journal article·2026-01

Thickness‐Tolerant A1–A2 Polyelectrolyte Cathode Interlayers via Direct Arylation Polycondensation for 20.5% Efficiency Organic Solar Cells

Guiting Chen, Haodong Huang, Wenzhi Ma, Jiali Song, Lingzhi Guo, Chao Li, Long Wang, Ze Qin, Ming Zhang, Yan Liu, Baitian He, Chuanbo Dai, Zhicai He, Hu Chen, Yanming Sun, Feng Liu, Jun Yan, Sha Liu

Advanced Functional Materials· Volume 36· Issue 8
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Abstract

Abstract Efficient electron transport and extraction at the cathode interface are vital for achieving high‐performance organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, a sustainable synthesis of novel A1–A2 type polyelectrolyte cathode interfacial materials (CIMs), PNIBI‐NDIN and PNIBI‐NDINBr, via direct arylation polycondensation is reported. These CIMs are composed of two planar, strongly electron‐deficient building blocks—1,2‐naphthaleneimidebenzimidazole and naphthalene diimide—which induce strong interchain aggregation and high electrical conductivity. When employed as cathode interlayers (CILs), both polymers exhibit remarkable thickness tolerance, maintaining over 17% power conversion efficiency (PCE) even at 50 nm thickness—the highest reported to date under such conditions. Moreover, the A1–A2 copolymerization strategy effectively lowers the LUMO levels of the CIMs, facilitating dual‐channel electron extraction from both donor and acceptor domains, and thereby suppressing non‐radiative recombination. As a result, PM6:L8‐BO‐based binary devices incorporating PNIBI‐NDIN and PNIBI‐NDINBr achieve PCEs of 19.33% and 17.89%, respectively, while their ternary counterparts deliver efficiencies of up to 20.45% and 18.34%. These findings highlight the great potential of direct arylation‐derived polyelectrolytes as scalable and high‐performance CIMs for next‐generation OSCs.
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Research context

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

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

Affiliations

Northeast Guangdong Key Laboratory of New Functional Materials Guangdong Rare Earth Photofunctional Materials Engineering Technology Research Centre School of Chemistry and Environment Jiaying University Meizhou 514015 P. R. China

Dongguan Key Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Science for Advanced Materials and Large‐Scale Scientific Facilities School of Physical Sciences Great Bay University Dongguan Guangdong 523000 P. R. China

Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science School of Science and Engineering The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Guangdong 518172 P. R. China

School of Chemistry Beihang University Beijing 100191 P. R. China

Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices South China University of Technology Guangzhou 510640 P. R. China

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules In‐situ Center for Physical Science Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai 200240 P. R. China

Funding

Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Program · Guangdong Provincial Introduction of Innovative Research and Development Team

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