journal article·2016-11Open access

Quaternary Organic Solar Cells Enhanced by Cocrystalline Squaraines with Power Conversion Efficiencies >10%

Tenghooi Goh, Jing‐Shun Huang, Kevin G. Yager, Matthew Y. Sfeir, Chang‐Yong Nam, Xiao Tong, Louise M. Guard, Patrick R. Melvin, Francisco Antonio, Benjamin G. Bartolome, Minjoo L. Lee, Nilay Hazari, André D. Taylor

Advanced Energy Materials· Volume 6· Issue 21

Abstract

The incorporation of multiple donors into the bulk‐heterojunction layer of organic polymer solar cells (PSCs) has been demonstrated as a practical and elegant strategy to improve photovoltaics performance. However, it is challenging to successfully design and blend multiple donors, while minimizing unfavorable interactions (e.g., morphological traps, recombination centers, etc.). Here, a new Förster resonance energy transfer‐based design is shown utilizing the synergistic nature of three light active donors (two small molecules and a high‐performance donor–acceptor polymer) with a fullerene acceptor to create highly efficient quaternary PSCs with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of up to 10.7%. Within this quaternary architecture, it is revealed that the addition of small molecules in low concentrations broadens the absorption bandwidth, induces cocrystalline molecular conformations, and promotes rapid (picosecond) energy transfer processes. These results provide guidance for the design of multiple‐donor systems using simple processing techniques to realize single‐junction PSC designs with unprecedented PCEs.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics · Perovskite Materials and Applications · Conducting polymers and applications

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06511 USA

Center for Functional Nanomaterials Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton NY 11973 USA

Department of Chemistry Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA

Department of Electrical Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06511 USA

Funding

U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), Office of Basic Energy Sciences

References (70)

Show source-provided references
1. 10.1002/adma.20130256310.1002/adma.201302563 ↗
2. 10.1002/adma.20130203110.1002/adma.201302031 ↗
3. 10.1002/adma.20130437310.1002/adma.201304373 ↗
4. 10.1038/nphoton.2012.19010.1038/nphoton.2012.190 ↗
5. 10.1038/nphoton.2013.20710.1038/nphoton.2013.207 ↗
6. 10.1002/adma.20120382710.1002/adma.201203827 ↗
7. 10.1021/ar100029610.1021/ar1000296 ↗
8. 10.1038/nphoton.2013.8210.1038/nphoton.2013.82 ↗
9. 10.1021/ja211597w10.1021/ja211597w ↗
10. 10.1002/cssc.20120060910.1002/cssc.201200609 ↗
11. 10.1038/ncomms386710.1038/ncomms3867 ↗
12. 10.1021/nl201715q10.1021/nl201715q ↗
13. 10.1002/aenm.20110072610.1002/aenm.201100726 ↗
14. 10.1038/ncomms241110.1038/ncomms2411 ↗
15. 10.1038/nphoton.2011.35610.1038/nphoton.2011.356 ↗
16. 10.1038/ncomms739110.1038/ncomms7391 ↗
17. 10.1039/C4MH00237G10.1039/C4MH00237G ↗
18. 10.1063/1.482401710.1063/1.4824017 ↗
19. 10.1002/adma.20070233710.1002/adma.200702337 ↗
20. 10.1002/adma.20130062310.1002/adma.201300623 ↗
21. Yang L. · Chem. Lett. · 2013 · 4 · 1802
22. 10.1002/cnma.20150004410.1002/cnma.201500044 ↗
23. 10.1039/C5EE00090D10.1039/C5EE00090D ↗
24. 10.1039/C5EE03460D10.1039/C5EE03460D ↗
25. 10.1038/nphoton.2015.12810.1038/nphoton.2015.128 ↗
26. 10.1021/am503311f10.1021/am503311f ↗
27. 10.1039/c2jm31882b10.1039/c2jm31882b ↗
28. 10.1016/j.solmat.2011.01.04610.1016/j.solmat.2011.01.046 ↗
29. 10.1021/am500704710.1021/am5007047 ↗
30. 10.1021/am400695e10.1021/am400695e ↗
31. 10.1038/nphoton.2015.910.1038/nphoton.2015.9 ↗
32. 10.1021/jz302150q10.1021/jz302150q ↗
33. 10.1038/nphoton.2015.610.1038/nphoton.2015.6 ↗
34. Liu T. · Adv. Energy Mater. · 2016 · 6 · 201502109
35. 10.1002/adfm.20090147310.1002/adfm.200901473 ↗
36. 10.1021/ph500282z10.1021/ph500282z ↗
37. 10.1039/C5TA04905A10.1039/C5TA04905A ↗
38. 10.1038/ncomms440610.1038/ncomms4406 ↗
39. 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b1027610.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10276 ↗
40. 10.3390/ijms13121701910.3390/ijms131217019 ↗
41. 10.1021/nn204676j10.1021/nn204676j ↗
42. 10.1002/adma.20130147610.1002/adma.201301476 ↗
43. 10.1002/adfm.20120153510.1002/adfm.201201535 ↗
44. 10.1021/jp508872410.1021/jp5088724 ↗
45. 10.1021/acsami.6b0345310.1021/acsami.6b03453 ↗
46. 10.1007/978-0-387-46312-410.1007/978-0-387-46312-4 ↗
47. 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b0661810.1021/acs.jpcc.5b06618 ↗
48. To clarify we fixed the total squaraine loadings to 2% for fair comparison. Without a full combinatorial studies it is not possible to conclude that quaternary cells are always better than their ternary or binary counterparts at all dye loadings.
49. 10.1038/ncomms832710.1038/ncomms8327 ↗
50. 10.1038/srep0196510.1038/srep01965 ↗
51. 10.1039/c3cp51383a10.1039/c3cp51383a ↗
52. 10.1039/c2nj41039g10.1039/c2nj41039g ↗
53. To clarify EQE experiments in Figure 3 were measured using ZnO based devices.
54. 10.1038/srep0681310.1038/srep06813 ↗
55. 10.1126/science.125405010.1126/science.1254050 ↗
56. 10.1038/srep0469110.1038/srep04691 ↗
57. 10.1038/ncomms992910.1038/ncomms9929 ↗
58. 10.1002/aenm.20120037710.1002/aenm.201200377 ↗
59. 10.1021/nn202951e10.1021/nn202951e ↗
60. 10.1002/adfm.20070145910.1002/adfm.200701459 ↗
61. 10.1021/jacs.5b0030510.1021/jacs.5b00305 ↗
62. 10.1063/1.366810610.1063/1.3668106 ↗
63. 10.1038/srep0507110.1038/srep05071 ↗
64. 10.1002/anie.20120333010.1002/anie.201203330 ↗
65. 10.1002/adfm.20110257210.1002/adfm.201102572 ↗
66. 10.1038/nphoton.2015.8410.1038/nphoton.2015.84 ↗
67. 10.1002/adma.20099019010.1002/adma.200990190 ↗
68. 10.1038/ncomms629310.1038/ncomms6293 ↗
69. 10.1021/cm202080310.1021/cm2020803 ↗
70. 10.1021/nl202122410.1021/nl2021224 ↗