Significant Efficiency Enhancements in Non‐Y Series Acceptors by the Addition of Outer Side Chains
Most current highly efficient organic solar cells utilize small molecules like Y6 and its derivatives as electron acceptors in the photoactive layer. In this work, a small molecule acceptor, SC8-IT4F, is developed through outer side chain engineering on the terminal thiophene of a conjugated 6,12-dihydro-dithienoindeno[2,3-d:2',3'-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene (IDTT) central core. Compared to the reference molecule C8-IT4F, which lacks outer side chains, SC8-IT4F displays notable differences in molecule geometry (as shown by simulations), thermal behavior, single-crystal packing, and film morphology. Blend films of SC8-IT4F and the polymer donor PM6 exhibit larger carrier mobilities, longer carrier lifetimes, and reduced recombination compared to C8-IT4F, resulting in improved device performance. Binary photovoltaic devices based on the PM6:SC8-IT4F films reveal an optimal efficiency over 15%, which is one of the best values for non-Y type small molecule acceptors (SMAs). The resultant devices also show better thermal and operational stability than the control PM6:L8-BO devices. SC8-IT4F and its blend exhibit a higher relative degree of crystallinity and π coherence length, compared to C8-IT4F samples, beneficial for charge transport and device performance. The results indicate that outer side chain engineering on existing small electron acceptors can be a promising molecular design strategy for further pursuing high-performance organic solar cells.
Authors
- Qiao He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9383-9387)
- Joel Luke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3208-8572)
- Panagiota Kafourou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7082-6527)
- Florian Glöcklhofer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6911-8563)
- Martin Heeney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6879-5020)
- Zhuping Fei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2160-9136)
- Thomas D. Anthopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0978-8813)
- Byongkyu Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1908-182X)
- Harald W. Ade (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1853-5471)
- Julien Gorenflot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0533-3205)
- Maryam Alqurashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7089-7445)
- Wejdan Althobaiti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6681-9081)
- Wisnu Tantyo Hadmojo
- Catherine S. P. De Castro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0649-3427)
- Xiantao Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3472-3288)
- Frédéric Laquai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5887-6158)
- Andrew J. P. White (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6175-1607)
- S. Mukherjee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5479-3750)
- Bowen Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2630-8690)
Institutions
- North Carolina State University (US)
- TU Wien (AT)
- Tianjin University (CN)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- LMU Klinikum (DE)
- Henry Royce Institute (GB)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2025-01-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202414042
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.46
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- North Carolina State University
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
- Office of Science
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Office of Naval Research
- Basic Energy Sciences