Additive-free molecular acceptor organic solar cells processed from a biorenewable solvent approaching 15% efficiency

Zhifang Du; Hoang Mai Luong; Sina Sabury; Pattarawadee Therdkatanyuphong; Sangmin Chae; Claire Welton; Austin L. Jones; Junxiang Zhang; Zhengxing Peng; Ziyue Zhu; Sadisha Nanayakkara; Veaceslav Coropceanu; Dylan G. Choi; Steven Xiao; Ahra Yi; Hyo Jung Kim; Jean-Luc Bredas; Harald Ade; G. N. Manjunatha Reddy; Seth R. Marder; John R. Reynolds; Thuc-Quyen Nguyen

doi:10.1039/D3MH01133J

Additive-free molecular acceptor organic solar cells processed from a biorenewable solvent approaching 15% efficiency†

Zhifang Du,

^a Hoang Mai Luong,

^a Sina Sabury,

^b Pattarawadee Therdkatanyuphong,^c Sangmin Chae,

^a Claire Welton,^d Austin L. Jones,

^b Junxiang Zhang,^c Zhengxing Peng,

^e Ziyue Zhu,^a Sadisha Nanayakkara,

^f Veaceslav Coropceanu,

^f Dylan G. Choi,

^a Steven Xiao,^g Ahra Yi,^ah Hyo Jung Kim,^h Jean-Luc Bredas,

^f Harald Ade,^e G. N. Manjunatha Reddy,

*^d Seth R. Marder,*^c John R. Reynolds

*^b and Thuc-Quyen Nguyen

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
E-mail: quyen@chem.ucsb.edu

^b School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Tech Polymer Network, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
E-mail: reynolds@chemistry.gatech.edu

^c University of Colorado Boulder, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder, CO 80303, USA
E-mail: sema1789@colorado.edu

^d University of Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille Institut, Univ. Artois, UMR 8181, Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide, Lille, France
E-mail: gnm.reddy@univ-lille.fr

^e Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

^f Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

^g 1-Material Inc, 2290 Chemin St-Francois, Dorval, Quebec, Canada

^h Department of Organic Material Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea

Abstract

We report on the use of molecular acceptors (MAs) and donor polymers processed with a biomass-derived solvent (2-methyltetrahydrofuran, 2-MeTHF) to facilitate bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with power conversion efficiency (PCE) approaching 15%. Our approach makes use of two newly designed donor polymers with an opened ring unit in their structures along with three molecular acceptors (MAs) where the backbone and sidechain were engineered to enhance the processability of BHJ OPVs using 2-MeTHF, as evaluated by an analysis of donor–acceptor (D–A) miscibility and interaction parameters. To understand the differences in the PCE values that ranged from 9–15% as a function of composition, the surface, bulk, and interfacial BHJ morphologies were characterized at different length scales using atomic force microscopy, grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, resonant soft X-ray scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and 2D solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Our results indicate that the favorable D–A intermixing that occurs in the best performing BHJ film with an average domain size of ∼25 nm, high domain purity, uniform distribution and enhanced local packing interactions – facilitates charge generation and extraction while limiting the trap-assisted recombination process in the device, leading to high effective mobility and good performance.

This article is part of the themed collection: Celebrating 10 Years of Materials Horizons: 10th Anniversary Collection

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Additive-free molecular acceptor organic solar cells processed from a biorenewable solvent approaching 15% efficiency†

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