A Generally Applicable Approach Using Sequential Deposition to Enable Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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Author(s)

  • Huiting Fu
  • Wei Gao
  • Yuxiang Li
  • Francis Lin
  • Jae Hoon Son
  • Han Young Woo

Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Article number2000687
Journal / PublicationSmall Methods
Volume4
Issue number12
Online published13 Sept 2020
Publication statusPublished - 11 Dec 2020

Abstract

Bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) are prepared by a common one-step solution casting of donor-acceptor blends often encounter dynamic morphological evolution which is hard to control to achieve optimal performance. To overcome this hurdle, a generally applicable, sequential processing approach has been developed to construct high-performance OSCs without involving tedious processes. The morphology of photoactive layers comprising a polymer donor (PM6) and a nonfullerene acceptor (denoted as Y6-BO) can be precisely manipulated by tuning Y6-BO layer with a small amount of 1-chloronaphthalene additive to induce the structural order of Y6-BO molecules to impact the blend phase. The results of a comparative investigation elucidate that such two-step procedure can afford more favorable BHJ microstructure than that achievable with the single blend-casting route. This translates into improved carrier generation and transport, and suppressed charge recombination. Consequently, the devices based on sequential deposition (SD) deliver a remarkable efficiency up to 17.2% (the highest for SD OSCs to date), outperforming that from the conventional BHJ devices (16.4%). The general applicability of this approach has also been tested on several other nonfullerene acceptors which show similar improvements. These results highlight that SD is a promising processing alternative to promote better photovoltaic performance and reduce production requirements.

Research Area(s)

  • morphology control, organic solar cells, power conversion efficiencies, sequential deposition

Citation Format(s)

A Generally Applicable Approach Using Sequential Deposition to Enable Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells. / Fu, Huiting; Gao, Wei; Li, Yuxiang et al.
In: Small Methods, Vol. 4, No. 12, 2000687, 11.12.2020.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review