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Efficiency Improvement of Semitransparent Polymer Solar Cells with Invariable Color Render Index

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Abstract

The color render index (CRI) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) are two critical parameters of semitransparent polymer solar cells (PSCs) which are contradictory. The CRI is strongly dependent on the absorption of the polymer:fullerene active layer. The PCE not only relies on absorption but also on a bulk heterojunction structure. Here, the 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) additive has been added to PCDTBT:PC71BM blend PSCs to improve the PCE with almost unchanged CRI. Based on the higher boiling point than the host solvent o-dichlorobenzene (ODB) and the better solubility of PC71BM, the device photovoltaic properties with DIO additive were obviously changed. The PCE improvement is attributed to the charge recombination and transportation process which means that the utilization of the absorbed photons is improved. However, this improvement cannot affect the transmitted light. Hence, the CRI of transmitted light is nearly invariable. With 3% v/v DIO, the short-circuit current density (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc), and fill factor (FF) are all increased. Correspondingly, a highest PCE is achieved of 6.15%, while the reference device without DIO only has a PCE of 5.23%. At the same time, the CRI is slightly changed from 82 to 81.

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Acknowledgments

This research were funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22109017, 62241401), the Natural Science Foundation of the Anhui Higher Education Institutions (Nos. 2022AH051098, 2022AH051086, 2022AH051125, KJ2020A0710, KJ2021B11, KJ2021A1089), the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students of Chuzhou University (No. 2022CYXL002), the Research Program of Chuzhou University (No. 2022XJYB07), the Scientific Foundation of Chuzhou University (No. 2022qd035), the State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology (No. 2018014) and the Semiconductor and Sensor Research Centre of Chuzhou University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, 239000, People’s Republic of China

    Wenjuan Yu, Jiale Yang, Bingting Wang, Xishun Jiang, Kexiu Dong, Xiang Fu, Changhai Zhou & Haijun Zhou

  2. School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, 239000, People’s Republic of China

    Gan Jin

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  1. Wenjuan Yu
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Yu, W., Yang, J., Wang, B. et al. Efficiency Improvement of Semitransparent Polymer Solar Cells with Invariable Color Render Index. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 2044–2052 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-10164-1

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