Hierarchical charge carrier motion in conjugated polymers

Short Excited-State Lifetimes Mediate Charge-Recombination Losses in Organic Solar Cell Blends with Low Charge-Transfer Driving Force

A blend of a low-optical-gap diketopyrrolopyrrole polymer and a fullerene derivative, with near-zero driving force for electron transfer, is investigated. Using femtosecond transient absorption and electroabsorption spectroscopy, the charge transfer (CT) and recombination dynamics as well as the early-time transport are quantified. Electron transfer is ultrafast, consistent with a Marcus-Levich-Jortner description. However, significant charge recombination and unusually short excited (S₁ ) and CT state lifetimes (≈14 ps) are observed. At low S₁ -CT offset, a short S₁ lifetime mediates charge recombination because: i) back-transfer from the CT to the S₁ state followed by S₁ recombination occurs and ii) additional S₁ -CT hybridization decreases the CT lifetime. Both effects are confirmed by density functional theory calculations. In addition, relatively slow (tens of picoseconds) dissociation of charges from the CT state is observed, due to low local charge mobility. Simulations using a four-state kinetic model entailing the effects of energetic disorder reveal that the free charge yield can be increased from the observed 12% to 60% by increasing the S₁ and CT lifetimes to 150 ps. Alternatively, decreasing the interfacial CT state disorder while increasing bulk disorder of free charges enhances the yield to 65% in spite of the short lifetimes.

Multi-level aggregation of conjugated small molecules and polymers: from morphology control to physical insights

Aggregation of molecules is a multi-molecular phenomenon occurring when two or more molecules behave differently from discrete molecules due to their intermolecular interactions. Moving beyond single molecules, aggregation usually demonstrates evolutive or wholly emerging new functionalities relative to the molecular components. Conjugated small molecules and polymers interact with each other, resulting in complex solution-state aggregates and solid-state microstructures. Optoelectronic properties of conjugated small molecules and polymers are sensitively determined by their aggregation states across a broad range of spatial scales. This review focused on the aggregation ranging from molecular structure, intermolecular interactions, solution-state assemblies, and solid-state microstructures of conjugated small molecules and polymers. We addressed the importance of such aggregation in filling the gaps from the molecular level to device functions and highlighted the multi-scale structures and properties at different scales. From the view of multi-level aggregation behaviors, we divided the whole process from the molecule to devices into several parts: molecular design, solvation, solution-state aggregation, crystal engineering, and solid-state microstructures. We summarized the progress and challenges of relationships between optoelectronic properties and multi-level aggregation. We believe aggregation science will become an interdisciplinary research field and serves as a general platform to develop future materials with the desired functions.

Charge transport in high-mobility conjugated polymers and molecular semiconductors

Conjugated polymers and molecular semiconductors are emerging as a viable semiconductor technology in industries such as displays, electronics, renewable energy, sensing and healthcare. A key enabling factor has been significant scientific progress in improving their charge transport properties and carrier mobilities, which has been made possible by a better understanding of the molecular structure-property relationships and the underpinning charge transport physics. Here we aim to present a coherent review of how we understand charge transport in these high-mobility van der Waals bonded semiconductors. Specific questions of interest include estimates for intrinsic limits to the carrier mobilities that might ultimately be achievable; a discussion of the coupling between charge and structural dynamics; the importance of molecular conformations and mesoscale structural features; how the transport physics of conjugated polymers and small molecule semiconductors are related; and how the incorporation of counterions in doped films-as used, for example, in bioelectronics and thermoelectric devices-affects the electronic structure and charge transport properties.

Barrierless Free Charge Generation in the High-Performance PM6:Y6 Bulk Heterojunction Non-Fullerene Solar Cell

Organic solar cells are currently experiencing a second golden age thanks to the development of novel non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). Surprisingly, some of these blends exhibit high efficiencies despite a low energy offset at the heterojunction. Herein, free charge generation in the high-performance blend of the donor polymer PM6 with the NFA Y6 is thoroughly investigated as a function of internal field, temperature and excitation energy. Results show that photocurrent generation is essentially barrierless with near-unity efficiency, regardless of excitation energy. Efficient charge separation is maintained over a wide temperature range, down to 100 K, despite the small driving force for charge generation. Studies on a blend with a low concentration of the NFA, measurements of the energetic disorder, and theoretical modeling suggest that CT state dissociation is assisted by the electrostatic interfacial field which for Y6 is large enough to compensate the Coulomb dissociation barrier.

Photogenerated Charge Transport in Organic Electronic Materials: Experiments Confirmed by Simulations

The performance of organic optoelectronic devices, such as organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells, is to a large extent dictated by their ability to transport the photogenerated charge, with relevant processes spanning a wide temporal (fs-µs) and spatial (1-100 nm) range. However, time-resolved techniques can access only a limited temporal window, and often contradict steady-state measurements. Here, commonly employed steady-state and time-resolved techniques are unified over an exceptionally wide temporal range (fs-µs) in a consistent physical picture. Experimental evidence confirmed by numerical simulations shows that, although various techniques probe different time scales, they are mutually consistent as they probe the same physical mechanisms governing charge motion in disordered media-carrier hopping and thermalization in a disorder-broadened density of states (DOS). The generality of this framework is highlighted by time-resolved experimental data obtained on polymer:fullerene, polymer:polymer, and small-molecule blends with varying morphology, including recent experiments revealing that low donor content OPV devices operate by long-range hole tunneling between non-nearest-neighbor molecules. The importance of nonequilibrium processes in organic electronic materials is reviewed, with a particular focus on experimental data and understanding charge transport physics in terms of material DOS.

Influence of Blend Ratio and Processing Additive on Free Carrier Yield and Mobility in PTB7:PC71BM Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Charge separation and extraction dynamics were investigated in high-performance bulk heterojunction solar cells made from the polymer PTB7 and the soluble fullerene PC₇₁BM on a broad time scale from subpicosecond to microseconds using ultrafast optical probing of carrier drift and the integral-mode photocurrent measurements. We show that the short circuit current is determined by the separation of charge pairs into free carriers, which is strongly influenced by blend composition. This separation is found to be efficient in fullerene-rich blends where a high electron mobility of >0.1 cm² V^-1 s^-1 is observed in the first 10 ps after excitation. Morphology optimization using the solvent additive 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) doubles the charge pair separation efficiency and the short-circuit current. Carrier extraction at low internal electric field is slightly faster from the cells prepared with DIO, which can reduce recombination losses and enhance a fill factor.

Electrode materials, thermal annealing sequences, and lateral/vertical phase separation of polymer solar cells from multiscale molecular simulations

The nanomorphologies of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layer of polymer solar cells are extremely sensitive to the electrode materials and thermal annealing conditions. In this work, the correlations of electrode materials, thermal annealing sequences, and resultant BHJ nanomorphological details of P3HT:PCBM BHJ polymer solar cell are studied by a series of large-scale, coarse-grained (CG) molecular simulations of system comprised of PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/Al layers. Simulations are performed for various configurations of electrode materials as well as processing temperature. The complex CG molecular data are characterized using a novel extension of our graph-based framework to quantify morphology and establish a link between morphology and processing conditions. Our analysis indicates that vertical phase segregation of P3HT:PCBM blend strongly depends on the electrode material and thermal annealing schedule. A thin P3HT-rich film is formed on the top, regardless of bottom electrode material, when the BHJ layer is exposed to the free surface during thermal annealing. In addition, preferential segregation of P3HT chains and PCBM molecules toward PEDOT:PSS and Al electrodes, respectively, is observed. Detailed morphology analysis indicated that, surprisingly, vertical phase segregation does not affect the connectivity of donor/acceptor domains with respective electrodes. However, the formation of P3HT/PCBM depletion zones next to the P3HT/PCBM-rich zones can be a potential bottleneck for electron/hole transport due to increase in transport pathway length. Analysis in terms of fraction of intra- and interchain charge transports revealed that processing schedule affects the average vertical orientation of polymer chains, which may be crucial for enhanced charge transport, nongeminate recombination, and charge collection. The present study establishes a more detailed link between processing and morphology by combining multiscale molecular simulation framework with an extensive morphology feature analysis, providing a quantitative means for process optimization.

Carrier motion in as-spun and annealed P3HT:PCBM blends revealed by ultrafast optical electric field probing and Monte Carlo simulations

Charge transport dynamics in solar cell devices based on as-spun and annealed P3HT:PCBM films are compared using ultrafast time-resolved optical probing of the electric field by means of field-induced second harmonic generation. The results show that charge carriers drift about twice as far during the first 3 ns after photogeneration in a device where the active layer has been thermally annealed. The carrier dynamics were modelled using Monte-Carlo simulations and good agreement between experimental and simulated drift dynamics was obtained using identical model parameters for both cells, but with different average PCBM and polymer domain sizes. The calculations suggest that small domain sizes in as-spun samples limit the carrier separation distance disabling their escape from geminate recombination.

Chain conformations dictate multiscale charge transport phenomena in disordered semiconducting polymers

Existing models for the electronic properties of conjugated polymers do not capture the spatial arrangement of the disordered macromolecular chains over which charge transport occurs. Here, we present an analytical and computational description in which the morphology of individual polymer chains is dictated by well-known statistical models and the electronic coupling between units is determined using Marcus theory. The multiscale transport of charges in these materials (high mobility at short length scales, low mobility at long length scales) is naturally described with our framework. Additionally, the dependence of mobility with electric field and temperature is explained in terms of conformational variability and spatial correlation. Our model offers a predictive approach to connecting processing conditions with transport behavior.