A Refined Bulk P–I–N Structure in All-Polymer Solar Cells To Achieve 20.1% Efficiency and Improved Stability
All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have shown good potential for achieving balanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) and operational stability. However, precise control of the morphology remains challenging. Here, we constructed a bulk p-i-n structure with a regulated i-region by incorporating a shamrock-shaped nonfullerene acceptor, AQI4. This ternary formulation resulted in optimized energy-level stairing, enhanced exciton dissociation, and reduced energy loss. In blended thin film fabrication, a binary solvent of chlorobenzene (CB):o-xylene (OXY) was used, which enhanced the crystallization of the polymers and formed a high-density fibril network. The i-region width was reduced to less than 2 nm. This structural refinement enabled efficient charge transport through tie-chains between polymer crystallizations, thereby suppressing charge recombination. As a result, the organic solar cell (OSC) devices achieved a PCE of 20.1% (certified as 19.5%) and retained good stability. The <i>T</i><sub>80</sub> lifetime of over 1800 h in the OSC structure was recorded. Notably, the binary solvent CB:OXY also contributed to a feasible printing fabrication; the 18.4 cm<sup>2</sup> OSC mini-modules achieved a PCE of 16.5%. Our results suggest that the shape of the guest molecule may be a key point to modulate the bulk p-i-n structure and improve the performance of all-PSCs.
Authors
- Senke Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5379-7955)
- Jinge Zhu
- Lin Yi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7975-1901)
- Lei Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3971-0299)
- Lixuan Kan
- Erjun Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1182-311X)
- Rui Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1188-3198)
- Zongtao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5788-2660)
- Jiaxin Zhuang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0737-8906)
- Jiawei Deng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6683-5043)
- Mengwei Ji
- Chao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5712-6873)
- Feng Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5572-8512)
- Ming Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0630-8693)
- Mengzhen Du
- Qing Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4087-2837)
Institutions
- Donghua University (CN)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Zhengzhou University (CN)
- Jiaxing University (CN)
- Materials Modification (United States) (US)
- Division of Materials Science and Engineering (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Published
- 2025-07-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c04656
- Citations
- 65
- Primary Topic
- Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 47.48
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality