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.

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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
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article

Precise Morphology Control via Backbone‐Derived Solid Additive Enables Binary Organic Solar Cells to Achieve 20% Efficiency and Thick‐Film Compatibility

Guangye Zhang, Jiaying Wu, Jie Min, Shouchun Yin et al.
2 citations
Advanced Materials
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
1.46
article

Precise Morphology Control via Backbone‐Derived Solid Additive Enables Binary Organic Solar Cells to Achieve 20% Efficiency and Thick‐Film Compatibility

Guangye Zhang, Jiaying Wu, Jie Min, Shouchun Yin, Jiaxu Che, Hanlin Hu, Lingling Zhan, Jinyang Yu, Yingliang Liu, Wei Lü, Yun Li, Tianyi Chen, Jinzhi Zhang, Rui Sun, Xiaokang Sun, Hongzheng Chen, Yaxin Yang
article en
2 citations

Abstract

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.

Advanced MaterialsVol. 38(8)
Hangzhou Normal University (CN), Shenzhen Polytechnic University (CN), Wuhan University (CN), Guangzhou University (CN), Shenzhen Technology University (CN), Zhejiang University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
1.46
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