Precise Morphology Control via Backbone‐Derived Solid Additive Enables Binary Organic Solar Cells to Achieve 20% Efficiency and Thick‐Film Compatibility
Precise control of active layer morphology is essential for advancing organic solar cells (OSCs) toward practical applications. Here, a generalizable morphology regulation strategy is proposed using a structurally tailored crystallization template derived from the polymer donor backbone. A small molecule, BDD-C6, is designed by extracting the benzodithiophene (BDD) unit from PM6 and appending an alkylated thiophene terminal. When incorporated into PM6:L8-BO and PM6:BTP-eC9 binary blends, compatibility studies and cross-sectional absorption analysis reveal a favorable vertical phase distribution on alcohol-soluble substrates. Thermodynamic evaluations confirm the good thermal stability and crystallinity of BDD-C6. Crystallization kinetics and morphological characterizations investigations further show that BDD-C6 delays film formation and promotes polymer ordering, thus extending exciton diffusion length. As a result, PM6:L8-BO-based binary device delivers a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.81% in thin films and maintains a PCE of 16.93% even at a 400 nm thickness. Moreover, PM6:BTP-eC9-based OSCs present an efficiency of over 20%. Extending this strategy to D18 systems using a DTBT-C6 small molecule similarly enhances morphology and device performance, realizing a PCE of 20.18% in D18:L8-BO binary device. This work offers a backbone-derived crystallization template strategy for the scalable fabrication of high-efficiency OSCs.
Authors
- Guangye Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2750-7720)
- Jiaying Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9674-2903)
- Jie Min (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0447-3764)
- Shouchun Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1086-1755)
- Jiaxu Che
- Hanlin Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5617-0998)
- Lingling Zhan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2684-8475)
- Jinyang Yu
- Yingliang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1930-0700)
- Wei Lü (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9859-8394)
- Yun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5919-1073)
- Tianyi Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7982-1642)
- Jinzhi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5804-6616)
- Rui Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1972-6541)
- Xiaokang Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0402-7342)
- Hongzheng Chen
- Yaxin Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5732-0086)
Institutions
- Hangzhou Normal University (CN)
- Shenzhen Polytechnic University (CN)
- Wuhan University (CN)
- Guangzhou University (CN)
- Shenzhen Technology University (CN)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2025-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202518516
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.46