon J. Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, South Korea
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20
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Hu H, Ye L, Ghasemi M, Balar N, Rech JJ, Stuard SJ, You W, O'Connor BT, Ade H. Highly Efficient, Stable, and Ductile Ternary Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells from a Two-Donor Polymer Blend. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2019; 31:e1808279. [PMID: 30882967 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201808279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2018] [Revised: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) are one of the most promising cost-effective options for utilizing solar energy, and, while the field of OSCs has progressed rapidly in device performance in the past few years, the stability of nonfullerene OSCs has received less attention. Developing devices with both high performance and long-term stability remains challenging, particularly if the material choice is restricted by roll-to-roll and benign solvent processing requirements and desirable mechanical durability. Building upon the ink (toluene:FTAZ:IT-M) that broke the 10% benchmark when blade-coated in air, a second donor material (PBDB-T) is introduced to stabilize and enhance performance with power conversion efficiency over 13% while keeping toluene as the solvent. More importantly, the ternary OSCs exhibit excellent thermal stability and storage stability while retaining high ductility. The excellent performance and stability are mainly attributed to the inhibition of the crystallization of nonfullerene small-molecular acceptors (SMAs) by introducing a stiff donor that also shows low miscibility with the nonfullerene SMA and a slightly higher highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) than the host polymer. The study indicates that improved stability and performance can be achieved in a synergistic way without significant embrittlement, which will accelerate the future development and application of nonfullerene OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huawei Hu
- Department of Physics and ORganic and Carbon Electronics Labs (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Long Ye
- Department of Physics and ORganic and Carbon Electronics Labs (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Masoud Ghasemi
- Department of Physics and ORganic and Carbon Electronics Labs (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Nrup Balar
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Jeromy James Rech
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Samuel J Stuard
- Department of Physics and ORganic and Carbon Electronics Labs (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Wei You
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Brendan T O'Connor
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and ORganic and Carbon Electronics Labs (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
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21
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Duan C, Peng Z, Colberts FJM, Pang S, Ye L, Awartani OM, Hendriks KH, Ade H, Wienk MM, Janssen RAJ. Efficient Thick-Film Polymer Solar Cells with Enhanced Fill Factors via Increased Fullerene Loading. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2019; 11:10794-10800. [PMID: 30799598 PMCID: PMC6429423 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b00337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Developing effective methods to make efficient bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells at roll-to-roll relevant active layer thickness is of significant importance. We investigate the effect of fullerene content in polymer:fullerene blends on the fill factor (FF) and on the performance of thick-film solar cells for four different donor polymers PTB7-Th, PDPP-TPT, BDT-FBT-2T, and poly[5,5'-bis(2-butyloctyl)-(2,2'-bithiophene)-4,4'-dicarboxylate- alt-5,5'-2,2'-bithiophene] (PDCBT). At a few hundreds of nanometers thickness, increased FFs are observed in all cases and improved overall device performances are obtained except for PDCBT upon increasing fullerene content in blend films. This fullerene content effect was studied in more detail by electrical and morphological characterization. The results suggest enhanced electron mobility and suppressed bimolecular recombination upon increasing fullerene content in thick polymer:fullerene blend films, which are the result of larger fullerene aggregates and improved interconnectivity of the fullerene phases that provide continuous percolating pathways for electron transport in thick films. These findings are important because an effective and straightforward method that enables fabricating efficient thick-film polymer solar cells is desirable for large-scale manufacturing via roll-to-roll processing and for multijunction devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunhui Duan
- Institute
of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory
of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South
China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China
- Molecular
Materials and Nanosystems, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, Eindhoven 5600 MB, The Netherlands
| | - Zhengxing Peng
- Department
of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States
| | - Fallon J. M. Colberts
- Molecular
Materials and Nanosystems, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, Eindhoven 5600 MB, The Netherlands
| | - Shuting Pang
- Institute
of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory
of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South
China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China
| | - Long Ye
- Department
of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States
| | - Omar M. Awartani
- Department
of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States
| | - Koen H. Hendriks
- Molecular
Materials and Nanosystems, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, Eindhoven 5600 MB, The Netherlands
- Dutch
Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, De Zaale 20, Eindhoven 5612 AJ, The Netherlands
| | - Harald Ade
- Department
of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States
| | - Martijn M. Wienk
- Molecular
Materials and Nanosystems, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, Eindhoven 5600 MB, The Netherlands
| | - René A. J. Janssen
- Molecular
Materials and Nanosystems, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, Eindhoven 5600 MB, The Netherlands
- Dutch
Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, De Zaale 20, Eindhoven 5612 AJ, The Netherlands
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22
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Gurney RS, Lidzey DG, Wang T. A review of non-fullerene polymer solar cells: from device physics to morphology control. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2019; 82:036601. [PMID: 30731432 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ab0530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
The rise in power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices over the last few years has been driven by the emergence of new organic semiconductors and the growing understanding of morphological control at both the molecular and aggregation scales. Non-fullerene OPVs adopting p-type conjugated polymers as the donor and n-type small molecules as the acceptor have exhibited steady progress, outperforming PCBM-based solar cells and reaching efficiencies of over 15% in 2019. This review starts with a refreshed discussion of charge separation, recombination, and V OC loss in non-fullerene OPVs, followed by a review of work undertaken to develop favorable molecular configurations required for high device performance. We summarize several key approaches that have been employed to tune the nanoscale morphology in non-fullerene photovoltaic blends, comparing them (where appropriate) to their PCBM-based counterparts. In particular, we discuss issues ranging from materials chemistry to solution processing and post-treatments, showing how this can lead to enhanced photovoltaic properties. Particular attention is given to the control of molecular configuration through solution processing, which can have a pronounced impact on the structure of the solid-state photoactive layer. Key challenges, including green solvent processing, stability and lifetime, burn-in, and thickness-dependence in non-fullerene OPVs are briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert S Gurney
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People's Republic of China
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23
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Pang S, Más‐Montoya M, Xiao M, Duan C, Wang Z, Liu X, Janssen RAJ, Yu G, Huang F, Cao Y. Adjusting Aggregation Modes and Photophysical and Photovoltaic Properties of Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Based Small Molecules by Introducing B←N Bonds. Chemistry 2019; 25:564-572. [PMID: 30285301 PMCID: PMC6391975 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201804020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Revised: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The packing mode of small-molecular semiconductors in thin films is an important factor that controls the performance of their optoelectronic devices. Designing and changing the packing mode by molecular engineering is challenging. Three structurally related diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based compounds were synthesized to study the effect of replacing C-C bonds by isoelectronic dipolar B←N bonds. By replacing one of the bridging C-C bonds on the peripheral fluorene units of the DPP molecules by a coordinative B←N bond and changing the B←N bond orientation, the optical absorption, fluorescence, and excited-state lifetime of the compounds can be tuned. The substitution alters the preferential aggregation of the molecules in the solid state from H-type (for C-C) to J-type (for B←N). Introducing B←N bonds thus provides a subtle way of controlling the packing mode. The photovoltaic properties of the compounds were evaluated in bulk heterojunctions with a fullerene acceptor and showed moderate performance as a consequence of suboptimal morphologies, bimolecular recombination, and triplet-state formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuting Pang
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
| | - Miriam Más‐Montoya
- Molecular Materials and NanosystemsInstitute for, Complex Molecular SystemsEindhoven University of TechnologyP.O. Box 5135600 MBEindhovenThe Netherlands
- Present address: Department of Organic ChemistryUniversity of Murcia30100MurciaSpain
| | - Manjun Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
| | - Chunhui Duan
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
| | - Zhenfeng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
| | - Xi Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
| | - René A. J. Janssen
- Molecular Materials and NanosystemsInstitute for, Complex Molecular SystemsEindhoven University of TechnologyP.O. Box 5135600 MBEindhovenThe Netherlands
| | - Gang Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
| | - Fei Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
| | - Yong Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and DevicesInstitute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and DevicesSouth China University of TechnologyGuangzhou510640P. R. China
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24
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Li Y, Lee JW, Kim M, Lee C, Lee YW, Kim BJ, Woo HY. Regioisomeric wide-band-gap polymers with different fluorine topologies for non-fullerene organic solar cells. Polym Chem 2019. [DOI: 10.1039/c8py01458b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The effects of different fluorine substituent topologies on the morphological and photovoltaic properties are studied for two regioisomeric donor polymer-based nonfullerene organic solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxiang Li
- Department of Chemistry
- Korea University
- Seoul 136-713
- Republic of Korea
| | - Jin-Woo Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
- Daejeon 34141
- Republic of Korea
| | - Minseok Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
- Daejeon 34141
- Republic of Korea
| | - Changyeon Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
- Daejeon 34141
- Republic of Korea
| | - Young Woong Lee
- Department of Chemistry
- Korea University
- Seoul 136-713
- Republic of Korea
| | - Bumjoon J. Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
- Daejeon 34141
- Republic of Korea
| | - Han Young Woo
- Department of Chemistry
- Korea University
- Seoul 136-713
- Republic of Korea
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25
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Ho D, Ozdemir R, Kim H, Earmme T, Usta H, Kim C. BODIPY-Based Semiconducting Materials for Organic Bulk Heterojunction Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Transistors. Chempluschem 2018; 84:18-37. [PMID: 31950740 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.201800543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The rapid emergence of organic (opto)electronics as a promising alternative to conventional (opto)electronics has been achieved through the design and development of novel π-conjugated systems. Among various semiconducting structural platforms, 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) π-systems have recently attracted attention for use in organic thin-films transistors (OTFTs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). This Review article provides an overview of the developments in the past 10 years on the structural design and synthesis of BODIPY-based organic semiconductors and their application in OTFT/OPV devices. The findings summarized and discussed here include the most recent breakthroughs in BODIPYs with record-high charge carrier mobilities and power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). The most up-to-date design rationales and discussions providing a strong understanding of structure-property-function relationships in BODIPY-based semiconductors are presented. Thus, this review is expected to inspire new research for future materials developments/applications in this family of molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongil Ho
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University Mapo-gu, Seoul, 04107, Republic of Korea
| | - Resul Ozdemir
- Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology Engineering, Abdullah Gul University, Kayseri, 38080, Turkey
| | - Hyungsug Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University Mapo-gu, Seoul, 04107, Republic of Korea
| | - Taeshik Earmme
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Hongik University Mapo-gu, Seoul, 04066, Republic of Korea
| | - Hakan Usta
- Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology Engineering, Abdullah Gul University, Kayseri, 38080, Turkey
| | - Choongik Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University Mapo-gu, Seoul, 04107, Republic of Korea
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26
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Chen S, Wang Y, Zhang L, Zhao J, Chen Y, Zhu D, Yao H, Zhang G, Ma W, Friend RH, Chow PCY, Gao F, Yan H. Efficient Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells with Small Driving Forces for Both Hole and Electron Transfer. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2018; 30:e1804215. [PMID: 30276887 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201804215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Revised: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
State-of-the-art organic solar cells (OSCs) typically suffer from large voltage loss (Vloss ) compared to their inorganic and perovskite counterparts. There are some successful attempts to reduce the Vloss by decreasing the energy offsets between the donor and acceptor materials, and the OSC community has demonstrated efficient systems with either small highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) offset or negligible lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) offset between donors and acceptors. However, efficient OSCs based on a donor/acceptor system with both small HOMO and LUMO offsets have not been demonstrated simultaneously. In this work, an efficient nonfullerene OSC is reported based on a donor polymer named PffBT2T-TT and a small-molecular acceptor (O-IDTBR), which have identical bandgaps and close energy levels. The Fourier-transform photocurrent spectroscopy external quantum efficiency (FTPS-EQE) spectrum of the blend overlaps with those of neat PffBT2T-TT and O-IDTBR, indicating the small driving forces for both hole and electron transfer. Meanwhile, the OSCs exhibit a high electroluminescence quantum efficiency (EQEEL ) of ≈1 × 10-4 , which leads to a significantly minimized nonradiative Vloss of 0.24 V. Despite the small driving forces and a low Vloss , a maximum EQE of 67% and a high power conversion efficiency of 10.4% can still be achieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shangshang Chen
- Department of Chemistry, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Yuming Wang
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Lin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, P. R. China
| | - Jingbo Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Yuzhong Chen
- Department of Chemistry, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Danlei Zhu
- Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Huatong Yao
- Department of Chemistry, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Guangye Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, P. R. China
| | - Richard H Friend
- Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
| | - Philip C Y Chow
- Department of Chemistry, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, No. 9 Yuexing 1st RD, Hi-tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen, 518057, P. R. China
| | - Feng Gao
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, SE-58183, Sweden
| | - He Yan
- Department of Chemistry, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, No. 9 Yuexing 1st RD, Hi-tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen, 518057, P. R. China
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27
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Yang Y, Wang K, Li G, Ran X, Song X, Gasparini N, Zhang QQ, Lai X, Guo X, Meng F, Du M, Huang W, Baran D. Fluorination Triggered New Small Molecule Donor Materials for Efficient As-Cast Organic Solar Cells. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2018; 14:e1801542. [PMID: 30058231 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201801542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Revised: 06/03/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Solution-processable small molecules (SMs) have attracted intense attention due to their definite molecular structures, less batch-to-batch variation, and easier structure control. Herein, two new SM donors based on substituted isatin unit (DI3T, DI3T-2F) are synthesized and applied as electron donors with the mixture of PC71 BM to construct organic photovoltaics. As a result, 5,6-difluoro isatin derivative (DI3T-2F) obtains a power conversion efficiency of 7.80% by a simple solution spin-coating fabrication process without any additives, solvent, or thermal annealing process. More intuitively, due to stronger intermolecular interaction and higher hole mobility after the incorporation of fluorine atoms in end units, the devices present good tolerance to active layer thickness. The results indicate that DI3T-2F shows promising potential for large-scale printing processes and flexible application of efficient small molecule organic solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Yang
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Kai Wang
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Gongqiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Xueqin Ran
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Xin Song
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division (PSE), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nicola Gasparini
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division (PSE), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Qian-Qian Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Xue Lai
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Xiao Guo
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Fei Meng
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Mengzhen Du
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
| | - Wei Huang
- Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronic (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, P. R. China
- Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an, 710072, China
| | - Derya Baran
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division (PSE), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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28
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Snyder CR, DeLongchamp DM. Glassy phases in organic semiconductors. CURRENT OPINION IN SOLID STATE & MATERIALS SCIENCE 2018; 22:10.1016/j.cossms.2018.03.001. [PMID: 35529422 PMCID: PMC9074799 DOI: 10.1016/j.cossms.2018.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Organic semiconductors may be processed from fluids using graphical arts printing and patterning techniques to create complex circuitry. Because organic semiconductors are weak van der Waals solids, the creation of glassy phases during processing is quite common. Because structural disorder leads to electronic disorder, it is necessary to understand these phases to optimize and control the electronic properties of these materials. Here we review the significance of glassy phases in organic semiconductors. We examine challenges in the measurement of the glass transition temperature and the accurate classification of phases in these relatively rigid materials. Device implications of glassy phases are discussed. Processing schemes that are grounded in the principles of glass physics and sound glass transition temperature measurement will more quickly achieve desired structure and electronic characteristics, accelerating the exciting progress of organic semiconductor technology development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chad R Snyder
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Dean M DeLongchamp
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
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29
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Niu T, Lu J, Munir R, Li J, Barrit D, Zhang X, Hu H, Yang Z, Amassian A, Zhao K, Liu SF. Stable High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells via Grain Boundary Passivation. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2018; 30:e1706576. [PMID: 29527750 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201706576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 211] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Revised: 12/09/2017] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The trap states at grain boundaries (GBs) within polycrystalline perovskite films deteriorate their optoelectronic properties, making GB engineering particularly important for stable high-performance optoelectronic devices. It is demonstrated that trap states within bulk films can be effectively passivated by semiconducting molecules with Lewis acid or base functional groups. The perovskite crystallization kinetics are studied using in situ synchrotron-based grazing-incidence X-ray scattering to explore the film formation mechanism. A model of the passivation mechanism is proposed to understand how the molecules simultaneously passivate the Pb-I antisite defects and vacancies created by under-coordinated Pb atoms. In addition, it also explains how the energy offset between the semiconducting molecules and the perovskite influences trap states and intergrain carrier transport. The superior optoelectronic properties are attained by optimizing the molecular passivation treatments. These benefits are translated into significant enhancements of the power conversion efficiencies to 19.3%, as well as improved environmental and thermal stability of solar cells. The passivated devices without encapsulation degrade only by ≈13% after 40 d of exposure in 50% relative humidity at room temperature, and only ≈10% after 24 h at 80 °C in controlled environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianqi Niu
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, National Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China
| | - Jing Lu
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, National Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China
| | - Rahim Munir
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center (KSC) and Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Jianbo Li
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, National Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China
| | - Dounya Barrit
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center (KSC) and Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Xu Zhang
- Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Hanlin Hu
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center (KSC) and Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zhou Yang
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, National Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China
| | - Aram Amassian
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center (KSC) and Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Kui Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, National Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China
| | - Shengzhong Frank Liu
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, National Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China
- Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
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30
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Ye L, Hu H, Ghasemi M, Wang T, Collins BA, Kim JH, Jiang K, Carpenter JH, Li H, Li Z, McAfee T, Zhao J, Chen X, Lai JLY, Ma T, Bredas JL, Yan H, Ade H. Quantitative relations between interaction parameter, miscibility and function in organic solar cells. NATURE MATERIALS 2018; 17:253-260. [PMID: 29403053 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-017-0005-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 221] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2016] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Although it is known that molecular interactions govern morphology formation and purity of mixed domains of conjugated polymer donors and small-molecule acceptors, and thus largely control the achievable performance of organic solar cells, quantifying interaction-function relations has remained elusive. Here, we first determine the temperature-dependent effective amorphous-amorphous interaction parameter, χaa(T), by mapping out the phase diagram of a model amorphous polymer:fullerene material system. We then establish a quantitative 'constant-kink-saturation' relation between χaa and the fill factor in organic solar cells that is verified in detail in a model system and delineated across numerous high- and low-performing materials systems, including fullerene and non-fullerene acceptors. Our experimental and computational data reveal that a high fill factor is obtained only when χaa is large enough to lead to strong phase separation. Our work outlines a basis for using various miscibility tests and future simulation methods that will significantly reduce or eliminate trial-and-error approaches to material synthesis and device fabrication of functional semiconducting blends and organic blends in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Ye
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Huawei Hu
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Masoud Ghasemi
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Tonghui Wang
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Brian A Collins
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Joo-Hyun Kim
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Kui Jiang
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
- HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China
| | - Joshua H Carpenter
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Hong Li
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Zhengke Li
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Terry McAfee
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Jingbo Zhao
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiankai Chen
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Joshua Lin Yuk Lai
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tingxuan Ma
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jean-Luc Bredas
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - He Yan
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
- HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
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31
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Yang F, Wang X, Fan H, Tang Y, Yang J, Yu J. Effect of In Situ Annealing Treatment on the Mobility and Morphology of TIPS-Pentacene-Based Organic Field-Effect Transistors. NANOSCALE RESEARCH LETTERS 2017; 12:503. [PMID: 28836186 PMCID: PMC6890873 DOI: 10.1186/s11671-017-2238-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 07/16/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
In this work, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with a bottom gate top contact structure were fabricated by using a spray-coating method, and the influence of in situ annealing treatment on the OFET performance was investigated. Compared to the conventional post-annealing method, the field-effect mobility of OFET with 60 °C in situ annealing treatment was enhanced nearly four times from 0.056 to 0.191 cm2/Vs. The surface morphologies and the crystallization of TIPS-pentacene films were characterized by optical microscope, atomic force microscope, and X-ray diffraction. We found that the increased mobility was mainly attributed to the improved crystallization and highly ordered TIPS-pentacene molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuqiang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 People’s Republic of China
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices Zhongshan Branch Office, College of Electronic and Information Engineering, University of Electronic and Technology of China, Zhongshan Institute, Zhongshan, 528402 China
| | - Xiaolin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 People’s Republic of China
| | - Huidong Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 People’s Republic of China
| | - Ying Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jianjun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices Zhongshan Branch Office, College of Electronic and Information Engineering, University of Electronic and Technology of China, Zhongshan Institute, Zhongshan, 528402 China
| | - Junsheng Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 People’s Republic of China
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32
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Yao H, Ye L, Hou J, Jang B, Han G, Cui Y, Su GM, Wang C, Gao B, Yu R, Zhang H, Yi Y, Woo HY, Ade H, Hou J. Achieving Highly Efficient Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells with Improved Intermolecular Interaction and Open-Circuit Voltage. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2017; 29:1700254. [PMID: 28370383 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201700254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2017] [Revised: 02/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
A new acceptor-donor-acceptor-structured nonfullerene acceptor ITCC (3,9-bis(4-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-3-methylene-2-oxo-cyclopenta[b]thiophen)-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d':2,3-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']-dithiophene) is designed and synthesized via simple end-group modification. ITCC shows improved electron-transport properties and a high-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level. A power conversion efficiency of 11.4% with an impressive V OC of over 1 V is recorded in photovoltaic devices, suggesting that ITCC has great potential for applications in tandem organic solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huifeng Yao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Long Ye
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Lab (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Junxian Hou
- Department of Composite Materials and Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, 056038, P. R. China
| | - Bomee Jang
- Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Republic of Korea
| | - Guangchao Han
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Yong Cui
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Gregory M Su
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Bowei Gao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Runnan Yu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Hao Zhang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Yuanping Yi
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Han Young Woo
- Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Republic of Korea
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Lab (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Jianhui Hou
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
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33
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Shin Y, Song CE, Lee WH, Lee SK, Shin WS, Kang IN. Synthesis and Characterization of a Soluble A-D-A Molecule Containing a 2D Conjugated Selenophene-Based Side Group for Organic Solar Cells. Macromol Rapid Commun 2017; 38. [PMID: 28321949 DOI: 10.1002/marc.201700016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
A new acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) small molecule based on benzodithiophene (BDT) and diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) is synthesized via a Stille cross-coupling reaction. A highly conjugated selenophene-based side group is incorporated into each BDT unit to generate a 2D soluble small molecule (SeBDT-DPP). SeBDT-DPP thin films produce two distinct absorption peaks. The shorter wavelength absorption (400 nm) is attributed to the BDT units containing conjugated selenophene-based side groups, and the longer wavelength band is due to the intramolecular charge transfer between the BDT donor and the DPP acceptor. SeBDT-DPP thin films can harvest a broad solar spectrum covering the range 350-750 nm and have a low bandgap energy of 1.63 eV. Solution-processed field-effect transistors fabricated with this small molecule exhibit p-type organic thin film transistor characteristics, and the field-effect mobility of a SeBDT-DPP device is measured to be 2.3 × 10-3 cm2 V-1 s-1 . A small molecule solar cell device is prepared by using SeBDT-DPP as the active layer is found to exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 5.04% under AM 1.5 G (100 mW cm-2 ) conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yurim Shin
- Department of Chemistry, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggido, 420-743, Republic of Korea
| | - Chang Eun Song
- Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, 305-600, Republic of Korea
| | - Woo-Hyung Lee
- Department of Chemistry, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggido, 420-743, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang Kyu Lee
- Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, 305-600, Republic of Korea
| | - Won Suk Shin
- Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, 305-600, Republic of Korea
| | - In-Nam Kang
- Department of Chemistry, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggido, 420-743, Republic of Korea
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34
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Engmann S, Ro HW, Herzing AA, DeLongchamp DM, Snyder CR, Richter LJ, Barito A, Gundlach DJ. Reduced Bimolecular Recombination in Blade-Coated, High-Efficiency, Small-Molecule Solar Cells. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY. A 2017; 5:6893-6904. [PMID: 29170714 PMCID: PMC5695694 DOI: 10.1039/c7ta00635g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
To realize the full promise of solution deposited photovoltaic devices requires processes compatible with high-speed manufacturing. We report the performance and morphology of blade-coated bulk heterojunction devices based on the small molecule donor p-DTS(FBTTh2)2 when treated with a post-deposition solvent vapor annealing (SVA) process. SVA with tetrahydrofuran improves the device performance of blade-coated films more than solvent additive processing (SA) with 1,8-diiodooctane. In spin-coating, SA and SVA achieve similar device performance. Our optimized, blade coated, SVA devices achieve power conversion efficiencies over 8 % and maintain high efficiencies in films up to ≈ 250 nm thickness, providing valuable resilience to small process variations in high-speed manufacturing. Using impedance spectroscopy, we show that this advantageous behavior originates from highly suppressed bimolecular recombination in the SVA-treated films. Electron microscopy and grazing-incidence X-ray scattering experiments show that SA and SVA both produce highly crystalline donor domains, but SVA films have a radically smaller domain size compared to SA films. We attribute the different behavior to variations in initial nucleation density and relative ability of SVA and SA to control subsequent crystal growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Engmann
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
| | - Hyun Wook Ro
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
| | - Andrew A Herzing
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
| | - Dean M DeLongchamp
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
| | - Chad R Snyder
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
| | - Lee J Richter
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
| | - Adam Barito
- Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
| | - David J Gundlach
- Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
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35
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Ghasemi M, Ye L, Zhang Q, Yan L, Kim JH, Awartani O, You W, Gadisa A, Ade H. Panchromatic Sequentially Cast Ternary Polymer Solar Cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2017; 29:1604603. [PMID: 27897339 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201604603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2016] [Revised: 10/03/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
A sequential-casting ternary method is developed to create stratified bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, in which the two BHJ layers are spin cast sequentially without the need of adopting a middle electrode and orthogonal solvents. This method is found to be particularly useful for polymers that form a mechanically alloyed morphology due to the high degree of miscibility in the blend.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masoud Ghasemi
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Long Ye
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Qianqian Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Liang Yan
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Joo-Hyun Kim
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Omar Awartani
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Wei You
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Abay Gadisa
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and ORaCEL, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
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36
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Li S, Ye L, Zhao W, Zhang S, Mukherjee S, Ade H, Hou J. Energy-Level Modulation of Small-Molecule Electron Acceptors to Achieve over 12% Efficiency in Polymer Solar Cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2016; 28:9423-9429. [PMID: 27606970 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201602776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 458] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2016] [Revised: 07/18/2016] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Fine energy-level modulations of small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) are realized via subtle chemical modifications on strong electron-withdrawing end-groups. The two new SMAs (IT-M and IT-DM) end-capped by methyl-modified dicycanovinylindan-1-one exhibit upshifted lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels, and hence higher open-circuit voltages can be observed in the corresponding devices. Finally, a top power conversion efficiency of 12.05% is achieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunsun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Long Ye
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Lab (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Wenchao Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Shaoqing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Subhrangsu Mukherjee
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Lab (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Lab (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Jianhui Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
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37
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Li Z, Xu X, Zhang W, Meng X, Ma W, Yartsev A, Inganäs O, Andersson MR, Janssen RAJ, Wang E. High Performance All-Polymer Solar Cells by Synergistic Effects of Fine-Tuned Crystallinity and Solvent Annealing. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:10935-44. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b04822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 369] [Impact Index Per Article: 46.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhaojun Li
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Xiaofeng Xu
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Wei Zhang
- Division
of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Xiangyi Meng
- State
Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
| | - Wei Ma
- State
Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
| | - Arkady Yartsev
- Division
of Chemical Physics, Lund University, Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Olle Inganäs
- Biomolecular
and Organic Electronics, IFM, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Mats. R. Andersson
- Future
Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes
Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
| | - René A. J. Janssen
- Molecular
Materials and Nanosystems and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO BOX 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Ergang Wang
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
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38
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Guo C, Lee Y, Lin YH, Strzalka J, Wang C, Hexemer A, Jaye C, Fischer DA, Verduzco R, Wang Q, Gomez ED. Photovoltaic Performance of Block Copolymer Devices Is Independent of the Crystalline Texture in the Active Layer. Macromolecules 2016. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.6b00370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Yen-Hao Lin
- Department
of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Joseph Strzalka
- X-ray
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced
Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Alexander Hexemer
- Advanced
Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Cherno Jaye
- Materials
Science and Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Daniel A. Fischer
- Materials
Science and Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Rafael Verduzco
- Department
of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
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39
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Wang JL, Liu KK, Yan J, Wu Z, Liu F, Xiao F, Chang ZF, Wu HB, Cao Y, Russell TP. Series of Multifluorine Substituted Oligomers for Organic Solar Cells with Efficiency over 9% and Fill Factor of 0.77 by Combination Thermal and Solvent Vapor Annealing. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:7687-97. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b03495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 180] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Liang Wang
- Beijing
Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials,
Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, School
of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Kai-Kai Liu
- Beijing
Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials,
Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, School
of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Jun Yan
- Institute
of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory
of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China
| | - Zhuo Wu
- Beijing
Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials,
Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, School
of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Feng Liu
- Materials
Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Fei Xiao
- Beijing
Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials,
Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, School
of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Zheng-Feng Chang
- Beijing
Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials,
Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, School
of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Hong-Bin Wu
- Institute
of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory
of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China
| | - Yong Cao
- Institute
of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory
of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China
| | - Thomas P. Russell
- Materials
Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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40
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Song CE, Kim YJ, Suranagi SR, Kini GP, Park S, Lee SK, Shin WS, Moon SJ, Kang IN, Park CE, Lee JC. Impact of the Crystalline Packing Structures on Charge Transport and Recombination via Alkyl Chain Tunability of DPP-Based Small Molecules in Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2016; 8:12940-50. [PMID: 27156705 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b01576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
A series of small compound materials based on benzodithiophene (BDT) and diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) with three different alkyl side chains were synthesized and used for organic photovoltaics. These small compounds had different alkyl branches (i.e., 2-ethylhexyl (EH), 2-butyloctyl (BO), and 2-hexyldecyl (HD)) attached to DPP units. Thin films made of these compounds were characterized and their solar cell parameters were measured in order to systematically analyze influences of the different side chains of compounds on the film microstructure, molecular packing, and hence, charge-transport and recombination properties. The relatively shorter side chains in the small molecules enabled more ordered packing structures with higher crystallinities, which resulted in higher carrier mobilities and less recombination factors; the small molecule with the EH branches exhibited the best semiconducting properties with a power conversion efficiency of up to 5.54% in solar cell devices. Our study suggested that tuning the alkyl chain length of semiconducting molecules is a powerful strategy for achieving high performance of organic photovoltaics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang Eun Song
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Chemical Convergence Materials Major, University of Science and Technology (UST) , Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea
| | - Yu Jin Kim
- POSTECH Organic Electronics Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) , Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea
| | - Sanjaykumar R Suranagi
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Chemical Convergence Materials Major, University of Science and Technology (UST) , Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea
| | - Gururaj P Kini
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Chemical Convergence Materials Major, University of Science and Technology (UST) , Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea
| | - Sangheon Park
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University , 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeong Gi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang Kyu Lee
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Chemical Convergence Materials Major, University of Science and Technology (UST) , Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea
| | - Won Suk Shin
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Chemical Convergence Materials Major, University of Science and Technology (UST) , Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang-Jin Moon
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Chemical Convergence Materials Major, University of Science and Technology (UST) , Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea
| | - In-Nam Kang
- Department of Chemistry, The Catholic University of Korea , Bucheon, Gyeong Gi-do 420-743, Republic of Korea
| | - Chan Eon Park
- POSTECH Organic Electronics Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) , Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea
| | - Jong-Cheol Lee
- Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) , Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea
- Chemical Convergence Materials Major, University of Science and Technology (UST) , Daejeon 305-350, Republic of Korea
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41
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Wang Z, Li Z, Liu J, Mei J, Li K, Li Y, Peng Q. Solution-Processable Small Molecules for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells with Rigidly Fluorinated 2,2'-Bithiophene Central Cores. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2016; 8:11639-11648. [PMID: 27097642 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b01784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Small molecules containing an oligothiophene backbone are simple but effective donor materials for organic solar cells (OSCs). In this work, we incorporated rigid 2,2'-bithiophene (BT) or fluorinated 2,2'-bithiophene (FBT) as the central unit and synthesized two novel small molecules (TTH-D3TRh and TTF-D3TRh) with an oligothiophene backbone and 3-ethylrhodanine end groups. Both molecules exhibit good thermal stability as well as strong and broad absorption. The fluorination of the BT central unit made TTF-D3TRh possess a relatively lower-lying HOMO energy level, better molecular stacking, and higher mobility in comparison with those of TTH-D3TRh. Conventional OSCs were fabricated to evaluate the photovoltaic property of these two molecules. Without extra post-treatments, the conventional devices based on TTH-D3TRh and TTF-D3TRh showed high PCEs of 5.00 and 5.80%, respectively. The TTF-D3TRh device exhibited a higher performance, which can be attributed to the improved Voc of 0.92 V, Jsc of 10.04 mA cm(-2), and FF of 62.8%. Using an inverted device structure, the OSCs based on TTH-D3TRh and TTF-D3TRh showed largely elevated PCEs of 5.89 and 7.14%, respectively. The results indicated that the structurally simple TTH-D3TRh and TTF-D3TR molecules are potential donor candidates for achieving highly efficient OSCs. The strategy of fluorination and rigidity designation is an effective approach to develop oligothiophene-based small molecular donors for highly efficient solar cell applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenguo Wang
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, and State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, P. R. China
| | - Zuojia Li
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, and State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, P. R. China
| | - Jiang Liu
- Chengdu Green Energy and Green Manufacturing Technology R&D Center , Chengdu 610207, P. R. China
| | - Jun Mei
- Chengdu Green Energy and Green Manufacturing Technology R&D Center , Chengdu 610207, P. R. China
| | - Kai Li
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, and State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, P. R. China
| | - Ying Li
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, and State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, P. R. China
| | - Qiang Peng
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, and State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, P. R. China
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42
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Huang J, Carpenter JH, Li CZ, Yu JS, Ade H, Jen AKY. Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells with Improved Vertical Donor-Acceptor Compositional Gradient Via an Inverted Off-Center Spinning Method. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2016; 28:967-74. [PMID: 26628195 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201504014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2015] [Revised: 10/11/2015] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
A novel, yet simple solution fabrication technique to address the trade-off between photocurrent and fill factor in thick bulk heterojunction organic solar cells is described. The inverted off-center spinning technique promotes a vertical gradient of the donor-acceptor phase-separated morphology, enabling devices with near 100% internal quantum efficiency and a high power conversion efficiency of 10.95%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiang Huang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, 610054, P. R. China
| | - Joshua H Carpenter
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratory, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8202, USA
| | - Chang-Zhi Li
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Jun-Sheng Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, 610054, P. R. China
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratory, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8202, USA
| | - Alex K-Y Jen
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
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43
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Venkatesan S, Sun J, Zhang L, Dubey A, Sykes A, Lin TY, Hung YC, Qiao Q, Zhang C. An oligothiophene chromophore with a macrocyclic side chain: synthesis, morphology, charge transport, and photovoltaic performance. RSC Adv 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6ra21681a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular chromophores tend to form crystals beyond nanometer sizes upon thermal aging. A novel ring-protection structure has shown promise to solve morphological stability problem of solution-processed small molecule solar cell devices.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jianyuan Sun
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- South Dakota State University
- USA
| | - Lianjie Zhang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- South Dakota State University
- USA
| | - Ashish Dubey
- Department of Electrical Engineering
- South Dakota State University
- USA
| | - Andrew Sykes
- Department of Chemistry
- University of South Dakota
- Vermillion
- USA
| | - Ting-Yu Lin
- Institute of Photonics Technologies
- National Tsing Hua University
- Taiwan
| | - Yu-Chueh Hung
- Institute of Photonics Technologies
- National Tsing Hua University
- Taiwan
| | - Qiquan Qiao
- Department of Electrical Engineering
- South Dakota State University
- USA
| | - Cheng Zhang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- South Dakota State University
- USA
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44
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Ye L, Jiao X, Zhou M, Zhang S, Yao H, Zhao W, Xia A, Ade H, Hou J. Manipulating aggregation and molecular orientation in all-polymer photovoltaic cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2015; 27:6046-54. [PMID: 26315155 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201503218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2015] [Revised: 08/02/2015] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Manipulating molecular orientation at the donor/acceptor interface is the key to boosting charge separation properties and efficiencies of anisotropic-materials-based organic photovoltaics (OPVs). By replacing the polymeric donor PBDTBDD with its 2D-conjugated polymer PBDTBDD-T, the power conversion efficiency of OPVs featuring the anisotropic polymer acceptor PNDI is drastically boosted from 2.4% up to 5.8%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China
| | - Xuechen Jiao
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Meng Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Shaoqing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China
| | - Huifeng Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China
| | - Wenchao Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China
| | - Andong Xia
- Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Jianhui Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China
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45
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Herath N, Das S, Keum JK, Zhu J, Kumar R, Ivanov IN, Sumpter BG, Browning JF, Xiao K, Gu G, Joshi P, Smith S, Lauter V. Peculiarity of Two Thermodynamically-Stable Morphologies and Their Impact on the Efficiency of Small Molecule Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells. Sci Rep 2015; 5:13407. [PMID: 26315070 PMCID: PMC4642552 DOI: 10.1038/srep13407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2015] [Accepted: 06/24/2015] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Structural characteristics of the active layers in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices play a critical role in charge generation, separation and transport. Here we report on morphology and structural control of p-DTS(FBTTh2)2:PC71BM films by means of thermal annealing and 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) solvent additive processing, and correlate it to the device performance. By combining surface imaging with nanoscale depth-sensitive neutron reflectometry (NR) and X-ray diffraction, three-dimensional morphologies of the films are reconstituted with information extending length scales from nanometers to microns. DIO promotes the formation of a well-mixed donor-acceptor vertical phase morphology with a large population of small p-DTS(FBTTh2)2 nanocrystals arranged in an elongated domain network of the film, thereby enhancing the device performance. In contrast, films without DIO exhibit three-sublayer vertical phase morphology with phase separation in agglomerated domains. Our findings are supported by thermodynamic description based on the Flory-Huggins theory with quantitative evaluation of pairwise interaction parameters that explain the morphological changes resulting from thermal and solvent treatments. Our study reveals that vertical phase morphology of small-molecule based OPVs is significantly different from polymer-based systems. The significant enhancement of morphology and information obtained from theoretical modeling may aid in developing an optimized morphology to enhance device performance for OPVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuradhika Herath
- Quantum Condensed Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Sanjib Das
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Jong K Keum
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Jiahua Zhu
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Rajeev Kumar
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.,Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Ilia N Ivanov
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Bobby G Sumpter
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.,Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - James F Browning
- Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Kai Xiao
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Gong Gu
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Pooran Joshi
- Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Sean Smith
- School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Valeria Lauter
- Quantum Condensed Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
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