Stepwise Multidimensional Asymmetric Design of Dimeric Acceptors Enables Simultaneous Ordered Packing and High PLQY for High‐Efficiency Organic Solar Cells

ABSTRACT Dimeric molecule acceptors (DMAs) are promising for organic solar cells (OSCs) due to their superior stability and high efficiency. However, further efficiency advancement is critically constrained by a fundamental trade‑off between achieving ordered molecular packing for efficient charge transport and maintaining high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) for suppressed non‑radiative recombination loss ( E nr ). In this study, for the first time, we propose a stepwise multidimensional asymmetry engineering to overcome the dilemma and develop three DMAs with progressively increasing asymmetry, namely symmetric C1, mono‑asymmetric C2, and dual‑asymmetric C3. As asymmetric dimension increases, molecular dipole gradually rotates from perpendicular direction for C1 to tilt direction for C2, then to nearly in‑plane for C3, inducing slipped J‑aggregation of C3 with slightly loosened stacking yet enhanced crystal coherence length, which is conducive to efficient charge transport. Meanwhile, among these DMAs, dual‑asymmetric C3 exhibits the most suppressed backbone vibrations due to enhanced molecular rigidity, leading to the highest PLQY and thus the lowest E n r . Consequently, PM6:C3 device achieves a top‐level efficiency of 19.87%, outperforming the PM6:C1 (17.88%) and PM6:C2 (18.54%) counterparts. Moreover, D18:L8‐BO:C3 device delivers a remarkable PCE of 20.64%. This work demonstrates that multidimensional asymmetric engineering simultaneously enables ordered molecular packing and high PLQY for high‑performance DMAs.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2026-09-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.4282350
Primary Topic
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Stepwise Multidimensional Asymmetric Design of Dimeric Acceptors Enables Simultaneous Ordered Packing and High PLQY for High‐Efficiency Organic Solar Cells

Lie Chen, Youhui Zhang, Changduk Yang, Zhuoran Kuang et al.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
article

Stepwise Multidimensional Asymmetric Design of Dimeric Acceptors Enables Simultaneous Ordered Packing and High PLQY for High‐Efficiency Organic Solar Cells

Lie Chen, Youhui Zhang, Changduk Yang, Zhuoran Kuang, Sangjin Yang, Longbin Li, Jiabin Liu, Lifu Zhang, Feiyan Wu, Xiaohui Ouyang, Wen Zhou, Chao Yang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dimeric molecule acceptors (DMAs) are promising for organic solar cells (OSCs) due to their superior stability and high efficiency. However, further efficiency advancement is critically constrained by a fundamental trade‑off between achieving ordered molecular packing for efficient charge transport and maintaining high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) for suppressed non‑radiative recombination loss ( E nr ). In this study, for the first time, we propose a stepwise multidimensional asymmetry engineering to overcome the dilemma and develop three DMAs with progressively increasing asymmetry, namely symmetric C1, mono‑asymmetric C2, and dual‑asymmetric C3. As asymmetric dimension increases, molecular dipole gradually rotates from perpendicular direction for C1 to tilt direction for C2, then to nearly in‑plane for C3, inducing slipped J‑aggregation of C3 with slightly loosened stacking yet enhanced crystal coherence length, which is conducive to efficient charge transport. Meanwhile, among these DMAs, dual‑asymmetric C3 exhibits the most suppressed backbone vibrations due to enhanced molecular rigidity, leading to the highest PLQY and thus the lowest E n r . Consequently, PM6:C3 device achieves a top‐level efficiency of 19.87%, outperforming the PM6:C1 (17.88%) and PM6:C2 (18.54%) counterparts. Moreover, D18:L8‐BO:C3 device delivers a remarkable PCE of 20.64%. This work demonstrates that multidimensional asymmetric engineering simultaneously enables ordered molecular packing and high PLQY for high‑performance DMAs.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN), Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (CN), Nanchang University (CN), Gannan Normal University (CN), Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (KR), Jiangxi Normal University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province
Openalex Percentile: Top 20%
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
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