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Yan Y, Zhang Y, Memon WA, Wang M, Zhang X, Wei Z. The role of entropy gains in the exciton separation in organic solar cells. Macromol Rapid Commun 2022; 43:e2100903. [PMID: 35338684 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202100903] [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: 12/21/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
In organic solar cell (OSC), the lower dielectric constant of organic semiconductor material induces a strong Coulomb attraction between electron-hole pairs, which leads to a low exciton separation efficiency, especially the charge transfer (CT) state. The CT state formed at the electron-donor (D) and electron-acceptor (A) interface is regarded as an unfavorable property of organic photovoltaic devices. Since the OSC works in a nonzero temperature condition, the entropy effect would be one of the main reasons to overcome the Coulomb energy barrier and must be taken into account. In this review, we review the present understanding of the entropy-driven charge separation and describe how factors such as the dimensionality of the organic semiconductor, energy disorder effect, the morphology of the active layer, and the nonequilibrium effect affect the entropy contribution in compensating the Coulomb dissociation barrier for CT exciton separation and charge generation process. We focus on the investigation of the entropy effect on exciton dissociation mechanism from both theoretical and experimental aspects, which provides pathways for understanding the underlying mechanisms of exciton separation and further enhancing the efficiency of OSCs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yangjun Yan
- School of Science, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Yajie Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Waqar Ali Memon
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Mengni Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Xinghua Zhang
- School of Science, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, 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
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Carr JM, Allen TG, Larson BW, Davydenko IG, Dasari RR, Barlow S, Marder SR, Reid OG, Rumbles G. Short and long-range electron transfer compete to determine free-charge yield in organic semiconductors. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2022; 9:312-324. [PMID: 34787147 DOI: 10.1039/d1mh01331a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Understanding how Frenkel excitons efficiently split to form free-charges in low-dielectric constant organic semiconductors has proven challenging, with many different models proposed in recent years to explain this phenomenon. Here, we present evidence that a simple model invoking a modest amount of charge delocalization, a sum over the available microstates, and the Marcus rate constant for electron transfer can explain many seemingly contradictory phenomena reported in the literature. We use an electron-accepting fullerene host matrix dilutely sensitized with a series of electron donor molecules to test this hypothesis. The donor series enables us to tune the driving force for photoinduced electron transfer over a range of 0.7 eV, mapping out normal, optimal, and inverted regimes for free-charge generation efficiency, as measured by time-resolved microwave conductivity. However, the photoluminescence of the donor is rapidly quenched as the driving force increases, with no evidence for inverted behavior, nor the linear relationship between photoluminescence quenching and charge-generation efficiency one would expect in the absence of additional competing loss pathways. This behavior is self-consistently explained by competitive formation of bound charge-transfer states and long-range or delocalized free-charge states, where both rate constants are described by the Marcus rate equation. Moreover, the model predicts a suppression of the inverted regime for high-concentration blends and efficient ultrafast free-charge generation, providing a mechanistic explanation for why Marcus-inverted-behavior is rarely observed in device studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M Carr
- University of Colorado Boulder, Materials Science & Engineering Program, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
| | - Taylor G Allen
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, Golden, CO, 80401, USA.
| | - Bryon W Larson
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, Golden, CO, 80401, USA.
| | - Iryna G Davydenko
- Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Raghunath R Dasari
- Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Stephen Barlow
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, Golden, CO, 80401, USA.
- Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
- University of Colorado Boulder, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
| | - Seth R Marder
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, Golden, CO, 80401, USA.
- Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
- University of Colorado Boulder, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
- University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Chemistry, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
- University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
| | - Obadiah G Reid
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, Golden, CO, 80401, USA.
- University of Colorado Boulder, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
| | - Garry Rumbles
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, Golden, CO, 80401, USA.
- University of Colorado Boulder, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
- University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Chemistry, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
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Kaiser W, Janković V, Vukmirović N, Gagliardi A. Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics of Charge Separation in Organic Solar Cells. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:6389-6397. [PMID: 34232672 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This work presents a novel theoretical description of the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of charge separation in organic solar cells (OSCs). Using stochastic thermodynamics, we take realistic state populations derived from the phonon-assisted dynamics of electron-hole pairs within photoexcited organic bilayers to connect the kinetics with the free energy profile of charge separation. Hereby, we quantify for the first time the difference between nonequilibrium and equilibrium free energy profile. We analyze the impact of energetic disorder and delocalization on free energy, average energy, and entropy. For a high disorder, the free energy profile is well-described as equilibrated. We observe significant deviations from equilibrium for delocalized electron-hole pairs at a small disorder, implying that charge separation in efficient OSCs proceeds via a cold but nonequilibrated pathway. Both a large Gibbs entropy and large initial electron-hole distance provide an efficient charge separation, while a decrease in the free energy barrier does not necessarily enhance charge separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Waldemar Kaiser
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Karlstraße 45, 80333 Munich, Germany
| | - Veljko Janković
- Institute of Physics Belgrade, University of Belgrade, Pregrevica 118, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Nenad Vukmirović
- Institute of Physics Belgrade, University of Belgrade, Pregrevica 118, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Alessio Gagliardi
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Karlstraße 45, 80333 Munich, Germany
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