Smart Targeting Layer on Silver Nanowire Electrodes Achieving Efficiency Breakthroughs in ITO‐Free Conventional Flexible Organic Solar Cells
Abstract Silver nanowire (AgNW) electrodes, known for their intrinsic flexibility and tunable optoelectronic properties, have garnered considerable attention for use in flexible organic solar cells (OSCs). However, in conventional OSCs, their low work function (WF) causes energy‐level mismatches with classic aqueous hole transport layers (HTLs), while their poor hydrophilicity hinders the formation of optimized HTL morphology and crystallinity, posing challenges to their integration into high‐performance OSCs. To address these issues, functionally targeted molecules with a thiol group at one end and strong electron‐withdrawing, hydrophilic functional groups at the other are precisely engineered to wrap around the AgNW electrodes. The thiol group facilitates the formation of robust self‐assembled molecules (SAMs) on the AgNW electrodes through stable S−Ag chemical bonds at room temperature. The strong electron‐withdrawing groups generate notable molecular and interfacial dipoles that effectively raise the WF of AgNW electrodes. Notably, the hydrophilic groups not only improve electrode wettability but also promote strong hydrogen bonding interactions with HTL, leading to substantial improvements in the morphology and crystallinity of the HTL. This precision wrapping strategy enables the fabrication of high‐efficient conventional flexible OSCs, achieving a record power conversion efficiency of 18.84 % (certified at 18.56 %) for flexible OSCs based on ITO‐free transparent electrodes.
Authors
- Xiaoxiao Wu
- Changduk Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7452-4681)
- Guang Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0368-9988)
- Seunglok Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1012-8202)
- Juanyong Wan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5226-7271)
- Jiacheng Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2253-2018)
- Junyuan Ding
- Yaowen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7229-582X)
- Jianlei Cao
- Weijie Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7614-1702)
- Yongfang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2565-2748)
- Haiyang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9144-0631)
- Ben Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4473-9184)
- Juan Zhu
- Leishuo Yang
- Jinfeng Xia
Institutions
- Soochow University (TW)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Soochow University (CN)
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Chemistry (CN)
- Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie
- Published
- 2025-02-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202501270
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Conducting polymers and applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.61