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Li Z, Wang Q, Chen Q, Meng S, Bai Y, Xue L, Xue J, Zhang ZG. Dimeric Small Molecule Acceptors via Terminal-End Connections: Effect of Flexible Linker Length on Photovoltaic Performance. Macromol Rapid Commun 2024:e2400628. [PMID: 39225656 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202400628] [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: 08/02/2024] [Revised: 08/26/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
The dimerization of small molecule acceptors (SMAs) holds significant potential by combining the advantages of both SMAs and polymer acceptors in realizing high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and operational stability in organic solar cells (OSCs). However, advancements in the selection and innovation of dimeric linkers are still challenging in enhancing their performance. In this study, three new dimeric acceptors, namely DY-Ar-4, DY-Ar-5, and DY-Ar-6 are synthesized, by linking two Y-series SMA subunits via an "end-to-end" strategy using flexible spacers (octyl, decyl, and dodecyl, respectively). The influence of spacer lengths on device performance is systematically investigated. The results indicate that DY-Ar-5 exhibits more compact and ordered packing, leading to an optimal morphology. OSCs based on PM6: DY-Ar-5 achieves a maximum PCE of 15.76%, attributes to enhance and balance carrier mobility, and reduce carrier recombination. This dimerization strategy using suitable non-conjugated linking units provides a rational principle for designing high-performance non-fullerene acceptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengkai 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, P. R. 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, P. R. 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, P. R. 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, P. R. 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, P. R. China
- College of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Huanghuai University, Zhumadian, Henan, 463000, P. R. China
| | - Lingwei Xue
- Yaoshan Laboratory, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, Henan, 467000, P. R. China
| | - Jing Xue
- Petrochemical Research Institute of PetroChina Company Limited, Beijing, 102206, P. R. 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, P. R. China
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2
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Wang Z, Guo Y, Liu X, Shu W, Han G, Ding K, Mukherjee S, Zhang N, Yip HL, Yi Y, Ade H, Chow PCY. The role of interfacial donor-acceptor percolation in efficient and stable all-polymer solar cells. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1212. [PMID: 38331998 PMCID: PMC10853271 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45455-0] [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: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Polymerization of Y6-type acceptor molecules leads to bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells with both high power-conversion efficiency and device stability, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here we show that the exciton recombination dynamics of polymerized Y6-type acceptors (Y6-PAs) strongly depends on the degree of aggregation. While the fast exciton recombination rate in aggregated Y6-PA competes with electron-hole separation at the donor-acceptor (D-A) interface, the much-suppressed exciton recombination rate in dispersed Y6-PA is sufficient to allow efficient free charge generation. Indeed, our experimental results and theoretical simulations reveal that Y6-PAs have larger miscibility with the donor polymer than Y6-type small molecular acceptors, leading to D-A percolation that effectively prevents the formation of Y6-PA aggregates at the interface. Besides enabling high charge generation efficiency, the interfacial D-A percolation also improves the thermodynamic stability of the blend morphology, as evident by the reduced device "burn-in" loss upon solar illumination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Wang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yu Guo
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xianzhao Liu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Wenchao Shu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Guangchao Han
- CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Kan Ding
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Subhrangsu Mukherjee
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Nan Zhang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Hin-Lap Yip
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yuanping Yi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Philip C Y Chow
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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3
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Li Y, Huang B, Zhang X, Ding J, Zhang Y, Xiao L, Wang B, Cheng Q, Huang G, Zhang H, Yang Y, Qi X, Zheng Q, Zhang Y, Qiu X, Liang M, Zhou H. Lifetime over 10000 hours for organic solar cells with Ir/IrO x electron-transporting layer. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1241. [PMID: 36871022 PMCID: PMC9985642 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36937-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The stability of organic solar cells is a key issue to promote practical applications. Herein, we demonstrate that the device performance of organic solar cells is enhanced by an Ir/IrOx electron-transporting layer, benefiting from its suitable work function and heterogeneous distribution of surface energy in nanoscale. Notably, the champion Ir/IrOx-based devices exhibit superior stabilities under shelf storing (T80 = 56696 h), thermal aging (T70 = 13920 h), and maximum power point tracking (T80 = 1058 h), compared to the ZnO-based devices. It can be attributed to the stable morphology of photoactive layer resulting from the optimized molecular distribution of the donor and acceptor and the absence of photocatalysis in the Ir/IrOx-based devices, which helps to maintain the improved charge extraction and inhibited charge recombination in the aged devices. This work provides a reliable and efficient electron-transporting material toward stable organic solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanxun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Bo Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xuning Zhang
- School of Chemistry, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Jianwei Ding
- CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Yingyu Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Linge Xiao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Boxin Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Qian Cheng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Gaosheng Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Hong Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Yingguo Yang
- Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), Zhangjiang Lab, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204, China
| | - Xiaoying Qi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Qiang Zheng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- School of Chemistry, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Xiaohui Qiu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Minghui Liang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China
| | - Huiqiong Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
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4
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Refining acceptor aggregation in nonfullerene organic solar cells to achieve high efficiency and superior thermal stability. Sci China Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11426-022-1394-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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5
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When Electronically Inert Polymers Meet Conjugated Polymers: Emerging Opportunities in Organic Photovoltaics. CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10118-022-2762-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Yang X, Gao M, Bi Z, Liu Y, Xian K, Peng Z, Qi Q, Li S, Song J, Ma W, Ye L. Unraveling the Photovoltaic, Mechanical, and Microstructural Properties and Their Correlations in Simple Poly(3-pentylthiophene) Solar Cells. Macromol Rapid Commun 2022; 43:e2200229. [PMID: 35591795 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202200229] [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: 03/10/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The power conversion efficiency of polythiophene organic solar cells is constantly refreshed. Despite the renewed device efficiency, very few efforts have been devoted to understanding how the type of electron acceptor alters the photovoltaic and mechanical properties of these low-cost solar cells. Herein, we conduct a thorough investigation of photovoltaic and mechanical characteristics of a simple yet less explored polythiophene, namely poly(3-pentylthiophene) (P3PT), in three different types of organic solar cells, where ZY-4Cl, PC71 BM, and N2200 are employed as three representative acceptors, respectively. Compared with the reference P3HT-based solar cells, P3PT-based devices all perform more efficiently. Particularly, the P3PT:ZY-4Cl blend exhibits the highest efficiency (nearly 10%) among the six combinations and outperforms the prior top-performance system P3HT:ZY-4Cl. Furthermore, the blend films based on N2200 exhibit a high crack-onset strain of ∼38% on average, which is approximately 15 and 17 times higher than those of ZY-4Cl and PC71 BM, respectively. The microstructural origins for the above difference are well elucidated by detailed grazing incidence X-ray scattering and microscopy analysis. This work not only underlines the potential of P3PT in prolific solar cell research but also demonstrates the superior tensile properties of polythiophene-based all-polymer blends for the preparation of stretchable solar cells. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuantong Yang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Mengyuan Gao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Zhaozhao Bi
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Yang Liu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Kaihu Xian
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Zhongxiang Peng
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Qingchun Qi
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Saimeng Li
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Jinsheng Song
- Engineering Research Center for Nanomaterials, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Long Ye
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China.,Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523808, China
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7
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Mehdizadeh-Rad H, Sreedhar Ram K, Mehdizadeh-Rad F, Ompong D, Setsoafia DDY, Elumalai NK, Zhu F, Singh J. Sources of Thermal Power Generation and Their Influence on the Operating Temperature of Organic Solar Cells. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:420. [PMID: 35159768 PMCID: PMC8838742 DOI: 10.3390/nano12030420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Thermal stability, closely associated with the operating temperature, is one of the desired properties for practical applications of organic solar cells (OSCs). In this paper, an OSC of the structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/ZnO/Ag was fabricated, and its current-voltage (J-V) characteristics and operating temperature were measured. The operating temperature of the same OSC was simulated using an analytical model, taking into consideration the heat transfer, charge carrier drift-diffusion and different thermal generation processes. The simulated results agreed well with the experimental ones. It was found that the thermalization of charge carriers above the band gap had the highest influence on the operating temperature of the OSCs. The energy off-set at the donor/acceptor interface in the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) was shown to have a negligible impact on the thermal stability of the OSCs. However, the energy off-sets at the electrode/charge-transporting layer and BHJ/charge-transporting layer interfaces had greater impacts on the operating temperature of OSCs at the short circuit current and maximum power point conditions. Our results revealed that a variation over the energy off-set range from 0.1 to 0.9 eV would induce an almost 10-time increase in the corresponding thermal power generation, e.g., from 0.001 to 0.01 W, in the cells operated at the short circuit current condition, contributing to about 16.7% of the total solar power absorbed in the OSC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hooman Mehdizadeh-Rad
- Energy and Resources Institute and College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia; (H.M.-R.); (K.S.R.); (D.O.); (D.D.Y.S.); (N.K.E.)
| | - Kiran Sreedhar Ram
- Energy and Resources Institute and College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia; (H.M.-R.); (K.S.R.); (D.O.); (D.D.Y.S.); (N.K.E.)
| | - Farhad Mehdizadeh-Rad
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75080, USA;
| | - David Ompong
- Energy and Resources Institute and College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia; (H.M.-R.); (K.S.R.); (D.O.); (D.D.Y.S.); (N.K.E.)
| | - Daniel Dodzi Yao Setsoafia
- Energy and Resources Institute and College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia; (H.M.-R.); (K.S.R.); (D.O.); (D.D.Y.S.); (N.K.E.)
| | - Naveen Kumar Elumalai
- Energy and Resources Institute and College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia; (H.M.-R.); (K.S.R.); (D.O.); (D.D.Y.S.); (N.K.E.)
| | - Furong Zhu
- Department of Physics and Institute of Advanced Materials, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong;
| | - Jai Singh
- Energy and Resources Institute and College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia; (H.M.-R.); (K.S.R.); (D.O.); (D.D.Y.S.); (N.K.E.)
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Ye L, Gao M, Hou J. Advances and prospective in thermally stable nonfullerene polymer solar cells. Sci China Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11426-021-1087-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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