Hansen Parameter‐Engineered Binary Solvents Enable 19.3% Efficient Organic Solar Cells with Green Processability

Abstract The widespread use of toxic halogenated aromatic solvents in organic solar cells (OSCs) poses severe environmental and health hazards, yet their replacement with eco‐friendly alternatives remains challenging due to poor solubility of high‐performance photoactive materials. Herein, a Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs)‐guided binary solvents strategy is reported to unlock non‐aromatic, halogen‐free solvent systems for sustainable OSCs manufacturing. By blending dihydropyran (DHP), 2‐methyl tetrahydrofuran (MeTHF), and cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) with carbon disulfide (CS 2 ), precise HSPs alignment is achieved, enabling dissolution of the polymer donor PM6 and non‐fullerene acceptor L8‐BO. As the solvent mixture transitions from DHP:CS 2 to MeTHF:CS 2 to CPME:CS 2 , the resulting PM6:L8‐BO blend films exhibit progressively enhanced crystallinity, optimized phase separation, leading to more efficient exciton separation, improved charge transport and collection and reduced non‐geminate recombination, ultimately achieving power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 13.94%, 17.15%, and 18.51%, respectively. Further optimization via a quaternary blended photoactive layer processed with CPME:CS 2 raised the PCEs to 19.31%, representing one of the highest efficiencies reported for OSCs processed with halogen‐free and non‐aromatic solvents. This work underscores the importance of employing a binary‐solvent strategy to discover novel, eco‐friendly solvent systems, thereby advancing the development of high‐performance OSCs.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-04-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202504967
Citations
7
Primary Topic
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.11

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article

Hansen Parameter‐Engineered Binary Solvents Enable 19.3% Efficient Organic Solar Cells with Green Processability

Qiaomei Chen, Chengyi Xiao, Yetai Cheng, Christopher Robert McNeill et al.
7 citations
Advanced Functional Materials
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
5.11
article

Hansen Parameter‐Engineered Binary Solvents Enable 19.3% Efficient Organic Solar Cells with Green Processability

Qiaomei Chen, Chengyi Xiao, Yetai Cheng, Christopher Robert McNeill, Weiwei Li, Zhou Zhang, Hao Lu, Jingwei Xue, Wei Ma
article en
7 citations

Abstract

Abstract The widespread use of toxic halogenated aromatic solvents in organic solar cells (OSCs) poses severe environmental and health hazards, yet their replacement with eco‐friendly alternatives remains challenging due to poor solubility of high‐performance photoactive materials. Herein, a Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs)‐guided binary solvents strategy is reported to unlock non‐aromatic, halogen‐free solvent systems for sustainable OSCs manufacturing. By blending dihydropyran (DHP), 2‐methyl tetrahydrofuran (MeTHF), and cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) with carbon disulfide (CS 2 ), precise HSPs alignment is achieved, enabling dissolution of the polymer donor PM6 and non‐fullerene acceptor L8‐BO. As the solvent mixture transitions from DHP:CS 2 to MeTHF:CS 2 to CPME:CS 2 , the resulting PM6:L8‐BO blend films exhibit progressively enhanced crystallinity, optimized phase separation, leading to more efficient exciton separation, improved charge transport and collection and reduced non‐geminate recombination, ultimately achieving power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 13.94%, 17.15%, and 18.51%, respectively. Further optimization via a quaternary blended photoactive layer processed with CPME:CS 2 raised the PCEs to 19.31%, representing one of the highest efficiencies reported for OSCs processed with halogen‐free and non‐aromatic solvents. This work underscores the importance of employing a binary‐solvent strategy to discover novel, eco‐friendly solvent systems, thereby advancing the development of high‐performance OSCs.

Advanced Functional MaterialsVol. 35(40)
Qingdao University (CN), Monash University (AU), Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN), Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
5.11
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