Issue 8, 2023

Chlorination effects of a non-fullerene acceptor based on a selenium heterocyclic core for high-efficiency organic solar cells

Abstract

A selenium substitution strategy combined with terminal modulation for developing high-efficiency non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) has drawn much attention in the field of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, three novel NFAs featuring a benzoselenadiazole central core and IC terminal groups, namely BTSeIC-2Cl-γ, BTSeIC-2Cl-mix and BTSeIC-4Cl, were successfully designed and synthesized by modulating the numbers and positions of the chlorine atoms. Compared to the two counterpart NFAs bearing a single chlorinated γ-position and mixed positions (β or γ-position) on the IC group, di-chlorinated NFA BTSeIC-4Cl shows the strongest absorption, the shallowest lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy level and the best molecular packing among the three acceptors. Consequently, the PM6: BTSeIC-4Cl based device exhibits a champion PCE of 16.14% with a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 26.92 mA cm−2, which is mainly attributed to it having the most balanced and highest electron/hole mobility and optimal blend morphology. It is worth mentioning that the obtained JSC of the PM6: BTSeIC-4Cl device is among the highest values reported for selenium-heterocyclic fused-ring acceptors with chlorinated terminal groups in the OSCs. Furthermore, the acceptor BTSeIC-2Cl-γ with a defined molecular structure achieved a better PCE of 14.91% due to its higher charge mobility and stronger π–π interaction, whereas the acceptor BTSeIC-2Cl-mix exhibited a PCE of 14.21%. This work shows that combining the selenium-heterocyclic core with the halogen-substituted regulation of terminal groups is an effective way to produce high-performance NFAs.

Graphical abstract: Chlorination effects of a non-fullerene acceptor based on a selenium heterocyclic core for high-efficiency organic solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Dec 2022
Accepted
25 Jan 2023
First published
30 Jan 2023

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023,11, 3020-3029

Chlorination effects of a non-fullerene acceptor based on a selenium heterocyclic core for high-efficiency organic solar cells

H. Feng, X. Meng, L. Fu, C. Liu, X. Yin, E. Zhu, Z. Li and G. Che, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 3020 DOI: 10.1039/D2TC05333K

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