High-performance multiple-donor bulk heterojunction solar cells

Yang, Yang; Chen, Wei; Dou, Letian; Chang, Wen Hsin; Duan, Hsin‐Sheng; Bob, Brion; Li, Gang

doi:10.1038/nphoton.2015.9

Cited by 498 publications

(425 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…[1][2][3][4][5] However, the commercialization of OPV requires the availability of inexpensive materials in large quantities such as poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). P3HT is readily scalable via flow or micro-reactor synthesis, even using 'green' solvents, whilst retaining a high degree of control over molecular weight and regioregularity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3,4,[19][20][21][22][23]24 However, simultaneous increase in the Voc, Jsc and FF is a challenge in the ternary approach because of the trade-off between photocurrent and voltage. 23,25,26 Reports show ternary blends using fullerene acceptors, where the Voc is increased using a second acceptor (A2) with a higher electron affinity (EA) than A1; 23,27-29 however, very few examples of two-acceptor ternary blend devices could surpass the overall efficiency of their respective binary blends.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reducing the efficiency–stability–cost gap of organic photovoltaics with highly efficient and stable small molecule acceptor ternary solar cells

et al. 2016

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Technological deployment of organic photovoltaic modules requires improvements in device light-conversion efficiency and stability while keeping material costs low. Here we demonstrate highly efficient and stable solar cells using a ternary approach, wherein two non-fullerene acceptors are combined with both a scalable and affordable donor polymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), and a high efficiency, low band-gap polymer in a single-layer bulk-heterojunction devices. The addition of a strongly absorbing small molecule acceptor into a P3HT-based non-fullerene blend increases the device efficiency up to 7.7 ± 0.1% without any solvent additives. The improvement is assigned to changes in microstructure that reduces charge recombination and increases the photovoltage, and to improved light harvesting across the visible region. The stability of P3HT-based devices in ambient conditions is also significantly improved relative to polymer:fullerene devices. Combined with a low band gap donor polymer (PBDTTT-EFT, also known as PCE10), the two mixed acceptors also lead to solar cells with 11.0 ± 0.4% efficiency and a high open-circuit voltage of 1.03 ± 0.01V.Currently, the materials used in organic photovoltaics (OPV) are dominated by fullerene acceptors in combination with low band gap donor polymers which typically require complex and multi-step syntheses. [1][2][3][4][5] However, the commercialization of OPV requires the availability of inexpensive materials in large quantities such as poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). P3HT is readily scalable via flow or micro-reactor synthesis, even using 'green' solvents, whilst retaining a high degree of control over molecular weight and regioregularity. 6 The P3HT:60PCBM blend exhibits one of the most robust microstructures within OPV. [7][8][9] However, it has a limited open-circuit voltage (Voc) and short-circuit current (Jsc) in photovoltaic devices. 10 We have recently shown that solar cells using an alternative small molecule non-fullerene acceptor (NFA), IDTBR, when mixed with P3HT, can achieve power conversion efficiencies of up to 6.4%. 11 These results have revived interest in the use of P3HT for high performing devices and non-fullerene acceptors. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The combination of stability, cost and performance for P3HT:NFA devices, make them a compelling choice for commercialization of OPV compared to devices using fullerenes, for which the high costs and energy involved are prohibitive for large scale production.Recently, multi-component heterojunctions (ternary or more) have emerged as a promising strategy to overcome the power conversion efficiency (PCE) bottleneck associated with binary bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. 3,4,[19][20][21][22][23]24 However, simultaneous increase in the Voc, Jsc and FF is a challenge in the ternary approach because of the trade-off between photocurrent and voltage. 23,25,26 Reports show ternary blends using fullerene acceptors, where the Voc is increased using a second acceptor (A2) with a higher electron affin...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing the efficiency–stability–cost gap of organic photovoltaics with highly efficient and stable small molecule acceptor ternary solar cells

et al. 2016

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“…The lowest energy peak, corresponding to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap, of an isolated HBC is approximately 453nm, which agrees very well with an experimental absorption peak (465 nm). 11,12 In the figure, the additional peaks, other than the corresponding peak to the HBC's HOMO/LUMO gap, at longer ( 600 nm) wavelengths region indicate transitions related to localized states at HBC/TEG or TEG/C 60 interfaces. As the HBC is doped with B, F, or O atom, the absorption spectra become broadened by emerging peaks between 500 and 1000 nm.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…8 In the last decades, much of research effort has been devoted to control the interface structures and/or carrier populations to increase the PCE. [8][9][10][11][12] Yamamoto et al 13 have reported a successful synthesis of a self-assembled coaxial nanotube consisting of Gemini type hexabenzocoronene (HBC), as a segment of the HTL, and the fullerene (C 60 ), as that of ETL, covalently bridged with triethylene glycol (TEG). Moritomo et al 14 have followed them by an extensive analysis on charge-formation dynamics in the molecule using ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Doping effect on photoabsorption and charge-separation dynamics in light-harvesting organic molecule

et al. 2016

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Using ab-initio theoretical methods, we demonstrate possible enhancement of photo-conversion efficiency of an organic solar cell via intentional doping in molecular graphene-fullerene heterojunction [the hexabenzocoronene (HBC)-triethylene glycol (TEG)–C60 molecule]. Photoabsorption analysis indicates oxygen substitution into HBC leads to an extension of the spectra up to an infrared regime. A quantum-mechanical molecular dynamics simulation incorporating nonadiabatic electronic transitions reveals that a dissociated charge state (D+ and A-) in the O-doped system is more stable than the pristine case due to the presence of an effective barrier by the TEG HOMO/LUMO level. We also find that oxygen doping in HBC enhances the intermolecular carrier mobility after charge separation. On the other hand, the pristine molecule undergoes rapid recombination between donor and acceptor charges at the interface. These analyses suggest that the graphene oxidation opens a new window in the application of organic super-molecules to solar cells.

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“…Although broadening the absorption bandwidth of PSCs by employing multiple absorber donors in the BHJ active layer is an attractive means of surmounting the narrow absorption of organic semiconductors, only limited success has been demonstrated. To find out the reason, Yang's group [23] fabricated several dual-donor and multi-donor BHJ PSCs based on a pool of materials with different absorption ranges and preferred molecular structures. The corresponding device performance was investigated.…”

Section: Design Rules Of Ternary Blend Pscsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspective of a new trend in organic photovoltaic: ternary blend polymer solar cells

2016

Sci. China Mater.

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In the past few years, ternary polymer solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as a promising structure to simultaneously improve all solar cell parameters compared with traditional binary PSCs. The third component in ternary PSCs can play versatile functions to enhance the device performance. In this review, we summarize the design rules for fabricating high-performance ternary PSCs and introduce the recent progress in this field. In addition, the characterization methods for determining the role of the third component played in ternary PSCs are described.

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High-performance multiple-donor bulk heterojunction solar cells

Cited by 498 publications

References 43 publications

Reducing the efficiency–stability–cost gap of organic photovoltaics with highly efficient and stable small molecule acceptor ternary solar cells

Reducing the efficiency–stability–cost gap of organic photovoltaics with highly efficient and stable small molecule acceptor ternary solar cells

Doping effect on photoabsorption and charge-separation dynamics in light-harvesting organic molecule

Perspective of a new trend in organic photovoltaic: ternary blend polymer solar cells

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