With the recent emergence of a new class of high-performance nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs), organic solar cells (OSCs) have entered a new phase of research featuring high power conversion efficienc...

New Phase for Organic Solar Cell Research: Emergence of Y-Series Electron Acceptors and Their Perspectives

Molecular order control of non-fullerene acceptors for high-efficiency polymer solar cells

The advantage of low cost makes P3HT one of the most attractive electron donors for photovoltaic applications, but the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the P3HT-based organic solar cells (OSCs) remains low (7–8%). Herein, to modulate the phase separation morphology so as to enhance the PCE in P3HT-based OSCs, a new NFA, namely ZY-4Cl, is designed and synthesized by modifying the cyano-substituted end groups in BTP-4Cl. The P3HT:ZY-4Cl based OSC exhibits a significantly improved PCE of ∼9.5%, which is a new record for the P3HT-based OSCs. Furthermore, two model compounds, TT-CN and TT-O, are synthesized to simulate the end groups of BTP-4Cl and ZY-4Cl, respectively. The calculated Flory-Huggins interaction parameter, the DSC and the AFM results clearly indicate that the cyano-substituted compound TT-CN shows much stronger miscibility with P3HT compared to TT-O, the one without cyano groups. This molecular design strategy is also verified in the other two representative NFAs. Therefore, this work not only reports an NFA with a high PCE for P3HT-based OSCs, but also suggests guidance for the molecular design of NFAs from the aspect of morphology control.

Molecular design of a non-fullerene acceptor enables a P3HT-based organic solar cell with 9.46% efficiency

The research on advanced functional polymers is being driven by the fast-growing demand for new functional materials that can be used in revolutionary technologies. Polymers can be endowed with functions by using certain special preparation methods or by introducing functional groups or fillers into materials. These functions are either intrinsically possessed by materials or actuated by external stimuli. In this review, we present an overview of the recent developments made in the research hotspots of functional polymers, encompassing polymerization methodologies, luminescent polymers, photovoltaic polymers, other electronic and optical polymers (including low-k polyimides and second-order nonlinear optical polymers), biorelated polymers (particularly those for biomedical applications), supramolecular polymers, stimuli-responsive polymers, shape-memory polymers, separation polymer membranes, energy storage polymers, and covalent organic framework polymers. The concepts, design strategies at the molecular level, preparation methods, classifications, properties, potential applications, and recent progress made in such polymers are summarized. Challenges and future perspectives of each type of functional polymers are also addressed, including research efforts regarding the design and fabrication of functional polymers for serving the increasing demand for new materials.

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Advanced functional polymer materials

The quest for sustainable energy sources has led to accelerated growth in research of organic solar cells (OSCs). A solution-processed bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) OSC generally contains a donor and expensive fullerene acceptors (FAs). The last 20 years have been devoted by the OSC community to developing donor materials, specifically low bandgap polymers, to complement FAs in BHJs. The current improvement from ≈2.5% in 2013 to 17.3% in 2018 in OSC performance is primarily credited to novel nonfullerene acceptors (NFA), especially fused ring electron acceptors (FREAs). FREAs offer unique advantages over FAs, like broad absorption of solar radiation, and they can be extensively chemically manipulated to tune optoelectronic and morphological properties. Herein, the current status in FREA-based OSCs is summarized, such as design strategies for both wide and narrow bandgap FREAs for BHJ, all-small-molecule OSCs, semi-transparent OSC, ternary, and tandem solar cells. The photovoltaics parameters for FREAs are summarized and discussed. The focus is on the various FREA structures and their role in optical and morphological tuning. Besides, the advantages and drawbacks of both FAs and NFAs are discussed. Finally, an outlook in the field of FREA-OSCs for future material design and challenges ahead is provided.

Recent Progress in Molecular Design of Fused Ring Electron Acceptors for Organic Solar Cells

In this work, a new A–D–A type non-fullerene electron acceptor, DF-PCNC, which possesses an electron-donating (D) core constructed by linking a 2,5-difluorobenzene ring with two cyclopentadithiophene moieties and two electron-accepting (A) end-groups of 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[b]naphthalen-1-ylidene)malononitrile (NC), is designed and synthesized. Because of the extension of the π-conjugation system, DF-PCNC shows stronger and more red-shifted absorption peaks while compared to those of its counterpart, DF-PCIC, which has the same D core but smaller A terminals of 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile (IC). Furthermore, NC groups can enhance the intermolecular π–π stacking of DF-PCNC in the condensed state. Thus, when it is blended with a polymer donor, PBDB-T, to fabricate organic solar cells (OSCs), good morphologies of the blended films are achieved through appropriate optimizations: both donor and acceptor form highly crystalline phase-separation domains with appropriate nanoscaled sizes, which is beneficial to charge generation and transport in OSCs. As a result, the short-circuit current density (JSC) of the PBDB-T:DF-PCNC device is increased by 16% compared with that of the PBDB-T:DF-PCIC one, and a high fill factor (FF) of 72.62% is maintained, leading to a better power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.63%, which is the highest value for OSCs based on non-fullerene acceptors adopting decreased fused-ring D cores to date.

Enhancement of intra- and inter-molecular π-conjugated effects for a non-fullerene acceptor to achieve high-efficiency organic solar cells with an extended photoresponse range and optimized morphology

A non-fullerene acceptor enables efficient P3HT-based organic solar cells with small voltage loss and thickness insensitivity

The invention discloses a high-efficiency organic solar cell which comprises a substrate, a cathode, a cathode modification layer, an active layer, an anode modification layer and an anode, wherein the active layer is a blend film of an electron donor and an electron acceptor, the electron donor is PBDB-T, and the electron acceptor is DFPCNC. The DFPCNC has good molecular planarity and a suitableenergy level structure. In particular, the naphthalene cyanofluorenone unit at an end of the DFPCNC enhances the degree of conjugation of a whole molecule, the absorption spectrum is broadened, the pi-pi accumulation between molecules is promoted, and the electron mobility is improved. Therefore, the organic solar cell prepared by the invention has high a short-circuit current density and a high filling factor, and the energy conversion efficiency (PCE) is up to 11.63%. In addition, the DFPCNC is easy to synthesize, and the reduction of the cost of the organic solar cell is reduced.

High-efficiency organic solar cell

The invention discloses a high-efficiency poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based organic solar cell. The high-efficiency poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based organic solar cell comprises a substrate, a cathode, a cathode modification layer, an active layer, an anode modification layer and an anode, wherein the active layer is a blend membrane of an electron donor and an electron acceptor. The electron donor is poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), and the electron acceptor is a non-fullerene acceptor DFPCBR. The large [Pi] conjugated system and the high donor-acceptor capacity of a center unit are employed, the DFPCBRhas a high HOMO energy level and LUMO energy level and is matched with the P3HT energy level to inhibit the energy loss and allow the solar cell to have a high open-circuit voltage. The intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) of the DFPCBR is enhanced, the band gap is shortened, and the absorption spectrum is broadened. Therefore, the organic solar cell prepared by the present invention achieves thehigh energy conversion efficiency (PCE) of up to 5.34%. At the same time, the organic solar cell prepared by the invention can maintain a high PCE even when the active layer is thick which is beneficial to practical applications in the future.

High-efficiency poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based organic solar cell

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Enhancement of intra- and inter-molecular π-conjugated effects for a non-fullerene acceptor to achieve high-efficiency organic solar cells with an extended photoresponse range and optimized morphology

A non-fullerene acceptor enables efficient P3HT-based organic solar cells with small voltage loss and thickness insensitivity

High-efficiency organic solar cell

High-efficiency poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based organic solar cell