journal article·2026-03Open access

Hydrogen‐Bonding Networks Enabled by Trace Water for Morphological Design in Ternary Organic Solar Cells

Yue Ren, Ming‐Yue Sui, Yun Geng, Rui‐Cheng Qin, Ming‐Yang Li, Guang‐Yan Sun, Xin Xu

Advanced Science· Volume 13· Issue 14

Abstract

ABSTRACT Morphology evolution is critical to the performance of functional materials, but strategies for its control remain largely empirical. Here, we identify a counterintuitive role of water (H 2 O) as a morphology‐regulating agent in ternary organic solar cells (OSCs), traditionally considered an impurity. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the dual hydrogen‐bonding capacity of H 2 O drives the formation of dynamic hydrogen‐bonding networks (HBNs). Continuous HBNs facilitate the migration of the third component into donor‐enriched domains through encapsulation, thereby stabilizing alloy‐like morphologies. While this HBN‐driven transition fails in single‐donor solvent systems such as ethanol, it extends to both fullerene and non‐fullerene blends in multi‐donor or acceptor environments. To render the mechanism applicable in organic processing, we adopted a co‐solvent strategy and identified a critical regime at a water‐to‐chloroform volume ratio of 0.06:1. At this threshold, trace H 2 O reproduces the alloy‐like behavior in neat H 2 O without compromising solubility, providing practical utility for device processing. Analyses of H 2 O containing CB, DMSO, and THF co‐solvents further confirm the general applicability of the HBN mechanism across distinct solvent environments. This work redefines H 2 O as a functional additive, establishes HBN engineering as a general framework for morphology control, and suggests broader implications for functional materials governed by weak interactions.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics · Machine Learning in Materials Science · Perovskite Materials and Applications

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

Affiliations

Department of Chemistry Faculty of Science Institute of Quantum Science and Technology Yanbian University Yanji Jilin 133002 P. R. China

Institute of Functional Material Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry Northeast Normal University Changchun Jilin 130024 P. R. China

Department of Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences Fudan University Shanghai 200438 P. R. China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Jilin Province Development and Reform Commission · Jilin Provincial Scientific and Technological Development Program

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