Dual‐Compatible Polarity‐switched Small Molecules Enable Auxiliary Charge Generation and Transport Pathways in Organic Solar Cells

Abstract The commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs) is limited by bottlenecks including relatively high voltage loss, insufficient donor–acceptor interfacial charge generation, and morphological instability. Traditional approaches of interfacial regulation usually struggle with unmatching energetic landscape and/or molecular compatibility. In this study, two small molecules, L8‐CT and L8‐2CT are designed and synthesized by end‐group substitution of the star nonfullerene acceptor L8‐BO, gradually switching it from electron acceptor to electron donor. Moreover, L8‐2CT with full end‐group substitution exhibits exceptional compatibility/miscibility with both donor (PM6) and acceptor (L8‐BO) in the ternary blend. The tight molecular packing between L8‐2CT and L8‐BO also reduces exciton diffusion time by an order of magnitude compared to PM6:L8‐BO. The introduction of L8‐2CT significantly enhances the donor–acceptor molecular percolation at the interface so that enabling auxiliary charge generation and transport pathways, thereby boosting the interfacial charge generation efficiency and morphology stability. Therefore, the PM6:L8‐BO:L8‐2CT ternary device achieves a remarkable efficiency of 20.33%, with simultaneously enhanced photostability. This achievement fundamentally challenges the traditional design paradigms for third components in ternary OSCs.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2025-10-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202517341
Primary Topic
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
Type
article
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article

Dual‐Compatible Polarity‐switched Small Molecules Enable Auxiliary Charge Generation and Transport Pathways in Organic Solar Cells

Zhixiang Wei, Lixuan Kan, Renqiang Yang, Jiawei Deng et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
article

Dual‐Compatible Polarity‐switched Small Molecules Enable Auxiliary Charge Generation and Transport Pathways in Organic Solar Cells

Zhixiang Wei, Lixuan Kan, Renqiang Yang, Jiawei Deng, Yanming Sun, Peiqing Cong, Xunchang Wang, Feng Liu, Zhen Wang, Ziwei Zhang, Jiali Song, Guangkuo Dai, Haisheng Ma
article en

Abstract

Abstract The commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs) is limited by bottlenecks including relatively high voltage loss, insufficient donor–acceptor interfacial charge generation, and morphological instability. Traditional approaches of interfacial regulation usually struggle with unmatching energetic landscape and/or molecular compatibility. In this study, two small molecules, L8‐CT and L8‐2CT are designed and synthesized by end‐group substitution of the star nonfullerene acceptor L8‐BO, gradually switching it from electron acceptor to electron donor. Moreover, L8‐2CT with full end‐group substitution exhibits exceptional compatibility/miscibility with both donor (PM6) and acceptor (L8‐BO) in the ternary blend. The tight molecular packing between L8‐2CT and L8‐BO also reduces exciton diffusion time by an order of magnitude compared to PM6:L8‐BO. The introduction of L8‐2CT significantly enhances the donor–acceptor molecular percolation at the interface so that enabling auxiliary charge generation and transport pathways, thereby boosting the interfacial charge generation efficiency and morphology stability. Therefore, the PM6:L8‐BO:L8‐2CT ternary device achieves a remarkable efficiency of 20.33%, with simultaneously enhanced photostability. This achievement fundamentally challenges the traditional design paradigms for third components in ternary OSCs.

Angewandte ChemieVol. 137(50)
Zhejiang International Studies University (CN), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN), Jianghan University (CN), National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (CN), Beihang University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 72%
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
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