Tethered Small-Molecule Acceptors Simultaneously Enhance the Efficiency and Stability of Polymer Solar CellsShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Advanced Materials, ISSN 0935-9648, E-ISSN 1521-4095, Vol. 35, article id 2206563Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
For polymer solar cells (PSCs), the mixture of polymer donors and small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) is fine-tuned to realize a favorable kinetically trapped morphology and thus a commercially viable device efficiency. However, the thermodynamic relaxation of the mixed domains within the blend raises concerns related to the long-term operational stability of the devices, especially in the record-holding Y-series SMAs. Here, a new class of dimeric Y6-based SMAs tethered with differential flexible spacers is reported to regulate their aggregation and relaxation behavior. In their polymer blends with PM6, it is found that they favor an improved structural order relative to that of Y6 counterpart. Most importantly, the tethered SMAs show large glass transition temperatures to suppress the thermodynamic relaxation in mixed domains. For the high-performing dimeric blend, an unprecedented open circuit voltage of 0.87 V is realized with a conversion efficiency of 17.85%, while those of regular Y6-base devices only reach 0.84 V and 16.93%, respectively. Most importantly, the dimer-based device possesses substantially reduced burn-in efficiency loss, retaining more than 80% of the initial efficiency after operating at the maximum power point under continuous illumination for 700 h. The tethering approach provides a new direction to develop PSCs with high efficiency and excellent operating stability.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH , 2023. Vol. 35, article id 2206563
Keywords [en]
device stability; polymer solar cells; tethered small-molecule acceptor; thermodynamically stable
National Category
Physical Chemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-190812DOI: 10.1002/adma.202206563ISI: 000892033900001PubMedID: 36394108OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-190812DiVA, id: diva2:1723640
Note
Funding Agencies|National Natural Science Foundation of China [21734008, 22175014]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [buctrc201822]; Olle Engkvists Stiftelse [211-0125]; Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the US Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]; Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) [12Y7221N, V400622N]; KU Leuven Research Fund [C14/19/079, iBOF-21-085 PERSIST]; KU Leuven Industrial Research Fund [C3/19/046]; Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting project [PNURSP2022R1]
2023-01-032023-01-032024-01-10