A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells

Han Yu; Yan Wang; Chung Hang Kwok; Rongkun Zhou; Zefan Yao; Subhrangsu Mukherjee; Aleksandr Sergeev; Haixia Hu; Yuang Fu; Ho Ming Ng; Li Chen; Di Zhang; Dahui Zhao; Zilong Zheng; Xinhui Lu; Hang Yin; Kam Sing Wong; Harald Ade; Chen Zhang; Zonglong Zhu; He Yan

doi:10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.010

A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells

Han Yu^*, Yan Wang, Chung Hang Kwok, Rongkun Zhou, Zefan Yao, Subhrangsu Mukherjee, Aleksandr Sergeev, Haixia Hu, Yuang Fu, Ho Ming Ng, Li Chen, Di Zhang, Dahui Zhao, Zilong Zheng, Xinhui Lu, Hang Yin, Kam Sing Wong, Harald Ade, Chen Zhang^*, Zonglong Zhu^*He Yan^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have seen rapid progress enabled by the development of high-performance polymer acceptors. Most polymer acceptors are based on the monomers of a classic small molecular acceptor (SMA) named Y6 by polymerizing at the position of the end groups, forming an “end-to-end” linkage. In this work, we report a completely different “core-to-core” linking mode by polymerizing the Y-series monomers at the central core position instead. This innovative strategy results in a drastically altered molecular configuration that resembles a “double decker,” with intramolecular packing between different monomer units in the same polymer. The overall molecular packing is improved, benefiting charge delocalization and charge transport. As a result, the PffBQx-T-based ternary blend achieved an outstanding efficiency of 18.7%, attributed to the enhanced absorption response, improved packing, and efficient charge dynamics. Our work demonstrates a novel polymer design rationale that serves as a promising avenue toward highly efficient and stable all-PSCs. © 2024 Elsevier Inc.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2304-2324
Journal	Joule
Volume	8
Issue number	8
Online published	9 Jul 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.010
Publication status	Published - 21 Aug 2024

Funding

H. Yu, Y.W., C.H.K., R.Z., and Z.Y. contributed equally to this work. H. Yan appreciates the support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (no. 2019YFA0705900) funded by MOST, the Basic and Applied Research Major Program of Guangdong Province (no. 2019B030302007), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 22075057), the Shen Zhen Technology and Innova-tion Commission through (Shenzhen Fundamental Research Program, JCYJ20200109140801751), the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (research fellow scheme RFS2021-6S05, RIF project R6021-18, CRF project C6023-19G, GRF project 16310019, 16310020, 16309221, 16309822), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission (ITCCNERC14SC01) and Foshan-HKUST (project no. FSUST19-CAT0202), Zhongshan Munic-ipal Bureau of Science and Technology (no. ZSST20SC02), Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory (no. 2023B1212120003) and Tencent Xplorer Prize. H. Yu appreciates the support from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (GRF project 16303024, 16310824). H.A. and S.M. are supported by ONR grant N000142012155. S.M. and H.A. acknowledge Goodnight Innovation Dist. Professor Endowment for X-ray data acquisition. GIWAXS data were acquired at the beamline BL 7.3.3. of the Advanced Light Source, which is supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC02-05CH11231. Eric Schaible (BL7.3.3, ALS) is gratefully acknowledged for beamline maintenance as well as assistance with GIWAXS experiments.

Research Keywords

all-polymer solar cells
double-decker structures
intramolecular interaction
polymerized acceptors
quinoxaline
rigid conformation
ternary organic solar cells

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Yu, H., Wang, Y., Kwok, C. H., Zhou, R., Yao, Z., Mukherjee, S., Sergeev, A., Hu, H., Fu, Y., Ng, H. M., Chen, L., Zhang, D., Zhao, D., Zheng, Z., Lu, X., Yin, H., Wong, K. S., Ade, H., Zhang, C., ... Yan, H. (2024). A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells. Joule, 8(8), 2304-2324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.010

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title = "A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells",

abstract = "All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have seen rapid progress enabled by the development of high-performance polymer acceptors. Most polymer acceptors are based on the monomers of a classic small molecular acceptor (SMA) named Y6 by polymerizing at the position of the end groups, forming an “end-to-end” linkage. In this work, we report a completely different “core-to-core” linking mode by polymerizing the Y-series monomers at the central core position instead. This innovative strategy results in a drastically altered molecular configuration that resembles a “double decker,” with intramolecular packing between different monomer units in the same polymer. The overall molecular packing is improved, benefiting charge delocalization and charge transport. As a result, the PffBQx-T-based ternary blend achieved an outstanding efficiency of 18.7%, attributed to the enhanced absorption response, improved packing, and efficient charge dynamics. Our work demonstrates a novel polymer design rationale that serves as a promising avenue toward highly efficient and stable all-PSCs. {\textcopyright} 2024 Elsevier Inc.",

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author = "Han Yu and Yan Wang and Kwok, {Chung Hang} and Rongkun Zhou and Zefan Yao and Subhrangsu Mukherjee and Aleksandr Sergeev and Haixia Hu and Yuang Fu and Ng, {Ho Ming} and Li Chen and Di Zhang and Dahui Zhao and Zilong Zheng and Xinhui Lu and Hang Yin and Wong, {Kam Sing} and Harald Ade and Chen Zhang and Zonglong Zhu and He Yan",

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Yu, H, Wang, Y, Kwok, CH, Zhou, R, Yao, Z, Mukherjee, S, Sergeev, A, Hu, H, Fu, Y, Ng, HM, Chen, L, Zhang, D, Zhao, D, Zheng, Z, Lu, X, Yin, H, Wong, KS, Ade, H, Zhang, C, Zhu, Z & Yan, H 2024, 'A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells', Joule, vol. 8, no. 8, pp. 2304-2324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.010

TY - JOUR

T1 - A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells

AU - Yu, Han

AU - Wang, Yan

AU - Kwok, Chung Hang

AU - Zhou, Rongkun

AU - Yao, Zefan

AU - Mukherjee, Subhrangsu

AU - Sergeev, Aleksandr

AU - Hu, Haixia

AU - Fu, Yuang

AU - Ng, Ho Ming

AU - Chen, Li

AU - Zhang, Di

AU - Zhao, Dahui

AU - Zheng, Zilong

AU - Lu, Xinhui

AU - Yin, Hang

AU - Wong, Kam Sing

AU - Ade, Harald

AU - Zhang, Chen

AU - Zhu, Zonglong

AU - Yan, He

PY - 2024/8/21

Y1 - 2024/8/21

N2 - All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have seen rapid progress enabled by the development of high-performance polymer acceptors. Most polymer acceptors are based on the monomers of a classic small molecular acceptor (SMA) named Y6 by polymerizing at the position of the end groups, forming an “end-to-end” linkage. In this work, we report a completely different “core-to-core” linking mode by polymerizing the Y-series monomers at the central core position instead. This innovative strategy results in a drastically altered molecular configuration that resembles a “double decker,” with intramolecular packing between different monomer units in the same polymer. The overall molecular packing is improved, benefiting charge delocalization and charge transport. As a result, the PffBQx-T-based ternary blend achieved an outstanding efficiency of 18.7%, attributed to the enhanced absorption response, improved packing, and efficient charge dynamics. Our work demonstrates a novel polymer design rationale that serves as a promising avenue toward highly efficient and stable all-PSCs. © 2024 Elsevier Inc.

AB - All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have seen rapid progress enabled by the development of high-performance polymer acceptors. Most polymer acceptors are based on the monomers of a classic small molecular acceptor (SMA) named Y6 by polymerizing at the position of the end groups, forming an “end-to-end” linkage. In this work, we report a completely different “core-to-core” linking mode by polymerizing the Y-series monomers at the central core position instead. This innovative strategy results in a drastically altered molecular configuration that resembles a “double decker,” with intramolecular packing between different monomer units in the same polymer. The overall molecular packing is improved, benefiting charge delocalization and charge transport. As a result, the PffBQx-T-based ternary blend achieved an outstanding efficiency of 18.7%, attributed to the enhanced absorption response, improved packing, and efficient charge dynamics. Our work demonstrates a novel polymer design rationale that serves as a promising avenue toward highly efficient and stable all-PSCs. © 2024 Elsevier Inc.

KW - all-polymer solar cells

KW - double-decker structures

KW - intramolecular interaction

KW - polymerized acceptors

KW - quinoxaline

KW - rigid conformation

KW - ternary organic solar cells

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U2 - 10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.010

DO - 10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.010

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 2542-4351

VL - 8

SP - 2304

EP - 2324

JO - Joule

JF - Joule

IS - 8

ER -

A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells

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Research Keywords

UN SDGs

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CRF: Developing Non-fullerence Organic Solar Cells with Small Photovoltage Loss

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A polymer acceptor with double-decker configuration enhances molecular packing for high-performance all-polymer solar cells

Abstract

Funding

Research Keywords

UN SDGs

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CRF: Developing Non-fullerence Organic Solar Cells with Small Photovoltage Loss

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