Solid-liquid convertible fluorinated terthiophene as additives in mediating morphology and performance of organic solar cells

Liao, Xiaolan; Li, Qingduan; Ye, Jianxin; Li, Zhongliang; Ren, Jiaxuan; Zhang, Kai; Xu, Yuanjie; Cai, Yue‐Peng; Liu, Shengjian; Huang, Fei

doi:10.1016/j.cej.2022.139489

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…When the solution concentration increased, PBDT-TTz chains with a more extended and rigid chain conformation reduced entanglements between molecular chains and enhanced interchain π–π stacking. In addition, increasing the concentration would further promote the intrachain self-folding, thus forming a more compact ordered aggregation, which would be conducive to the carrier transport within and between molecular chains …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, increasing the concentration would further promote the intrachain self-folding, 66 thus forming a more compact ordered aggregation, which would be conducive to the carrier transport within and between molecular chains. 67 As an external field, solvent plays an identical role to force, temperature, and electricity in the solution state, and it has a weak stimulating effect with a strong response from conjugated polymer chains. 68,69 With the removal of solvent, the distances between chains become shortened and the degree of macroscopic aggregation increases.…”

Section: Hole Mobility Characteristics and Solar Cell Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Liquid–Solid Transfer Process of Ordered Structures in Efficient Polymer Photovoltaic Materials

Ren,

Wang,

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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The single-chain conformations and aggregated structures of conjugated polymers in precursor solutions affect the morphology of films and their photoelectric properties. Dynamic/static light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, highresolution transmission electron microscopy, and selected area electron diffraction were employed to elucidate the single-chain conformations and aggregated structures of efficient donor polymers (PBDT-TTz and D18-Cl) in chloroform (CF, nonaromatic solvent) and chlorobenzene (CB, aromatic solvent) for a range of concentrations (0.03−5.0 mg/mL). D18-Cl presented a more rigid and extended chain conformation in dilute CF solution. However, the relatively flexible PBDT-TTz easily formed π−π interaction with the aromatic CB molecules, thereby extending the main chain's conjugation length. Regulation of the extended single-chain conformation in dilute solution resulted in the formation of a compact, ordered aggregated structure at increased concentrations. In the liquid−solid cross-phase transfer process, the ordered structures in the precursor solution were effectively inherited by the subsequent films. From dilute to concentrated solutions, the multistage self-assembled structures of conjugated polymers directly affected their solid-state packing and photoelectric properties of the resulting films. Through the regulation of the ordered aggregation in their precursor solution, the hole mobilities of PBDT-TTz and D18-Cl were increased by nearly an order of magnitude, and the power conversion efficiency of the solar cells was enhanced by 28.8%.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hole Mobility Characteristics and Solar Cell Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid–Solid Transfer Process of Ordered Structures in Efficient Polymer Photovoltaic Materials

Ren,

Wang,

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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“…The first type of solid additive, such as benzothiadiazole (BT), dihalogenated 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (IC-FI), and 2,2′:5′,2′′-terthiophene ([2H]3T), features a characteristic chemical molecular group with active layer components to ensure compatibility with the donor or acceptor. [21][22][23] The second type of solid additive contains halogen atoms with specific charge distributions that induce intermolecular interaction between the solid additive and active layer components via halogen bonding (e.g., 1,4-diiodotetrafluorobenzene (A3), 1,3-dibromo-5chlorobenzene (DBCl), and 1,4-diiodobenzene (DIB)). [24][25][26] The last type of solid additive is highly crystalline molecules such as dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]thiophene (DTT), anthracene (An), naphthalene (NA), and 2,7-dibromo-9,9-dimethylfluorene (DBDMF) that inhibit overaggregation in acceptor molecules.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solid Additive Delicately Controls Morphology Formation and Enables High‐Performance in Organic Solar Cells

Lian

Sun

Lee

et al. 2023

Adv Funct Materials

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Volatile solid additives are an effective strategy for optimizing morphology and improving the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of organic solar cells (OSCs). Much research has been conducted to understand the role of solid additives in active layer morphology. However, it is crucial to delve deeper and understand how solid additives affect the entire morphology evolution process, from the solution state to the film state and the thermal annealing stage, which remains unclear. Herein, the use of a highly crystalline solid additive, phenoxathiin (Ph), in D18‐Cl:N3‐based OSCs and study its impact on morphology formation and photovoltaic performance is presented. Owing to its good miscibility with the acceptor N3, Ph additive can not only extend the time for the active layer to form from the solution state to the film state, but also provide sufficient time for acceptor aggregation. After thermal annealing, Ph solid additive volatilizes better aligned the N3 molecules and formed a favorable hybrid morphology. Consequently, the D18‐Cl:N3–based OSC exhibited an outstanding PCE of 18.47%, with an enhanced short‐circuit current of 27.50 mA cm−2 and a fill factor of 77.82%. This research is spurring the development of high‐performance OSCs using solid additives that allow fine control during morphology development.

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“…in view of chemical structures − (Figure S1). As regards to the conjugated skeletons, the simple thiophene unit would be the most likely choice as it (1) exists in all high performance OSC molecules, (2) could interact with those OSC molecules through both strong π–π stackings and widely observed sulfur-halogen secondary interactions, , and (3) would further increase the capacity for better crystallization due to easy addition of halogen atoms on such a thiophene ring, which may act as a crystal seed to optimize morphologies of active layers. In short, these combined features of simple halogenated thiophene thus would make it a promising solid additive, despite that such an analysis was rarely reported …”

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confidence: 99%

A Broad-Spectrum Solid Additive to Further Boost High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells via Morphology Regulation

Cao

Guo

et al. 2023

ACS Energy Lett.

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Given the great potential for achieving record breaking organic solar cells (OSCs), newly explored solid additives that could optimize nanoscale morphology of active layers have rapidly gained widespread attention. Herein, a new volatile solid additive 2,5-dichlorothieno[3,2-b]thiophene (TT-Cl) is delicately explored, fully satisfying the design criteria of a planar conjugated skeleton with suitable molecular size, symmetrical geometry, and proper halogenation. When applied in the state-of-the-art OSCs with diverse active layers, the quite high crystallinity of TT-Cl and strong interactions with light-harvesting components lead to optimized molecular crystalline ordering, fibrillar networks, and vertical phase distributions, thus offering a significant performance enhancement. Consequently, PM6:Y6-based binary and ternary OSCs achieved PCEs of 18.20% and 18.95%, respectively. Moreover, PM6:CH23-based binary OSCs presented an outstanding PCE of 18.72%. Our work not only provides a broad-spectrum solid additive to optimize film morphologies powerfully but also manifests great potential for achieving a record-breaking PCE of OSCs.

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Solid-liquid convertible fluorinated terthiophene as additives in mediating morphology and performance of organic solar cells

Cited by 18 publications

References 42 publications

Liquid–Solid Transfer Process of Ordered Structures in Efficient Polymer Photovoltaic Materials

Liquid–Solid Transfer Process of Ordered Structures in Efficient Polymer Photovoltaic Materials

Solid Additive Delicately Controls Morphology Formation and Enables High‐Performance in Organic Solar Cells

A Broad-Spectrum Solid Additive to Further Boost High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells via Morphology Regulation

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