Roles and Impacts of Ancillary Materials for Multi‐Component Blend Organic Photovoltaics towards High Efficiency and Stability

Abstract

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are a promising next-generation photovoltaic technology with great potential for wearable and transparent device applications. Over the past decades, remarkable advances in device efficiency close to 20 % have been made for bulk heterojunction (BHJ)-based OPV devices with long-term stability, and room for further improvements still exists. In recent years, ancillary components have been demonstrated as effective in improving the photovoltaic performance of OPVs by controlling the optoelectronic and morphological properties of BHJ blends. Herein, an updated understanding of polymer-based blend OPVs is provided, and the role and impact of ancillary components in various blend systems are categorized and discussed. Lastly, a strategic perspective on the ancillary components of blend-based OPVs for commercialization is provided.

Synthesis of angular-shaped naphthodithiophenediimide and its donor–acceptor copolymers as nonvolatile polymer additives for organic solar cells

“…In addition to p-type and n-type materials in the active layer of OPV devices, incorporation of a nonvolatile additive has been used to tailor donor/acceptor interactions to obtain the optimized morphology. 51–71 Additives enabling suppression of phase separation and stabilizing the morphology in the active layer can enhance the device performance and stability. Yan and coworkers introduced a polymer additive into a PM6 : Y6 -based solar device to achieve a PCE of 16.76% which is better than a pristine device of 15.87%.…”

Advancements in Organic-Based Hybrid Tandem Solar Cells Considering Light Absorption and Spectral Matching of Organic Materials

“…While CT excitons at the D/A interfaces promote efficient exciton dissociation into free charges, they also cause substantial energy loss (E loss ) in OSCs (Figure 3b). 20,62,89 E loss in OSCs can be classified into two categories: energy offset (ΔE CT ) and energy recombination (ΔE rec ), expressed as follows: 62,90…”

“…By incorporating a third component into the photoactive layer, as either a donor or acceptor material, multiple synergistic effects are achieved. 62,63 These effects improve the current density (J SC ), reduce energy loss, and optimize the blend morphology of the photoactive layer, thus enhancing the OSC performance. In the early stages, development of acceptor polymers focused primarily on NDI-or PDI-based units.…”

Impact of Alkyl-Based Side Chains in Conjugated Materials for Bulk Heterojunction Organic Photovoltaic Cells—A Review

“…Numerous hundreds of publications have reported the synthesis, photophysical properties, and use of conjugated polymers in OPVs. Several reviews have gathered these papers [54][55][56], emphasizing the polymerization strategy [57], the role of specific building blocks [58][59][60][61], the improvement of the active layer or cell technology [9,62,63], the achievement of transparent BHJ photoactive layers and devices [54,64], or their morphological design strategies for improving charge carrier mobilities [65]. Recently, conjugated polymer-based bulk heterojunction solar cells have exhibited high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) up to 18.22% in 2020 [66] and up to 19.3% in a single-junction cell in 2022 [67].…”