Synergies and compromises between charge and energy transfers in three-component organic solar cells

Sartorio, Camillo; Giuliano, Giuliana; Scopelliti, Michelangelo; Vetri, Valeria; Leone, Maurizio; Pignataro, Bruno

doi:10.1039/d0cp00336k

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…60 Via the FLIM imaging technique one can estimate the lifetime of the fluorophores for each pixel of a microscopy intensity map and obtain a lifetime map. 53 The "phasor approach" offers a versatile graphical analysis method, which simplifies FLIM data interpretation, providing important information on a variety of systems ranging from proteins 52 and living cells to solar panels 61 without the need of imposing a model. In this case, we exploit the properties of ThT fluorescence since its lifetime depends on the molecular arrangement and/or rigidity of its microenvironment.…”

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conformational Transitions upon Maturation Rule Surface and pH-Responsiveness of α-Lactalbumin Microparticulates

Galparsoro

Zhou

Jaaloul

et al. 2021

ACS Appl. Bio Mater.

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De novo designed protein supramolecular structures are nowadays attracting much interest as highly performing biomaterials. While a clear advantage is provided by the intrinsic biocompatibility and biodegradability of protein and peptide building blocks, developing sustainable and green bottom up approaches for finely tuning the material properties still remains a challenge. Here, we present an experimental study on the formation of protein microparticles in the form of particulates from the protein α-lactalbumin using bulk mixing in water solution and high temperature. Once formed, the structure and stability of these spherical protein condensates change upon further thermal incubation while the size of aggregates does not significantly increase. Combining advanced microscopy and spectroscopy methods, we prove that this process, named maturation, is characterized by a gradual increase of amyloid-like structure in protein particulates, an enhancement in surface roughness and in molecular compactness, providing a higher stability and resistance of the structure in acidic environments. When dissolved at pH 2, early stage particulates disassemble into a homogeneous population of small oligomers, while the late stage particulates remain unaffected. Particulates at the intermediate stage of maturation partially disassemble into a heterogeneous population of fragments. Importantly, differently matured microparticles show different features when loading a model lipophilic molecule. Our findings suggest conformational transitions localized at the interface as a key step in the maturation of amyloid protein condensates, promoting this phenomenon as an intrinsic knob to tailor the properties of protein microparticles formed via bulk mixing in aqueous solution. This provides a simple and sustainable platform for the design and realization of protein microparticles for tailored applications.

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Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conformational Transitions upon Maturation Rule Surface and pH-Responsiveness of α-Lactalbumin Microparticulates

Galparsoro

Zhou

Jaaloul

et al. 2021

ACS Appl. Bio Mater.

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“…Fitting the GSB signal of donor by a triexponential function, the time constants are as follows: D18: BM‐2F ( τ 1 = 3.76 ± 0.39 ps, τ 2 = 29.12 ± 1.94 ps, τ 3 = 6038.99 ± 1707.94 ps), and PM6: BM‐2F ( τ 1 = 1.11 ± 0.08 ps, τ 2 = 13.84 ± 0.49 ps, τ 3 = 1702.57 ± 101.25 ps), where τ 1 , τ 2 and τ 3 represent the exciton dissociation at the interface, the exciton diffusion in the domain and the exciton recombination. [ 39‐41 ] The fast exciton dissociation and diffusion of PM6: BM‐2F films can explain its high‐performance and the long exciton recombine of D18: BM‐2F films is beneficial for the free charge transfer and finally improves photovoltaic performance.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Simple Nonfused Ring Electron Acceptor with a Power Conversion Efficiency Over 16%^†

et al. 2023

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By simplifying the π-bridge unit, a nonfused ring electron acceptor (NFREA) BM-2F was designed and synthesized with several high-yield steps. The specific molecular structure features of BM-2F are planar molecular backbone and out-of-plane side chain, which is favorable for charge transport and can suppress the over-aggregation. BM-2F based neat and blend films display obvious face-on molecular orientation. Specially, D18:BM-2F based blend film can form good bicontinuous interpenetrating network. More excitingly, a power conversion efficiency of 16.15% was achieved with D18:BM-2F based photovoltaic devices, which is the highest one based on NFREAs. Our researches manifest that NFREA is a promising direction for low-cost and high-performance organic solar cells.

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“…Thermodynamically, the increase in entropy upon mixing favors a homogeneous mixture over phase separation and facilitates the formation (and preservation) of a fine-blend nanostructure. Beyond these effects, the third component can also play more specific roles within the blend, such as that of a second donor or acceptor, a co-solvent, an energy cascade linker, [ 102 ] a nucleating agent, and so on. In this review, we categorize and report the role of the third component as a “Compatibilizer” (CB).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tackling Performance Challenges in Organic Photovoltaics: An Overview about Compatibilizers

et al. 2020

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Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs) based on Bulk Heterojunction (BHJ) blends are a mature technology. Having started their intensive development two decades ago, their low cost, processability and flexibility rapidly funneled the interest of the scientific community, searching for new solutions to expand solar photovoltaics market and promote sustainable development. However, their robust implementation is hampered by some issues, concerning the choice of the donor/acceptor materials, the device thermal/photo-stability, and, last but not least, their morphology. Indeed, the morphological profile of BHJs has a strong impact over charge generation, collection, and recombination processes; control over nano/microstructural morphology would be desirable, aiming at finely tuning the device performance and overcoming those previously mentioned critical issues. The employ of compatibilizers has emerged as a promising, economically sustainable, and widely applicable approach for the donor/acceptor interface (D/A-I) optimization. Thus, improvements in the global performance of the devices can be achieved without making use of more complex architectures. Even though several materials have been deeply documented and reported as effective compatibilizing agents, scientific reports are quite fragmentary. Here we would like to offer a panoramic overview of the literature on compatibilizers, focusing on the progression documented in the last decade.

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Synergies and compromises between charge and energy transfers in three-component organic solar cells

Abstract: In a three-component OSC, proper interface design is crucial to reaching the right balance between charge and energy transfer when both processes occur. Highly transparent devices can be built by thinning the active layer without affecting the PCE.

Cited by 7 publications

References 71 publications

Conformational Transitions upon Maturation Rule Surface and pH-Responsiveness of α-Lactalbumin Microparticulates

Conformational Transitions upon Maturation Rule Surface and pH-Responsiveness of α-Lactalbumin Microparticulates

A Simple Nonfused Ring Electron Acceptor with a Power Conversion Efficiency Over 16%^†

Tackling Performance Challenges in Organic Photovoltaics: An Overview about Compatibilizers

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Synergies and compromises between charge and energy transfers in three-component organic solar cells

Abstract: In a three-component OSC, proper interface design is crucial to reaching the right balance between charge and energy transfer when both processes occur. Highly transparent devices can be built by thinning the active layer without affecting the PCE.

Cited by 7 publications

References 71 publications

Conformational Transitions upon Maturation Rule Surface and pH-Responsiveness of α-Lactalbumin Microparticulates

Conformational Transitions upon Maturation Rule Surface and pH-Responsiveness of α-Lactalbumin Microparticulates

A Simple Nonfused Ring Electron Acceptor with a Power Conversion Efficiency Over 16%†

Tackling Performance Challenges in Organic Photovoltaics: An Overview about Compatibilizers

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Product

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A Simple Nonfused Ring Electron Acceptor with a Power Conversion Efficiency Over 16%^†