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Crociani L. The Double-Cross of Benzotriazole-Based Polymers as Donors and Acceptors in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells. Molecules 2024; 29:3625. [PMID: 39125030 PMCID: PMC11313701 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29153625] [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: 06/18/2024] [Revised: 07/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/25/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) are considered a very promising technology to convert solar energy to electricity and a feasible option for the energy market because of the advantages of light weight, flexibility, and roll-to-roll manufacturing. They are mainly characterized by a bulk heterojunction structure where a polymer donor is blended with an electron acceptor. Their performance is highly affected by the design of donor-acceptor conjugated polymers and the choice of suitable acceptor. In particular, benzotriazole, a typical electron-deficient penta-heterocycle, has been combined with various donors to provide wide bandgap donor polymers, which have received a great deal of attention with the development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) because of their suitable matching to provide devices with relevant power conversion efficiency (PCE). Moreover, different benzotriazole-based polymers are gaining more and more interest because they are considered promising acceptors in OSCs. Since the development of a suitable method to choose generally a donor/acceptor material is a challenging issue, this review is meant to be useful especially for organic chemical scientists to understand all the progress achieved with benzotriazole-based polymers used as donors with NFAs and as acceptors with different donors in OSCs, in particular referring to the PCE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Crociani
- Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Energy Technologies, ICMATE, National Research Council of Italy, CNR, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padua, Italy
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Keshtov ML, Kuklin SA, Konstantinov IO, Zou Y, Sharma GD. New benzodithiophene-pyrrolopyrroledione-thienopyrazine random terpolymers for organic photovoltaics. MENDELEEV COMMUNICATIONS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mencom.2021.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Dai T, Lei P, Zhang B, Tang A, Geng Y, Zeng Q, Zhou E. Fabrication of High VOC Organic Solar Cells with a Non-Halogenated Solvent and the Effect of Substituted Groups for "Same-A-Strategy" Material Combinations. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:21556-21564. [PMID: 33908246 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c03757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We report a class of high-voltage organic solar cells (OSCs) processed by the environmentally friendly solvent tetrahydrofuran (THF), where four benzotriazole (BTA)-based p-type polymers (PE31, PE32, PE33, and J52-Cl) and a BTA-based small molecule BTA5 are applied as p-type and n-type materials, respectively, according to "Same-A-Strategy" (SAS). The single-junction OSCs based on all four material blends exhibit a high open-circuit voltage (VOC) above 1.10 V. We systematically study the impact of the three different substituents (-OCH3, -F, -Cl) on the BTA unit of the polymer donors. Interestingly, PE31 containing the unsubstituted BTA unit shows the efficient hole transfer and more balanced charge mobilities, thus leading to the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.08% with a VOC of 1.11 V and a JSC of 13.68 mA cm-2. Due to the upshifted highest electron-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level and the weak crystallinity of the methoxy-substituted polymer PE32, the resulting device shows the lowest PCE of 7.40% with a slightly decreased VOC of 1.10 V. In addition, after the chlorination and fluorination, the HOMO levels of the donor materials PE33 and J52-Cl are gradually downshifted, contributing to increased VOC values of 1.16 and 1.21 V, respectively. Our results prove that an unsubstituted p-type polymer can also afford high voltage and promising performance via non-halogenated solvent processing, which is of great significance for simplifying the synthesis steps and realizing the commercialization of OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Dai
- CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Peng Lei
- CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Bao Zhang
- CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
- Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China
| | - Ailing Tang
- CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yanfang Geng
- CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Qingdao Zeng
- CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Erjun Zhou
- CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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Li F, Tang A, Zhang B, Zhou E. Indacenodithieno[3,2- b]thiophene-Based Wide Bandgap D-π-A Copolymer for Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells. ACS Macro Lett 2019; 8:1599-1604. [PMID: 35619396 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.9b00704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Herein, a wide-bandgap (2.02 eV) donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) polymer PIDTT-DTffBTA, composed of a rigid indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene (IDTT) and fluorinated benzo[d][1,2,3]triazole (ffBTA) units as D and A units, respectively, is synthesized. In comparison with its analogue benzodithiophene-alt-benzotriazole copolymer J52 with classic benzodithiophene (BDT) as the D unit, PIDTT-DTffBTA demonstrates a lower-lying HOMO energy level and higher carrier mobilities when paired with a nonfullerene acceptor (NFA) Y6 based on a ladder-type dithienothiophen[3.2-b]-pyrrolobenzothiadiazole central unit. Thus, PIDTT-DTffBTA:Y6 based organic solar cells (OSCs) exhibit an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.05% than that of J52:Y6 (7.15%), which is also the highest value for IDTT-based photovoltaic polymers. This result proves that the IDTT unit is also a promising building block to construct not only NFAs but also p-type photovoltaic polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ailing Tang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Bao Zhang
- Henan Institutes of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China
| | - Erjun Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
- Henan Institutes of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China
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Naveed HB, Zhou K, Ma W. Interfacial and Bulk Nanostructures Control Loss of Charges in Organic Solar Cells. Acc Chem Res 2019; 52:2904-2915. [PMID: 31577121 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.9b00331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have emerged as one promising sustainable energy resource since the introduction of state-of-the-art bulk heterojunction (BHJ) device structure in early 1990s. Impressively developed molecular design methodologies in the past decade have led researchers toward utilizing more suitable pairs of low (p-type) and high (n-type) electron affinity organic semiconducting materials. Among other attributes, versatile absorption capabilities of these materials highlight their favorable utilization in a single layer BHJ structure. Interaction of these verstile organic materials may lead to explicit interfaces, phase distributions, and crystalline nanostructures. Structural characterization techniques involving soft and hard X-rays have enabled us to measure these morphology parameters quantitatively including their string correlation with photovoltaic (PV) parameters. Favorable processing techniques have been adopted to realize auspicious interfacial areas and charge percolations in bulk toward efficient short circuit current (JSC) and fill factor (FF) values. Collaborative efforts in the fields of chemical structure design of materials, device characterization, and engineering have pushed the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of OSCs to 16%. However, the single layer BHJ structure still requires further optimizations for the extension of their PCEs toward the theoretical limit. Maximum utilization of solar energy by organic blend films is the key to match their potential with inorganic/perovskite solar cells. Having comparable JSC and FF values in organic versus inorganic photovoltaic devices, open circuit voltage (VOC) is the only PV parameter limiting the development of OSCs in comparison to their inorganic competitors. This is due to unfavorable competition between rates of charge generation and recombination. Loss of charges during these generation and recombination processes account for the energy loss of the device, ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 V in state-of-the-art OSCs. Highly efficient (14-16%) single layer BHJ devices usually suffer from high energy loss with VOC limited to 0.9 V. Comparatively, devices with reported VOC > 0.9 V suffer from poor JSC and FF values due to unfavorable interfacial ordering and bulk crystalline nanostructures. First part of the Account will address the charge losses during their transfer (interfacial losses) and influential role of interfacial nanostructures in controlling them toward efficient JSC and VOC values. Later, we will discuss losses during exciton diffusion and free charge transport (bulk losses) toward limited charge extraction. We will debate about the role of donor/acceptor nanostructures in correlation with influential photophysics studies to control these losses in small molecule (SM) acceptor based devices. We search for exaggerated crystalline phases of SM acceptor in competition with polymer donor to realize balanced and more efficient charge percolations. These improved diffusion and transport bulk nanostructures will suppress nonradiative (NR) pathways and bulk charge losses toward simultaneous enhancement of FF and VOC values. Favorable interfacial and bulk morphology will drive efficient diffusion, transfer, transport, and extraction of charges in organic blend films. This Account will guide chemists and engineers to optimize chemical structure design and blend film nanostructures toward suppressed energy loss of OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hafiz Bilal Naveed
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, P.R. China
| | - Ke Zhou
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, P.R. China
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, P.R. China
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Yang J, Chen F, Hu J, Geng Y, Zeng Q, Tang A, Wang X, Zhou E. Planar Benzofuran Inside-Fused Perylenediimide Dimers for High V OC Fullerene-Free Organic Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2019; 11:4203-4210. [PMID: 30618230 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b19563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells based on perylenediimide (PDI) derivatives as electron acceptors have afforded high power conversion efficiency (PCE) but still lagged behind fullerene-based analogues. Design of novel molecular structures by adjusting the PDI ring and/or connection mode remains the breakthrough point to improve the photovoltaic performance. After introducing benzofuran at the inside bay positions and being linked with a single bond and a fluorene unit, mandatory planar PDI dimers were achieved and named FDI2 and F-FDI2. Both acceptors show high-lying LUMO energy levels and realize high VOC beyond 1.0 V when using the classic polymer of PBDB-T as an electron donor. However, FDI2 and F-FDI2 gave totally different photovoltaic performance with PCEs of 0.15 and 6.33%, respectively. The central fluorene linkage increased the miscibility of materials and ensured a much higher short-circuit current because of the formation of suitable phase separation. Our results demonstrated that utilizing the mandatory planar skeleton of PDI dimers is a simple and effective strategy to achieve high-performance nonfullerene electron acceptors, and the modulation of central conjugated units is also vital.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 , China
| | - Fan Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 , China
| | - Junyi Hu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 , China
| | - Yanfang Geng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
| | - Qingdao Zeng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
| | - Ailing Tang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
| | - Xiaochen Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
| | - Erjun Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience , National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190 , China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 , China
- Henan Institutes of Advanced Technology , Zhengzhou University , 97 Wenhua Road , Zhengzhou 450003 , China
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Lee UH, Hadmojo WT, Kim J, Eom SH, Yoon SC, Jang SY, Jung IH. Development of n-Type Porphyrin Acceptors for Panchromatic Light-Harvesting Fullerene-Free Organic Solar Cells. Front Chem 2018; 6:473. [PMID: 30356720 PMCID: PMC6189314 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2018.00473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of n-type porphyrin acceptors is challenging in organic solar cells. In this work, we synthesized a novel n-type porphyrin acceptor, PZn-TNI, via the introduction of the electron withdrawing naphthalene imide (NI) moiety at the meso position of zinc porphyrin (PZn). PZn-TNI has excellent thermal stability and unique bimodal absorption with a strong Soret band (300-600 nm) and weak Q-band (600-800 nm). The weak long-wavelength absorption of PZn-TNI was completely covered by combining the low bandgap polymer donor, PTB7-Th, which realized the well-balanced panchromatic photon-to-current conversion in the range of 300-800 nm. Notably, the one-step reaction of the NI moiety from a commercially available source leads to the cheap and simple n-type porphyrin synthesis. The substitution of four NIs in PZn ring induced sufficient n-type characteristics with proper HOMO and LUMO energy levels for efficient charge transport with PTB7-Th. Fullerene-free organic solar cells based-on PTB7-Th:PZn-TNI were investigated and showed a promising PCE of 5.07% without any additive treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest PCE in the porphyrin-based acceptors without utilization of the perylene diimide accepting unit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Un-Hak Lee
- Division of Advanced Materials, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | | | - Junho Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Seung Hun Eom
- Division of Advanced Materials, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Sung Cheol Yoon
- Division of Advanced Materials, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Sung-Yeon Jang
- Department of Chemistry, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - In Hwan Jung
- Department of Chemistry, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
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