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Organic solar cells using oligomer acceptors for improved stability and efficiency

Nature Energy volume 7, pages 1180–1190 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The power conversion efficiencies of organic solar cells (OSCs) have reached over 19%. However, the combination of high efficiency and long-term stability is still a major conundrum of commercialization. Here a Y6-analogue and a 2,2′-bithiophene unit are utilized to construct a series of oligomer acceptors to investigate the effect of molecular size and packing properties on photovoltaic performance. By altering the molecular chain length, we modify the thermal properties, crystallization behaviours and molecular packing and achieve an optimal microstructure and a more stable morphology in blend films. A combination of efficiencies over 15% and an extrapolated T80 lifetime over 25,000 h, which equates to an average lifetime exceeding 16 years in Guangzhou, is achieved for binary OSCs based on an oligomer acceptor. This work emphasizes the importance of oligomeric strategy in tuning molecular packing behaviours and blend morphology, leading to development of novel non-fullerene acceptors for stable and efficient OSCs.

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Fig. 1: Material characterizations of acceptors.
Fig. 2: Device performance of OY1–OY4 and POY.
Fig. 3: Molecular packing behaviours and photophysical properties of OY1, OY3 and POY.
Fig. 4: Thermal stability and photo-stability of OSCs.
Fig. 5: Advantages of OY3.

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Data availability

All data that support the findings in this study are available in the article and its supplementary information. Additional information is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (number 2019YFA0705900) funded by MOST, the Basic and Applied Basic Research Major Program of Guangdong Province (number 2019B030302007), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (number U21A6002), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Optoelectronic and Magnetic Functional Materials (No. 2019B121205002). N.L. acknowledges the financial support by the State Key Lab of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology (Skllmd-2022-03). C.J.B. and L.L. acknowledge funding from the European Union for the projects Booster and Citysolar, and from German Research Foundation (DFG) for BR-4031/20, SFB 953, BR-4031/21, INST 90/1093-1, 460766640, 464963576 and 449539983.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Youcai Liang, Difei Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

    Youcai Liang, Difei Zhang, Zerun Wu, Tao Jia, Haoran Tang, Ling Hong, Jiabin Zhang, Kai Zhang, Ning Li & Fei Huang

  2. Institute of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Difei Zhang, Larry Lüer & Christoph J. Brabec

  3. Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN) Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), Erlangen, Germany

    Christoph J. Brabec

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Contributions

N.L. and F.H. conceived the project. Y.L. prepared the acceptor materials. H.T. performed the theoretical calculations. Y.L., T.J., and L.H. participated in the charaterizations of materials. D.Z., Z.W. and J.Z. fabricated the devices and participated in the characterizations of devices. Y.L. and D.Z. conducted the GIWAXS measurements and analysed the data. L.L. conducted the optical analysis. D.Z. conducted the stability measurements and analysed the data. Y.L., T.J. and L.H. performed the morphology characterization and analysed the data. Y.L., D.Z., T.J., K.Z., N.L. and F.H. contributed to the results analysis. Y.L., D.Z., L.L., N.L. and F.H. contributed to the manuscript preparation. C.J.B. helped analyse the data and revise the manuscript. N.L. and F.H. supervised and directed the project. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ning Li or Fei Huang.

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Liang, Y., Zhang, D., Wu, Z. et al. Organic solar cells using oligomer acceptors for improved stability and efficiency. Nat Energy 7, 1180–1190 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01155-x

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