TY - JOUR
T1 - Additive-free molecular acceptor organic solar cells processed from a biorenewable solvent approaching 15% efficiency
AU - Du, Zhifang
AU - Luong, Hoang Mai
AU - Sabury, Sina
AU - Therdkatanyuphong, Pattarawadee
AU - Chae, Sangmin
AU - Welton, Claire
AU - Jones, Austin L.
AU - Zhang, Junxiang
AU - Peng, Zhengxing
AU - Zhu, Ziyue
AU - Nanayakkara, Sadisha
AU - Coropceanu, Veaceslav
AU - Choi, Dylan G.
AU - Xiao, Steven
AU - Yi, Ahra
AU - Kim, Hyo Jung
AU - Bredas, Jean Luc
AU - Ade, Harald
AU - Reddy, G. N.Manjunatha
AU - Marder, Seth R.
AU - Reynolds, John R.
AU - Nguyen, Thuc Quyen
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry
PY - 2023/10/5
Y1 - 2023/10/5
N2 - We report on the use of molecular acceptors (MAs) and donor polymers processed with a biomass-derived solvent (2-methyltetrahydrofuran, 2-MeTHF) to facilitate bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with power conversion efficiency (PCE) approaching 15%. Our approach makes use of two newly designed donor polymers with an opened ring unit in their structures along with three molecular acceptors (MAs) where the backbone and sidechain were engineered to enhance the processability of BHJ OPVs using 2-MeTHF, as evaluated by an analysis of donor-acceptor (D-A) miscibility and interaction parameters. To understand the differences in the PCE values that ranged from 9-15% as a function of composition, the surface, bulk, and interfacial BHJ morphologies were characterized at different length scales using atomic force microscopy, grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, resonant soft X-ray scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and 2D solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Our results indicate that the favorable D-A intermixing that occurs in the best performing BHJ film with an average domain size of ∼25 nm, high domain purity, uniform distribution and enhanced local packing interactions - facilitates charge generation and extraction while limiting the trap-assisted recombination process in the device, leading to high effective mobility and good performance.
AB - We report on the use of molecular acceptors (MAs) and donor polymers processed with a biomass-derived solvent (2-methyltetrahydrofuran, 2-MeTHF) to facilitate bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with power conversion efficiency (PCE) approaching 15%. Our approach makes use of two newly designed donor polymers with an opened ring unit in their structures along with three molecular acceptors (MAs) where the backbone and sidechain were engineered to enhance the processability of BHJ OPVs using 2-MeTHF, as evaluated by an analysis of donor-acceptor (D-A) miscibility and interaction parameters. To understand the differences in the PCE values that ranged from 9-15% as a function of composition, the surface, bulk, and interfacial BHJ morphologies were characterized at different length scales using atomic force microscopy, grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, resonant soft X-ray scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and 2D solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Our results indicate that the favorable D-A intermixing that occurs in the best performing BHJ film with an average domain size of ∼25 nm, high domain purity, uniform distribution and enhanced local packing interactions - facilitates charge generation and extraction while limiting the trap-assisted recombination process in the device, leading to high effective mobility and good performance.
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U2 - 10.1039/d3mh01133j
DO - 10.1039/d3mh01133j
M3 - Article
C2 - 37872787
SN - 2051-6347
VL - 10
SP - 5564
EP - 5576
JO - Materials Horizons
JF - Materials Horizons
IS - 12
ER -