journal article·2025-10

Solubility‐Driven Acceptor Fibrilization Enables Bilayer Organic Solar Cells with Efficiency Approaching 20%

Zhenmin Zhao, Sein Chung, Liang Bai, Jingrong Zhang, Yuan Liu, Lixing Tan, Abdul Azeez, Yexiao Huang, Eunsol Ok, Kilwon Cho, Zhipeng Kan, Safakath Karuthedath

Advanced Functional Materials· Volume 35· Issue 44
Publisher page

Abstract

Abstract Modulating the fibril size of the non‐fullerene acceptors has emerged as a promising approach to improve exciton dissociation and charge transport in organic solar cells. While processing solvent additives can promote acceptor aggregation, achieving controlled fibrilization remains challenging due to the complex donor–acceptor interactions in bulk heterojunctions. Herein, a solubility‐driven strategy is proposed to fibril the acceptors and evaluate their impact on the photovoltaic performance in bilayer organic solar cells, circumventing the complexities of donor–acceptor mixtures. By tuning the acceptor mass ratio, their solubility in dichloromethane is modulated, leading to acceptor fiber formation at different length scales during film deposition. Specifically, incorporating BTP‐eC9 into L8‐BO results in larger fiber sizes with increasing BTP‐eC9 content, enhancing molecular packing and thin‐film crystallinity. These structural improvements boost electron mobility and charge extraction efficiency, yielding a power conversion efficiency approaching 20% in bilayer devices with PM6. This solubility‐driven acceptor fibrilization strategy is effective across various acceptor combinations. These findings underscore the critical role of solubility in fine‐tuning acceptor morphology, offering a promising pathway for advancing solution‐processed bilayer organic solar cells.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics · Conducting polymers and applications · Thin-Film Transistor Technologies

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

Affiliations

Institute of Materials Research Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School Tsinghua University Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Center on Nanoenergy Research, Institute of Science and Technology for Carbon Peak & Neutrality, School of Physical Science & Technology Guangxi University Nanning 530004 P. R. China

Department of Chemical Engineering Pohang University of Science and Technology Pohang 37673 South Korea

Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Layered Materials for Value‐added Applications Institute of Materials Research Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School Tsinghua University Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Program · Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province

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