Self-Assembly Control of Y-Series Non-fullerene Acceptors for Sustainable and Scalable Organic Photovoltaics

Dingqin Hu; Hua Tang; Jiehao Fu; Yaohui Li; Lei Liu; Peihao Huang; Jie Lv; Daming Zheng; Yakun He; Heng Liu; Baomin Xu; Zheng Hu; Xinhui Lu; Zeyun Xiao; Gang Li; Yang Michael Yang; Frédéric Laquai; Christoph J. Brabec; Duu-Jong Lee; Hsien-Yi Hsu

doi:10.1007/s40820-025-02021-7

Self-Assembly Control of Y-Series Non-fullerene Acceptors for Sustainable and Scalable Organic Photovoltaics

Dingqin Hu
, Hua Tang^*
, Jiehao Fu
, Yaohui Li
, Lei Liu
, Peihao Huang
, Jie Lv
, Daming Zheng
, Yakun He
, Heng Liu
, Baomin Xu
, Zheng Hu
, Xinhui Lu
, Zeyun Xiao
, Gang Li
, Yang Michael Yang
, Frédéric Laquai
, Christoph J. Brabec
, Duu-Jong Lee^*
, Hsien-Yi Hsu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

4 Citations (Scopus)

3 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Sustainability and scalability remain critical hurdles for the commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, addressing both poses challenge. Herein, we introduce a simple yet effective strategy utilizing 3,5-dichloropyridine (PDCC) as a solid additive to fine-tune the self-assembly behavior of Y-series non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) to tackle the upscaling limitations in green-solvent-processed OSCs. PDCC predominantly interacts with Y-series NFAs, facilitating molecular crystallization and thereby driving the self-assembly of Y-series NFAs during film-forming dynamics, leading to more uniform active layers with improved molecular packing and reduced charge recombination. As a result, PDCC-driven self-assembly strategy enables high-performance OSCs with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.47%. When translated to sustainable fabrication, this strategy significantly boosts the PCE of large-area green-solvent-processed OSC modules (19.3 cm²) from 13.87% to 15.79%, ranking it among the best-performing green-solvent-processed large-area OSC modules (> 18 cm²). Beyond its impact on PCE enhancement, PDCC serves as a multifunctional additive to improve long-term stability and exhibits strong universality across multiple material systems. This work establishes a promising approach for advancing sustainable and scalable OSCs, paving the way for their commercialization. © The Author(s) 2026.

Original language	English
Article number	182
Number of pages	14
Journal	Nano-Micro Letters
Volume	18
Online published	5 Jan 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-02021-7
Publication status	Online published - 5 Jan 2026

Funding

D. Hu thanks for the research grant from the Youth Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62305340) and the financial support from the Hong Kong Research Grant Council via STEM Postdoctoral Fellowship (Project no. 9446002). H. Tang. expresses his gratitude to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the support during his stay in Christoph J. Brabec's group at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (HI ERN). Y. H. thanks the research grant from KAUST global fellowship postdoc. The authors acknowledge financial support from the Innovation and Technology Commission (Grant no. MHP/104/21), Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (JCYJ20210324125612035, R-IND12303, and R-IND12304). Z. H. thanks the National Key Research and Development Program of China (no. 2021YFA1500900) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 52071174). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club under the research work Hong Kong JC STEM Lab for Circular Bio-economy (Project No. 2023-0078).

UN SDGs

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

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Research Keywords

Large-area modules
Organic solar cells
Self-assembly control

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Hu, D., Tang, H., Fu, J., Li, Y., Liu, L., Huang, P., Lv, J., Zheng, D., He, Y., Liu, H., Xu, B., Hu, Z., Lu, X., Xiao, Z., Li, G., Yang, Y. M., Laquai, F., Brabec, C. J., Lee, D.-J., & Hsu, H.-Y. (2026). Self-Assembly Control of Y-Series Non-fullerene Acceptors for Sustainable and Scalable Organic Photovoltaics. Nano-Micro Letters, 18, Article 182. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-02021-7

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abstract = "Sustainability and scalability remain critical hurdles for the commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, addressing both poses challenge. Herein, we introduce a simple yet effective strategy utilizing 3,5-dichloropyridine (PDCC) as a solid additive to fine-tune the self-assembly behavior of Y-series non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) to tackle the upscaling limitations in green-solvent-processed OSCs. PDCC predominantly interacts with Y-series NFAs, facilitating molecular crystallization and thereby driving the self-assembly of Y-series NFAs during film-forming dynamics, leading to more uniform active layers with improved molecular packing and reduced charge recombination. As a result, PDCC-driven self-assembly strategy enables high-performance OSCs with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.47\%. When translated to sustainable fabrication, this strategy significantly boosts the PCE of large-area green-solvent-processed OSC modules (19.3 cm2) from 13.87\% to 15.79\%, ranking it among the best-performing green-solvent-processed large-area OSC modules (> 18 cm2). Beyond its impact on PCE enhancement, PDCC serves as a multifunctional additive to improve long-term stability and exhibits strong universality across multiple material systems. This work establishes a promising approach for advancing sustainable and scalable OSCs, paving the way for their commercialization. {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026.",

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T1 - Self-Assembly Control of Y-Series Non-fullerene Acceptors for Sustainable and Scalable Organic Photovoltaics

AU - Hu, Dingqin

AU - Tang, Hua

AU - Fu, Jiehao

AU - Li, Yaohui

AU - Liu, Lei

AU - Huang, Peihao

AU - Lv, Jie

AU - Zheng, Daming

AU - He, Yakun

AU - Liu, Heng

AU - Xu, Baomin

AU - Hu, Zheng

AU - Lu, Xinhui

AU - Xiao, Zeyun

AU - Li, Gang

AU - Yang, Yang Michael

AU - Laquai, Frédéric

AU - Brabec, Christoph J.

AU - Lee, Duu-Jong

AU - Hsu, Hsien-Yi

PY - 2026/1/5

Y1 - 2026/1/5

N2 - Sustainability and scalability remain critical hurdles for the commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, addressing both poses challenge. Herein, we introduce a simple yet effective strategy utilizing 3,5-dichloropyridine (PDCC) as a solid additive to fine-tune the self-assembly behavior of Y-series non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) to tackle the upscaling limitations in green-solvent-processed OSCs. PDCC predominantly interacts with Y-series NFAs, facilitating molecular crystallization and thereby driving the self-assembly of Y-series NFAs during film-forming dynamics, leading to more uniform active layers with improved molecular packing and reduced charge recombination. As a result, PDCC-driven self-assembly strategy enables high-performance OSCs with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.47%. When translated to sustainable fabrication, this strategy significantly boosts the PCE of large-area green-solvent-processed OSC modules (19.3 cm2) from 13.87% to 15.79%, ranking it among the best-performing green-solvent-processed large-area OSC modules (> 18 cm2). Beyond its impact on PCE enhancement, PDCC serves as a multifunctional additive to improve long-term stability and exhibits strong universality across multiple material systems. This work establishes a promising approach for advancing sustainable and scalable OSCs, paving the way for their commercialization. © The Author(s) 2026.

AB - Sustainability and scalability remain critical hurdles for the commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, addressing both poses challenge. Herein, we introduce a simple yet effective strategy utilizing 3,5-dichloropyridine (PDCC) as a solid additive to fine-tune the self-assembly behavior of Y-series non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) to tackle the upscaling limitations in green-solvent-processed OSCs. PDCC predominantly interacts with Y-series NFAs, facilitating molecular crystallization and thereby driving the self-assembly of Y-series NFAs during film-forming dynamics, leading to more uniform active layers with improved molecular packing and reduced charge recombination. As a result, PDCC-driven self-assembly strategy enables high-performance OSCs with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.47%. When translated to sustainable fabrication, this strategy significantly boosts the PCE of large-area green-solvent-processed OSC modules (19.3 cm2) from 13.87% to 15.79%, ranking it among the best-performing green-solvent-processed large-area OSC modules (> 18 cm2). Beyond its impact on PCE enhancement, PDCC serves as a multifunctional additive to improve long-term stability and exhibits strong universality across multiple material systems. This work establishes a promising approach for advancing sustainable and scalable OSCs, paving the way for their commercialization. © The Author(s) 2026.

KW - Large-area modules

KW - Organic solar cells

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U2 - 10.1007/s40820-025-02021-7

DO - 10.1007/s40820-025-02021-7

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 2311-6706

VL - 18

JO - Nano-Micro Letters

JF - Nano-Micro Letters

M1 - 182

ER -

Self-Assembly Control of Y-Series Non-fullerene Acceptors for Sustainable and Scalable Organic Photovoltaics

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

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ITF-RTH: GSP114 - Research Talent Hub

ITF: Large-area, High-performing and Stable Perovskite Light-emitting Didoes

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Self-Assembly Control of Y-Series Non-fullerene Acceptors for Sustainable and Scalable Organic Photovoltaics

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

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Projects

ITF-RTH: GSP114 - Research Talent Hub

ITF: Large-area, High-performing and Stable Perovskite Light-emitting Didoes

Cite this