1
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Li Y, Mei L, Ge Z, Liu C, Song J, Man Y, Gao J, Zhang J, Tang Z, Chen XK, Sun Y. Conjugation-Broken Dimer Acceptors Enable High-Efficiency, Stable, and Flexibility-Robust Organic Solar Cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024:e2403890. [PMID: 39007481 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202403890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2024] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Dimer acceptors in organic solar cells (OSCs) offer distinct advantages, including a well-defined molecular structure and excellent batch-to-batch reproducibility. Their high glass transition temperature (Tg) aids in achieving an optimal kinetic morphology, thereby enhancing device stability. Currently, most of dimer acceptor materials are linked with conjugated units in order to obtain high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). In this study, different from previous works on conjugation-linked dimer acceptors, a novel series of dimer acceptors are synthesized (named T1, T4, T6, and T12), each linked with different flexible alkyl linkers, and investigated their PCEs, device stability, and flexibility robustness. When blended with PM6, the T6-based device achieves a PCE of 17.09%, comparable to the fully conjugated T0-based device's PCE of 17.12%. The molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations suggested that flexible conjugation-broken linkers (FCBLs) promote intermolecular electronic couplings, thereby maintaining good electron mobilities of dimer acceptors. Notably, the T6-based device exhibits impressive long-term stability with a T80 lifetime of 1427 h, while in the T0-based device, T80 is only 350 h. The present work has thus established the relationship between the length of flexible alkyl linkers in such dimer acceptors and the performance and stability of OSCs, which is important to further designing new materials for the fabrication of efficient and stable OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Li
- Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, 311115, P. R. China
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Le Mei
- Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Negative Carbon Technologies, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, P. R. China
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, P. R. China
| | - Zhongwei Ge
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Chunhui Liu
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Jiali Song
- Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, 311115, P. R. China
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Yuheng Man
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Jiaxing Gao
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. 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, P. R. China
| | - Zheng Tang
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China
| | - Xian-Kai Chen
- Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Negative Carbon Technologies, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, P. R. China
| | - Yanming Sun
- Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, 311115, P. R. China
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
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2
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Qi F, Li Y, Lin FR, Jen AKY. Recent Progress of Oligomeric Non-Fullerene Acceptors for Efficient and Stable Organic Solar Cells. CHEMSUSCHEM 2024; 17:e202301559. [PMID: 38372481 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202301559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have achieved remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of over 19 % in the past few years due to the rapid development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). However, the operational stability remains a great challenge that inhibits their commercialization. Recently, oligomeric NFAs (ONFAs) have attracted great attention, which not only can deliver excellent device performance, but also improve the thermal-/photo- stability of OSCs. This is attributed to the suppressed molecular diffusion of ONFAs associated with their high glass-transition temperature (Tg) and improved thermodynamic properties of ONFAs. Herein, we focus on investigating the correction between the ONFA chemical structure, material properties, device performance, and stability. In addition, we also try to point out the challenges in synthesizing ONFAs and provide potential directions for future ONFA designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Qi
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
- Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
| | - Yanxun Li
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
- Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
| | - Francis R Lin
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
- Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
| | - Alex K-Y Jen
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
- Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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3
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Song J, Zhang C, Li C, Qiao J, Yu J, Gao J, Wang X, Hao X, Tang Z, Lu G, Yang R, Yan H, Sun Y. Non-halogenated Solvent-Processed Organic Solar Cells with Approaching 20 % Efficiency and Improved Photostability. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202404297. [PMID: 38526996 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202404297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
The development of high-efficiency organic solar cells (OSCs) processed from non-halogenated solvents is crucially important for their scale-up industry production. However, owing to the difficulty of regulating molecular aggregation, there is a huge efficiency gap between non-halogenated and halogenated solvent processed OSCs. Herein, we fabricate o-xylene processed OSCs with approaching 20 % efficiency by incorporating a trimeric guest acceptor named Tri-V into the PM6:L8-BO-X host blend. The incorporation of Tri-V effectively restricts the excessive aggregation of L8-BO-X, regulates the molecular packing and optimizes the phase-separation morphology, which leads to mitigated trap density states, reduced energy loss and suppressed charge recombination. Consequently, the PM6:L8-BO-X:Tri-V-based device achieves an efficiency of 19.82 %, representing the highest efficiency for non-halogenated solvent-processed OSCs reported to date. Noticeably, with the addition of Tri-V, the ternary device shows an improved photostability than binary PM6:L8-BO-X-based device, and maintains 80 % of the initial efficiency after continuous illumination for 1380 h. This work provides a feasible approach for fabricating high-efficiency, stable, eco-friendly OSCs, and sheds new light on the large-scale industrial production of OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiali Song
- International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, 311115, P. R. China
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Chen Zhang
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Chao Li
- Department of Chemistry and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, P. R. China
| | - Jiawei Qiao
- School of Physics State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, P. R. China
| | - Jifa Yu
- Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710054, P. R. China
| | - Jiaxin Gao
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China
| | - Xunchang Wang
- X. Wang, R. Yang, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Chemical Materials and Devices (Ministry of Education), School of Optoelectronic Materials & Technology, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, P. R. China
| | - Xiaotao Hao
- School of Physics State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, P. R. China
| | - Zheng Tang
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China
| | - Guanghao Lu
- Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710054, P. R. China
| | - Renqiang Yang
- X. Wang, R. Yang, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Chemical Materials and Devices (Ministry of Education), School of Optoelectronic Materials & Technology, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, P. R. China
| | - He Yan
- Department of Chemistry and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, P. R. China
| | - Yanming Sun
- International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, 311115, P. R. China
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
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4
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Ding Y, Memon WA, Zhang D, Zhu Y, Xiong S, Wang Z, Liu J, Li H, Lai H, Shao M, He F. Dimerized Acceptors with Conjugate-Break Linker Enable Highly Efficient and Mechanically Robust Organic Solar Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202403139. [PMID: 38530206 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202403139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Designing new acceptors is critical for intrinsically stretchable organic solar cells (IS-OSCs) with high efficiency and mechanical robustness. However, nearly all stretchable polymer acceptors exhibit limited efficiency and high-performance small molecular acceptors are very brittle. In this regard, we select thienylene-alkane-thienylene (TAT) as the conjugate-break linker and synthesize four dimerized acceptors by the regulation of connecting sites and halogen substitutions. It is found that the connecting sites and halogen substitutions considerably impact the overall electronic structures, aggregation behaviors, and charge transport properties. Benefiting from the optimization of the molecular structure, the dimerized acceptor exhibits rational phase separation within the blend films, which significantly facilitates exciton dissociation while effectively suppressing charge recombination processes. Consequently, FDY-m-TAT-based rigid OSCs render the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.07 % among reported acceptors containing conjugate-break linker. Most importantly, FDY-m-TAT-based IS-OSCs achieve high PCE (14.29 %) and remarkable stretchability (crack-onset strain [COS]=18.23 %), significantly surpassing Y6-based counterpart (PCE=12.80 % and COS=8.50 %). To sum up, these findings demonstrate that dimerized acceptors containing conjugate-break linkers have immense potential in developing highly efficient and mechanically robust OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yafei Ding
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Waqar Ali Memon
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Di Zhang
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Yiwu Zhu
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Shilong Xiong
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Zhi Wang
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Junfeng Liu
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Heng Li
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Hanjian Lai
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Ming Shao
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Feng He
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
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5
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Lee JW, Park JS, Jeon H, Lee S, Jeong D, Lee C, Kim YH, Kim BJ. Recent progress and prospects of dimer and multimer acceptors for efficient and stable polymer solar cells. Chem Soc Rev 2024; 53:4674-4706. [PMID: 38529583 DOI: 10.1039/d3cs00895a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
High power conversion efficiency (PCE) and long-term stability are essential prerequisites for the commercialization of polymer solar cells (PSCs). Small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) are core materials that have led to recent, rapid increases in the PCEs of the PSCs. However, a critical limitation of the resulting PSCs is their poor long-term stability. Blend morphology degradation from rapid diffusion of SMAs with low glass transition temperatures (Tgs) is considered the main cause of the poor long-term stability of the PSCs. The recent emergence of oligomerized SMAs (OSMAs), composed of two or more repeating SMA units (i.e., dimerized and trimerized SMAs), has shown great promise in overcoming these challenges. This innovation in material design has enabled OSMA-based PSCs to reach impressive PCEs near 19% and exceptional long-term stability. In this review, we summarize the evolution of OSMAs, including their research background and recent progress in molecular design. In particular, we discuss the mechanisms for high PCE and stability of OSMA-based PSCs and suggest useful design guidelines for high-performance OSMAs. Furthermore, we reflect on the existing hurdles and future directions for OSMA materials towards achieving commercially viable PSCs with high PCEs and operational stabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Woo Lee
- 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.
| | - Hyesu Jeon
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Seungjin Lee
- Advanced Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - Dahyun Jeong
- 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
| | - Yun-Hi Kim
- Department of Chemistry and RINS, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, 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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6
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Li R, Hu Y, Xu Y, Wang C, Li X, Liang S, Liu B, Li W. Dimerized Nonfused Electron Acceptor Based on a Thieno[3,4- c]pyrrole-4,6-dione Core for Organic Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:22256-22264. [PMID: 38651607 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c01354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
In this work, the first dimerized nonfused electron acceptor (NFEA), based on thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione as the core, has been designed and synthesized. The dimerized acceptor and its single counterpart exhibit similar energy levels but different absorption spectra due to their distinct aggregation behavior. The dimerized acceptor-based organic solar cells (OSCs) demonstrate a higher power conversion efficiency of 11.05%, accompanied by enhanced thermal stability. This improvement is attributed to the enhancement of the short-circuit current density and fill factor, along with an increase in the glass transition temperature. Characterizations of exciton dynamics and film morphology reveal that a dimerized acceptor-based device possesses an enhanced exciton dissociation efficiency and a well-established charge transport pathway, explaining its improved photovoltaic performance. All these results indicate that the dimerized NFEA as a promising candidate can achieve efficiency-stability-cost balance in OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruonan Li
- School of Physical Science and Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P. R. China
| | - Yuandu Hu
- School of Physical Science and Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P. R. China
| | - Yunhua Xu
- School of Physical Science and Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P. R. China
| | - Chao Wang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, P. R. China
| | - Xin Li
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, P. R. China
| | - Shijie Liang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, P. R. China
| | - Baiqiao Liu
- Research Center for Frontier Fundamental Studies, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Weiwei Li
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, P. R. China
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7
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Ding Y, Xiong S, Li M, Pu M, Zhu Y, Lai X, Wang Y, Qiu D, Lai H, He F. Highly-Efficient 2D Nonfullerene Acceptors Enabled by Subtle Molecular Tailoring Engineering. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2309169. [PMID: 38072767 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202309169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 11/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
The conjugate expansion of nonfullerene acceptors is considered to be a promising approach for improving organic photovoltaic performance because of its function in tuning morphological structure and molecular stacking behavior. In this work, two nonfullerene acceptors are designed and synthesized using a 2D π-conjugate expansion strategy, thus enabling the construction of highly-efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). Compared with YB2B (incorporating dibromophenanthrene on the quinoxaline-fused core), YB2T (incorporating dibromobenzodithiophene on the quinoxaline-fused core) has red-shifted spectral absorption and better charge transport properties. Moreover, the more orderly and tightly intermolecular stacking of YB2T provides the possibility of forming a more suitable phase separation morphology in blend films. Through characterization and analysis, the YB2T-based blend film is found to have higher exciton dissociation efficiency and less charge recombination. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.05% is achieved in YB2T-based binary OSCs, while YB2B-based devices only reached 10.94%. This study demonstrates the significance of the aromatic-ring substitution strategy for regulating the electronic structure and aggregation behavior of 2D nonfullerene acceptors, facilitating the development of devices with superior photovoltaic performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yafei Ding
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Shilong Xiong
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Mingpeng Li
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Mingrui Pu
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Yiwu Zhu
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xue Lai
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Yunpeng Wang
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Dongsheng Qiu
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Hanjian Lai
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Feng He
- Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
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8
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Huang J, Chen T, Mei L, Wang M, Zhu Y, Cui J, Ouyang Y, Pan Y, Bi Z, Ma W, Ma Z, Zhu H, Zhang C, Chen XK, Chen H, Zuo L. On the role of asymmetric molecular geometry in high-performance organic solar cells. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3287. [PMID: 38627412 PMCID: PMC11021434 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47707-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Although asymmetric molecular design has been widely demonstrated effective for organic photovoltaics (OPVs), the correlation between asymmetric molecular geometry and their optoelectronic properties is still unclear. To access this issue, we have designed and synthesized several symmetric-asymmetric non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) pairs with identical physical and optoelectronic properties. Interestingly, we found that the asymmetric NFAs universally exhibited increased open-circuit voltage compared to their symmetric counterparts, due to the reduced non-radiative charge recombination. From our molecular-dynamic simulations, the asymmetric NFA naturally exhibits more diverse molecular interaction patterns at the donor (D):acceptor (A) interface as compared to the symmetric ones, as well as higher D:A interfacial charge-transfer state energy. Moreover, it is observed that the asymmetric structure can effectively suppress triplet state formation. These advantages enable a best efficiency of 18.80%, which is one of the champion results among binary OPVs. Therefore, this work unambiguously demonstrates the unique advantage of asymmetric molecular geometry, unveils the underlying mechanism, and highlights the manipulation of D:A interface as an important consideration for future molecular design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinfeng Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, PR China
- Zhejiang University-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Hangzhou, 310014, PR China
| | - Tianyi Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, PR China
| | - Le Mei
- Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong
- Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, PR China
| | - Mengting Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, PR China
| | - Yuxuan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Jiting Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Excited-State Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310027, China
| | - Yanni Ouyang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Youwen Pan
- State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, PR China
| | - Zhaozhao Bi
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, PR China
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, PR China
| | - Zaifei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Haiming Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Excited-State Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310027, China
| | - Chunfeng Zhang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Xian-Kai Chen
- Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, PR China.
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Negative Carbon Technologies, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, PR China.
| | - Hongzheng Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, PR China.
| | - Lijian Zuo
- State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, PR China.
- Zhejiang University-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Hangzhou, 310014, PR China.
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9
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Chang B, Zhang Y, Zhang C, Zhang M, Wang Q, Xu Z, Chen Q, Bai Y, Fu H, Meng S, Xue L, Kim S, Yang C, Yi Y, Zhang ZG. Tethered Trimeric Small-molecular Acceptors through Aromatic-core Engineering for Highly Efficient and Thermally Stable Polymer Solar Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202400590. [PMID: 38318728 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202400590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Polymer solar cells (PSCs) rely on a blend of small molecular acceptors (SMAs) with polymer donors, where thermodynamic relaxation of SMAs poses critical concerns on operational stability. To tackle this issue, tethered SMAs, wherein multiple SMA-subunits are connected to the aromatic-core via flexible chains, are proposed. This design aims to an elevated glass transition temperature (Tg) for a dynamical control. However, attaining an elevated Tg value with additional SMA subunits introduces complexity to the molecular packing, posing a significant challenge in realizing both high stability and power conversion efficiency (PCE). In this study, we initiate isomer engineering on the benzene-carboxylate core and find that meta-positioned dimeric BDY-β exhibits more favorable molecular packing compared to its para-positioned counterpart, BDY-α. With this encouraging result, we expand our approach by introducing an additional SMA unit onto the aromatic core of BDY-β, maintaining a meta-position relative to each SMA unit location in the tethered acceptor. This systematic aromatic-core engineering results in a star-shaped C3h-positioned molecular geometry. The supramolecular interactions of SMA units in the trimer contribute to enhancements in Tg value, crystallinity, and a red-shifted absorption compared to dimers. These characteristics result in a noteworthy increase in PCE to 18.24 %, coupled with a remarkable short-circuit current density of 27.06 mA cm-2. More significantly, the trimer-based devices delivered an excellent thermal stability with over 95 % of their initial efficiency after 1200 h thermal degradation. Our findings underscore the promise and feasibility of tethered trimeric structures in achieving highly ordered aggregation behavior and increased Tg value in PSCs, simultaneously improving in device efficiency and thermal stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bowen Chang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Yaogang Zhang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Cen Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Ming Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Qingyuan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Zheng'ao Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Qi Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Yang Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Hongyuan Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Shixin Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Lingwei Xue
- Yaoshan Laboratory, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, Henan, 467000, P. R. China
| | - Seoyoung Kim
- Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 689-798, South Korea
| | - Changduk Yang
- Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 689-798, South Korea
| | - Yuanping Yi
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Zhi-Guo Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
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10
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Yi F, Xiao M, Meng Y, Bai H, Su W, Gao W, Yao ZF, Qi G, Liang Z, Jin C, Tang L, Zhang R, Yan L, Liu Y, Zhu W, Ma W, Fan Q. Non-Fully Conjugated Dimerized Giant Acceptors with Different Alkyl-Linked Sites for Stable and 19.13 % Efficiency Organic Solar Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202319295. [PMID: 38335036 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202319295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Achieving both high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and device stability is a major challenge for the practical development of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, three non-fully conjugated dimerized giant acceptors (named 2Y-sites, including wing-site-linked 2Y-wing, core-site-linked 2Y-core, and end-site-linked 2Y-end) are developed. They share the similar monomer precursors but have different alkyl-linked sites, offering the fine-tuned molecular absorption, packing, glass transition temperature, and carrier mobility. Among their binary active layers, D18/2Y-wing has better miscibility, leading to optimized morphology and more efficient charge transfer compared to D18/2Y-core and D18/2Y-end. Therefore, the D18/2Y-wing-based OSCs achieve a superior PCE of 17.73 %, attributed to enhanced photocurrent and fill factor. Furthermore, the D18/2Y-wing-based OSCs exhibit a balance of high PCE and improved stability, distinguishing them within the 2Y-sites. Building on the success of 2Y-wing in binary systems, we extend its application to ternary OSCs by pairing it with the near-infrared absorbing D18/BS3TSe-4F host. Thanks to the complementary absorption within 300-970 nm and further optimized morphology, ternary OSCs obtain a higher PCE of 19.13 %, setting a new efficiency benchmark for the dimer-derived OSCs. This approach of alkyl-linked site engineering for constructing dimerized giant acceptors presents a promising pathway to improve both PCE and stability of OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Yi
- College of Chemistry, Key Lab of Environment-Friendly Chemistry and Application (Ministry of Education), Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Manjun Xiao
- College of Chemistry, Key Lab of Environment-Friendly Chemistry and Application (Ministry of Education), Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105
| | - Yongdie Meng
- College of Chemistry, Key Lab of Environment-Friendly Chemistry and Application (Ministry of Education), Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105
| | - Hairui Bai
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Wenyan Su
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710054, China
| | - Wei Gao
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Advanced Manufacturing, Institute of Luminescent Materials and Information Displays, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
| | - Ze-Fan Yao
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | | | - Zezhou Liang
- Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education & Shaanxi, Key Lab of Photonic Technique for Information, School of Electronics Science & Engineering, Faculty of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Conggui Jin
- College of Chemistry, Key Lab of Environment-Friendly Chemistry and Application (Ministry of Education), Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105
| | - Lingxiao Tang
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Rui Zhang
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Lihe Yan
- Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education & Shaanxi, Key Lab of Photonic Technique for Information, School of Electronics Science & Engineering, Faculty of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Yuhang Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Weiguo Zhu
- Jiangsu Engineering Laboratory of Light-Electricity-Heat Energy-Converting Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Qunping Fan
- 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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Ding P, Yang D, Yang S, Ge Z. Stability of organic solar cells: toward commercial applications. Chem Soc Rev 2024; 53:2350-2387. [PMID: 38268469 DOI: 10.1039/d3cs00492a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted a great deal of attention in the field of clean solar energy due to their advantages of transparency, flexibility, low cost and light weight. Introducing them to the market enables seamless integration into buildings and windows, while also supporting wearable, portable electronics and internet-of-things (IoT) devices. With the development of photovoltaic materials and the optimization of fabrication technology, the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of OSCs have rapidly improved and now exceed 20%. However, there is a significant lack of focus on material stability and device lifetime, causing a severe hindrance to commercial applications. In this review, we carefully review important strategies employed to improve the stability of OSCs over the past three years from the perspectives of material design and device engineering. Furthermore, we analyze and discuss the current important progress in terms of air, light, thermal and mechanical stability. Finally, we propose the future research directions to overcome the challenges in achieving highly stable OSCs. We expect that this review will contribute to solving the stability problem of OSCs, eventually paving the way for commercial applications in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Ding
- Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Energy Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China.
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Daobin Yang
- Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Energy Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China.
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shuncheng Yang
- Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Energy Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China.
| | - Ziyi Ge
- Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Energy Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China.
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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12
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Zhang M, Chang B, Zhang R, Li S, Liu X, Zeng L, Chen Q, Wang L, Yang L, Wang H, Liu J, Gao F, Zhang ZG. Tethered Small-Molecule Acceptor Refines Hierarchical Morphology in Ternary Polymer Solar Cells: Enhanced Stability and 19% Efficiency. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2308606. [PMID: 37816121 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202308606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023]
Abstract
Polymer solar cells (PSCs) are promising for efficient solar energy conversion, but achieving high efficiency and device longevity within a bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) structure remains a challenge. Traditional small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) in the BHJ blend show thermodynamic instability affecting the morphology. In contrast, tethered SMAs exhibit higher glass transition temperatures, mitigating these concerns. Yet, they might not integrate well with polymer donors, causing pronounced phase separation and overpurification of mixed domains. Herein, a novel ternary device is introduced that uses DY-P2EH, a tethered dimeric SMA with conjugated side-chains as host acceptor, and BTP-ec9, a monomeric SMA as secondary acceptor, which respectively possess hypomiscibility and hypermiscibility with the polymer donor PM6. This unique combination affords a parallel-connected ternary BHJ blend, leading to a hierarchical and stable morphology. The ternary device achieves a remarkable fill factor of 80.61% and an impressive power conversion efficiency of 19.09%. Furthermore, the ternary device exhibits exceptional stability, retaining over 85% of its initial efficiency even after enduring 1100 h of thermal stress at 85 °C. These findings highlight the potential advantage of tethered SMAs in the design of ternary devices with a refined hierarchical structure for more efficient and durable solar energy conversion technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Bowen Chang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Rui Zhang
- Department of Physics, Biomolecular and organic electronics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Shangyu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Xinpeng Liu
- School of Electronics and Information, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710072, China
| | - Liang Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Qi Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Li Wang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
- CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of, Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Liangrong Yang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Haiqiao Wang
- Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Jiangang Liu
- School of Electronics and Information, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710072, China
| | - Feng Gao
- Department of Physics, Biomolecular and organic electronics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Zhi-Guo Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
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13
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Zhang C, Song J, Ye L, Li X, Jee MH, Woo HY, Sun Y. Simple and Efficient Synthesis of Novel Tetramers with Enhanced Glass Transition Temperature for High-Performance and Stable Organic Solar Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202316295. [PMID: 38057496 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202316295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Oligomer acceptors in organic solar cells (OSCs) have garnered substantial attention owing to their impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) and long-term stability. However, the simple and efficient synthesis of oligomer acceptors with higher glass transition temperatures (Tg ) remains a formidable challenge. In this study, we propose an innovative strategy for the synthesis of tetramers, denoted as Tet-n, with elevated Tg s, achieved through only two consecutive Stille coupling reactions. Importantly, our strategy significantly reduces the redundancy in reaction steps compared to conventional methods for linear tetramer synthesis, thereby improving both reaction efficiency and yield. Furthermore, the OSC based on PM6:Tet-1 attains a high PCE of 17.32 %, and the PM6:L8-BO:Tet-1 ternary device achieves an even more higher PCE of 19.31 %. Remarkably, the binary device based on the Tet-1 tetramer demonstrates outstanding operational stability, retaining 80 % of the initial efficiency (T80 ) even after 1706 h of continuous illumination, which is primarily attributed to the enhanced Tg (247 °C) and lower diffusion coefficient (1.56×10-27 cm2 s-1 ). This work demonstrates the effectiveness of our proposed approach in the straightforward and efficient synthesis of tetramers materials with higher Tg s, thus offering a viable pathway for developing high-efficiency and stable OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Zhang
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Jiali Song
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Linglong Ye
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Xiaoming Li
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Min Hun Jee
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea
| | - Han Young Woo
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea
| | - Yanming Sun
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
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14
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Lv M, Wang Q, Zhang J, Wang Y, Zhang ZG, Wang T, Zhang H, Lu K, Wei Z, Deng D. Strengthening the Hetero-Molecular Interactions in Giant Dimeric Acceptors Enables Efficient Organic Solar Cells. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2310046. [PMID: 37994223 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202310046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Giant dimeric acceptor (G-Dimer) is becoming one of the most promising organic solar cell (OSC) materials because of its definite structure, long-term stability, and high efficiency. Strengthening the hetero-molecular interactions by monomer modification greatly influences the morphology and thus the device performance, but lacks investigation. Herein, two novel quinoxaline core-based G-Dimers, Dimer-QX and Dimer-2CF, are synthesized. By comparing trifluoromethyl-substituted Dimer-2CF and non-substituted Dimer-QX, the trifluoromethylation effect on the G-Dimer is investigated and revealed. The trifluoromethyl with strong electronegativity increases electrostatic potential and reduces surface energy of the G-Dimer, weakening the homo-molecular ordered packing but reinforcing the hetero-molecular interaction with the donor. The strong hetero-molecular interaction suppresses the fast assembly during the film formation, facilitating small domains with ordered molecular packing in the blend, which is a trade-off in conventional morphology control. Together with favorable vertical phase separation, efficient charge generation, and reduced bimolecular recombination are concurrently obtained. Hence, the Dimer-2CF-based OSCs obtain a cutting-edge efficiency of 19.02% with fill factor surpassing 80%, and an averaged extrapolated T80 of ≈12 000 h under continuous 80 °C heating. This study emphasizes the importance of hetero-molecular interaction and trifluoromethylation strategy, providing a facile strategy for designing highly efficient and stable OSC materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Lv
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
- University of, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Qingyuan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, 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
- University of, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yuheng Wang
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315211, China
| | - Zhi-Guo Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Tong Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
- University of, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Hao Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
- University of, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Kun Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
- University of, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - 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
- University of, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, 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
- University of, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
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15
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Xiang Y, Xu B, Li Y. Solution-Processed Semiconductor Materials as Cathode Interlayers for Organic Solar Cells. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 10:e2304673. [PMID: 37882326 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202304673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023]
Abstract
Cathode interlayers (CILs) play a crucial role in improving the photovoltaic efficiency and stability of OSCs. CILs generally consists of two kinds of materials, interfacial dipole-based CILs and SPS-based CILs. With good charge transporting ability, excellent compatibility with large-area processing methods, and highly tunable optoelectronic properties, the SPS-based CILs exhibit remarkable superiorities to their interfacial dipole-based counterparts in practical use, making them promising candidate in developing efficient CILs for OSCs. This mini-review highlights the great potential of SPS-based CILs in OSC applications and elucidates the working mechanism and material design strategy of SPS materials. Afterward, the SPS-based CIL materials are summarized and discussed in four sections, including organic small molecules, conjugated polymers, nonconjugated polymers, and TMOs. The structure-property-performance relationship of SPS-based CIL materials is revealed, which may provide readers new insight into the molecular design of SPS-based CILs. The mechanisms to endow SPS-based CILs with thickness insensitivity, resistance to environmental erosion, and photo-electric conversion ability are also elucidated. Finally, after a brief summary, the remaining issues and the prospects of SPS-based CILs are suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanhe Xiang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Bowei Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Ying Li
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, P. R. China
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16
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Gu X, Zhang X, Huang H. Oligomerized Fused-Ring Electron Acceptors for Efficient and Stable Organic Solar Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202308496. [PMID: 37436426 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202308496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted wide research attention in the past decades. Very recently, oligomerized fused-ring electron acceptors (OFREAs) have emerged as a promising alternative to small-molecular/polymeric acceptor-based OSCs due to their unique advantages such as well-defined structures, batch reproducibility, good film formation, low diffusion coefficient, and excellent stability. So far, rapid advances have been made in the development of OFREAs consisting of directly/rigidly/flexibly linked oligomers and fused ones. In this Minireview, we systematically summarized the recent research progress of OFREAs, including structural diversity, synthesis approach, molecular conformation and packing, and long-term stability. Finally, we conclude with future perspectives on the challenges to be addressed and potential research directions. We believe that this Minireview will encourage the development of novel OFREAs for OSC applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobin Gu
- College of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology & Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering & CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation & CAS Key Laboratory of Vacuum Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China
| | - Xin Zhang
- College of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology & Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering & CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation & CAS Key Laboratory of Vacuum Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China
| | - Hui Huang
- College of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology & Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering & CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation & CAS Key Laboratory of Vacuum Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China
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17
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Bai H, Ma R, Su W, Peña TAD, Li T, Tang L, Yang J, Hu B, Wang Y, Bi Z, Su Y, Wei Q, Wu Q, Duan Y, Li Y, Wu J, Ding Z, Liao X, Huang Y, Gao C, Lu G, Li M, Zhu W, Li G, Fan Q, Ma W. Green-Solvent Processed Blade-Coating Organic Solar Cells with an Efficiency Approaching 19% Enabled by Alkyl-Tailored Acceptors. NANO-MICRO LETTERS 2023; 15:241. [PMID: 37917278 PMCID: PMC10622389 DOI: 10.1007/s40820-023-01208-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Power-conversion-efficiencies (PCEs) of organic solar cells (OSCs) in laboratory, normally processed by spin-coating technology with toxic halogenated solvents, have reached over 19%. However, there is usually a marked PCE drop when the blade-coating and/or green-solvents toward large-scale printing are used instead, which hampers the practical development of OSCs. Here, a new series of N-alkyl-tailored small molecule acceptors named YR-SeNF with a same molecular main backbone are developed by combining selenium-fused central-core and naphthalene-fused end-group. Thanks to the N-alkyl engineering, NIR-absorbing YR-SeNF series show different crystallinity, packing patterns, and miscibility with polymeric donor. The studies exhibit that the molecular packing, crystallinity, and vertical distribution of active layer morphologies are well optimized by introducing newly designed guest acceptor associated with tailored N-alkyl chains, providing the improved charge transfer dynamics and stability for the PM6:L8-BO:YR-SeNF-based OSCs. As a result, a record-high PCE approaching 19% is achieved in the blade-coating OSCs fabricated from a green-solvent o-xylene with high-boiling point. Notably, ternary OSCs offer robust operating stability under maximum-power-point tracking and well-keep > 80% of the initial PCEs for even over 400 h. Our alkyl-tailored guest acceptor strategy provides a unique approach to develop green-solvent and blade-coating processed high-efficiency and operating stable OSCs, which paves a way for industrial development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hairui Bai
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China
| | - Ruijie Ma
- Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
| | - Wenyan Su
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710054, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, 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, People's Republic of China.
| | - Top Archie Dela Peña
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
- Advanced Materials Thrust, Function Hub, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Nansha, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Tengfei Li
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China
| | - Lingxiao Tang
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Yang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Bin Hu
- Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710054, People's Republic of China
| | - Yilin Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhaozhao Bi
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China
| | - Yueling Su
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, 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, People's Republic of China
| | - Qi Wei
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiang Wu
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yuwei Duan
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, 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, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuxiang Li
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710054, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiaying Wu
- Advanced Materials Thrust, Function Hub, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Nansha, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Zicheng Ding
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, 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, People's Republic of China
| | - Xunfan Liao
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education/National Engineering Research Center for Carbohydrate Synthesis, Jiangxi Normal University, 99 Ziyang Avenue, Nanchang, 330022, People's Republic of China
| | - Yinjuan Huang
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China
| | - Chao Gao
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Liquid Crystal and Organic Photovoltaic Materials, State Key Laboratory of Fluorine & Nitrogen Chemicals, Xi'an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi'an, 710065, People's Republic of China
| | - Guanghao Lu
- Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710054, People's Republic of China
| | - Mingjie Li
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Weiguo Zhu
- Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Light-Electricity-Heat Energy-Converting Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, People's Republic of China
| | - Gang Li
- Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
| | - Qunping Fan
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China.
- Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Light-Electricity-Heat Energy-Converting Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, People's Republic of China.
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education/National Engineering Research Center for Carbohydrate Synthesis, Jiangxi Normal University, 99 Ziyang Avenue, Nanchang, 330022, People's Republic of China.
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China.
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18
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Chen H, Kan B, Wang P, Feng W, Li L, Zhang S, Chen T, Yang Y, Duan T, Yao Z, Li C, Wan X, Chen Y. Terminally Chlorinated and Thiophene-linked Acceptor-Donor-Acceptor Structured 3D Acceptors with Versatile Processability for High-efficiency Organic Solar Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202307962. [PMID: 37547954 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202307962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
To exploit the potential of our newly developed three-dimensional (3D) dimerized acceptors, a series of chlorinated 3D acceptors (namely CH8-3/4/5) were reported by precisely tuning the position of chlorine (Cl) atom. The introduction of Cl atom in central unit affects the molecular conformation. Whereas, by replacing fluorinated terminal groups (CH8-3) with chlorinated terminal groups (CH8-4 and CH8-5), the red-shift absorption and enhanced crystallization are achieved. Benefiting from these, all devices received promising power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) over 16 % as well as decent thermal/photo-stabilities. Among them, PM6:CH8-4 based device yielded a best PCE of 17.58 %. Besides, the 3D merits with multi alkyl chains enable their versatile processability during the device preparation. Impressive PCEs of 17.27 % and 16.23 % could be achieved for non-halogen solvent processable devices prepared in glovebox and ambient, respectively. 2.88 cm2 modules also obtained PCEs over 13 % via spin-coating and blade-coating methods, respectively. These results are among the best performance of dimerized acceptors. The decent performance of CH8-4 on small-area devices, modules and non-halogen solvent-processed devices highlights the versatile processing capability of our 3D acceptors, as well as their potential applications in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongbin Chen
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Institute for Advanced Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Bin Kan
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Institute for Advanced Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Peiran Wang
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Wanying Feng
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Longyu Li
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Shuchao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Tianqi Chen
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Institute for Advanced Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Yang Yang
- The Institute of Seawater Desalination and Multipurpose Utilization, Ministry of Natural Resources (Tianjin), Tianjin, 300192, China
| | - Tainan Duan
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS Chongqing), Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
| | - Zhaoyang Yao
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Chenxi Li
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Xiangjian Wan
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Yongsheng Chen
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
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19
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Wan J, Wang T, Sun R, Wu X, Wang S, Zhang M, Min J. Enabling Highly Efficient and Thermal-Stable Polymer Solar Cells through Semi-Alloy Acceptors Composed of a Hinge-Like Dimer: A Versatile Doping Protocol. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2023; 35:e2302592. [PMID: 37211895 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202302592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The simultaneous improvement of power conversion efficiency (PCE) and thermal stability is a critical scientific challenge in advancing the commercial applications of polymer solar cells. To address this challenge, a dumbbell-shaped dimeric acceptor, DT19, is successfully designed and synthesized. It is incorporated as a third component into the PM1:BTP-eC9 system. This ternary strategy demonstrates a synergistic enhancement of the PCE and thermal stability of the host binary system. In particular, the PM1:BTP-eC9:DT19 system maintains a PCE of over 90% even after heating at 120 °C for 200 h. Additionally, the dimer-doping ternary strategy exhibits excellent generality for the other four Y-series systems and outperforms ternary systems containing alloy-like acceptors in terms of thermal stability. It is because DT19, with its hinge-like structure, can form a semi-alloy acceptor with the host acceptor, leading to strong interchain entanglement with the polymer donor, thus overcoming phase separation and excessive aggregation under thermal stress. This new type of dimeric material, which can synergistically enhance the device efficiency and thermal stability of active layers, presents promising application prospects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Wan
- The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Tao Wang
- The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Rui Sun
- The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Xiaohei Wu
- The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Shanshan Wang
- The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Meimei Zhang
- The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Jie Min
- The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
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20
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Yang S, Park J, Jeong S, Cho Y, Jeong M, Oh J, Lee S, Park J, Yoon SJ, Yang C. Conformational Locking Control of 2D Outer Side Chains via Fluorine Atom Positioning for Improving the Thermal Stability of Organic Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:39636-39646. [PMID: 37579241 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c06596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/16/2023]
Abstract
Alongside high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), device stability, especially thermal issues, is another key factor for the successful commercialization of nonfullerene acceptor (NFA)-based organic solar cells (OSCs). Considering the significant effects of the side-chain engineering of NFAs on molecular packing and/or locking strongly associated with the thermal stability of OSCs, herein, we present two new isomeric NFAs with 4-fluoro- and 2-fluoro-substituted hexylphenyl two-dimensional (2D) outer side chains (4FY and 2FY, respectively). In contrast with the 2FY having a horizontal stretching conformation, 4FY exhibits a diagonal stretching conformation of the 2D outer side chains and a higher dipole moment, resulting in a huge difference in their crystalline/aggregation characteristics, i.e., 4FY possesses a higher crystallinity with a denser molecular packing than the 2FY neat film, as evidenced by thermal and morphological characterizations. Encouragingly, relative to the one based on 2FY, the OSC based on 4FY delivers a PCE as high as 16.4%, together with excellent thermal stability (88.4% PCE retention under 85 °C for 360 h), which is attributed to a more optimal and robust blend morphology induced by its better compatibility into the used donor component and stronger crystallinity. This work demonstrates that in addition to the improved photovoltaic property, the appropriate F-positioning on the 2D outer side chains can play a key role in controlling their conformations, which can promote the increase of the thermal stability of OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangjin Yang
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
| | - Jaeyeong Park
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
| | - Seonghun Jeong
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
| | - Yongjoon Cho
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
- Department of Chemistry and Materials Research Center, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Mingyu Jeong
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
- KEPCO Research Institute, Korea Electric Power Corporation, 105, Munji-ro, Yuseonggu, Daejeon 34056, South Korea
| | - Jiyeon Oh
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
| | - Seunglok Lee
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
| | - Jeewon Park
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
| | - Seong-Jun Yoon
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
| | - Changduk Yang
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Perovtronics Research Center, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
- Graduate School of Carbon Neutrality, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, South Korea
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21
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Bai Y, Zhang Z, Zhou Q, Geng H, Chen Q, Kim S, Zhang R, Zhang C, Chang B, Li S, Fu H, Xue L, Wang H, Li W, Chen W, Gao M, Ye L, Zhou Y, Ouyang Y, Zhang C, Gao F, Yang C, Li Y, Zhang ZG. Geometry design of tethered small-molecule acceptor enables highly stable and efficient polymer solar cells. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2926. [PMID: 37217503 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38673-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
With the power conversion efficiency of binary polymer solar cells dramatically improved, the thermal stability of the small-molecule acceptors raised the main concerns on the device operating stability. Here, to address this issue, thiophene-dicarboxylate spacer tethered small-molecule acceptors are designed, and their molecular geometries are further regulated via the thiophene-core isomerism engineering, affording dimeric TDY-α with a 2, 5-substitution and TDY-β with 3, 4-substitution on the core. It shows that TDY-α processes a higher glass transition temperature, better crystallinity relative to its individual small-molecule acceptor segment and isomeric counterpart of TDY-β, and a more stable morphology with the polymer donor. As a result, the TDY-α based device delivers a higher device efficiency of 18.1%, and most important, achieves an extrapolated lifetime of about 35000 hours that retaining 80% of their initial efficiency. Our result suggests that with proper geometry design, the tethered small-molecule acceptors can achieve both high device efficiency and operating stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Ze Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Qiuju Zhou
- Analysis & Testing Center, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang, Henan, 464000, China
| | - Hua Geng
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Optical Materials and Photonic Devices, Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
| | - Qi Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Seoyoung Kim
- Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 689-798, South Korea
| | - Rui Zhang
- Department of Physics, Biomolecular and Organic Electronics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Cen Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Bowen Chang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Shangyu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Hongyuan Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Lingwei Xue
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Haiqiao Wang
- Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Wenbin Li
- College of Chemistry & Green Catalysis Center, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Weihua Chen
- College of Chemistry & Green Catalysis Center, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Mengyuan Gao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Long Ye
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Yuanyuan Zhou
- Department of Physics, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China, Smart Society Lab, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yanni Ouyang
- Department of Physics, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China, Smart Society Lab, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chunfeng Zhang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Feng Gao
- Department of Physics, Biomolecular and Organic Electronics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Changduk Yang
- Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 689-798, South Korea
| | - Yongfang Li
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Zhi-Guo Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China.
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