journal article·2019-04Open access

Highly Efficient, Stable, and Ductile Ternary Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells from a Two‐Donor Polymer Blend

Huawei Hu, Long Ye, Masoud Ghasemi, Nrup Balar, Jeromy James Rech, Samuel J. Stuard, Wei You, Brendan T. O'Connor, Harald Ade

Advanced Materials· Volume 31· Issue 17

Abstract

Abstract Organic solar cells (OSCs) are one of the most promising cost‐effective options for utilizing solar energy, and, while the field of OSCs has progressed rapidly in device performance in the past few years, the stability of nonfullerene OSCs has received less attention. Developing devices with both high performance and long‐term stability remains challenging, particularly if the material choice is restricted by roll‐to‐roll and benign solvent processing requirements and desirable mechanical durability. Building upon the ink (toluene:FTAZ:IT‐M) that broke the 10% benchmark when blade‐coated in air, a second donor material (PBDB‐T) is introduced to stabilize and enhance performance with power conversion efficiency over 13% while keeping toluene as the solvent. More importantly, the ternary OSCs exhibit excellent thermal stability and storage stability while retaining high ductility. The excellent performance and stability are mainly attributed to the inhibition of the crystallization of nonfullerene small‐molecular acceptors (SMAs) by introducing a stiff donor that also shows low miscibility with the nonfullerene SMA and a slightly higher highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) than the host polymer. The study indicates that improved stability and performance can be achieved in a synergistic way without significant embrittlement, which will accelerate the future development and application of nonfullerene OSCs.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

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

Department of Physics and ORganic and Carbon Electronics Labs (ORaCEL) North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 USA

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and ORaCEL North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 USA

Department of Chemistry University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill NC 27599 USA

Funding

National Science Foundation · Office of Naval Research · U.S. Department of Energy

References (56)

Show source-provided references
1. 10.1021/cr400353v10.1021/cr400353v ↗
2. 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b0009810.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00098 ↗
3. 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b0053510.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00535 ↗
4. 10.1038/s41563-017-0005-110.1038/s41563-017-0005-1 ↗
5. 10.1038/s41467-018-03207-x10.1038/s41467-018-03207-x ↗
6. 10.1038/natrevmats.2018.310.1038/natrevmats.2018.3 ↗
7. 10.1016/j.joule.2018.11.00610.1016/j.joule.2018.11.006 ↗
8. 10.1002/aenm.20170305810.1002/aenm.201703058 ↗
9. 10.1038/ncomms1454110.1038/ncomms14541 ↗
10. 10.1039/C5CS00593K10.1039/C5CS00593K ↗
11. 10.1002/adma.20160394010.1002/adma.201603940 ↗
12. 10.1038/nphoton.2014.17210.1038/nphoton.2014.172 ↗
13. 10.1038/nmat479710.1038/nmat4797 ↗
14. 10.1038/nphoton.2015.910.1038/nphoton.2015.9 ↗
15. 10.1002/adma.20180150110.1002/adma.201801501 ↗
16. 10.1002/anie.20161094410.1002/anie.201610944 ↗
17. 10.1002/adma.20170043710.1002/adma.201700437 ↗
18. 10.1039/C8EE01107A10.1039/C8EE01107A ↗
19. 10.1002/adma.20160460310.1002/adma.201604603 ↗
20. 10.1002/adma.20170570610.1002/adma.201705706 ↗
21. Kim J.‐H. · Adv. Energy Mater. · 2018 · 8 · 1802293
22. 10.1002/adma.20160415510.1002/adma.201604155 ↗
23. 10.1002/aenm.20170167410.1002/aenm.201701674 ↗
24. 10.1002/adma.20110418710.1002/adma.201104187 ↗
25. 10.1002/adma.20180316610.1002/adma.201803166 ↗
26. 10.1016/j.solmat.2013.10.02310.1016/j.solmat.2013.10.023 ↗
27. 10.1002/adfm.20090004310.1002/adfm.200900043 ↗
28. 10.1016/j.solmat.2008.01.00510.1016/j.solmat.2008.01.005 ↗
29. 10.1073/pnas.180118711510.1073/pnas.1801187115 ↗
30. 10.1038/nenergy.2015.2710.1038/nenergy.2015.27 ↗
31. 10.1002/adma.20170548510.1002/adma.201705485 ↗
32. 10.1002/adma.20180304510.1002/adma.201803045 ↗
33. 10.1016/j.joule.2017.12.01110.1016/j.joule.2017.12.011 ↗
34. 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b0000310.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00003 ↗
35. 10.1002/adma.20160028110.1002/adma.201600281 ↗
36. 10.1002/adma.20170520810.1002/adma.201705208 ↗
37. 10.1038/nenergy.2016.11810.1038/nenergy.2016.118 ↗
38. 10.1021/acsami.8b0682210.1021/acsami.8b06822 ↗
39. 10.1002/adma.20150277510.1002/adma.201502775 ↗
40. 10.1002/adma.20160277610.1002/adma.201602776 ↗
41. 10.1007/s40843-017-9080-x10.1007/s40843-017-9080-x ↗
42. 10.1088/1742-6596/247/1/01200710.1088/1742-6596/247/1/012007 ↗
43. 10.1021/cr300110910.1021/cr3001109 ↗
44. 10.1002/adma.20140438810.1002/adma.201404388 ↗
45. 10.1063/1.370183110.1063/1.3701831 ↗
46. 10.1002/aenm.20160200010.1002/aenm.201602000 ↗
47. 10.1002/aenm.20170008410.1002/aenm.201700084 ↗
48. 10.1002/adfm.20170201610.1002/adfm.201702016 ↗
49. 10.1002/aenm.20160069910.1002/aenm.201600699 ↗
50. 10.1016/S0032-3861(00)00574-710.1016/S0032-3861(00)00574-7 ↗
51. 10.1038/ncomms629310.1038/ncomms6293 ↗
52. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b0002410.1021/acs.chemmater.5b00024 ↗
53. 10.1021/acsami.7b1371910.1021/acsami.7b13719 ↗
54. 10.1039/C7TA11382J10.1039/C7TA11382J ↗
55. 10.1021/acs.macromol.7b0128210.1021/acs.macromol.7b01282 ↗
56. 10.1002/app.1992.07046040810.1002/app.1992.070460408 ↗