Understanding the Interplay of Transport-Morphology-Performance in PBDB-T Based Polymer Solar Cells

Zhang, Qilin; Yuan, Xin; Feng, Yifeng; Larson, Bryon W.; Su, Gregory M.; Maung, Yin Maung; Rujisamphan, Nopporn; Li, Youyong; Yuan, Jianyu; Ma, Wanli

doi:10.1002/solr.201900524

Understanding the Interplay of Transport-Morphology-Performance in PBDB-T Based Polymer Solar Cells

Journal Article · Thu Jan 09 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Solar RRL

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.201900524· OSTI ID:1593692

Zhang, Qilin ^[1]; Yuan, Xin ^[1]; Feng, Yifeng ^[1]; Larson, Bryon W. ^[2]; Su, Gregory M. ^[3]; Maung, Yin Maung ^[4]; Rujisamphan, Nopporn ^[5]; Li, Youyong ^[1]; ^[1]; Ma, Wanli ^[1]

Soochow Univ., Suzhou (China)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Univ. of Yangon (Myanmar)
King Mongkut's Univ. of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok (Thailand)

Polymer-polymer blends have been reported to show exceptional thermal and ambient stability. However, power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) from devices using polymeric acceptors have been recorded to be significantly lower than those based on conjugated molecular acceptors. Here, two organic nonfullerene bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blends ITIC:PBDB-T and N2200:PBDB-T, together with their fullerene counterpart, PCBM:PBDB-T, are adopted to understand the effect of electron acceptors on device performance. We comprehensively investigate free charge carrier properties using time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) measurements. The nonfullerene devices show an improved PCE of 10.06% and 6.65% in the ITIC and N2200 based cells, respectively. In comparison, the PCBM: PBDB-T based devices yielded a PCE of 5.88%. The optimal N2200: PBDB-T produced the highest TRMC mobility, longest lifetime, and greatest free carrier diffusion length. We found that such phenomena can be associated with the unfavorable morphology of the all-polymer BHJ microstructure. In contrast, the solar cell using either the PCBM or ITIC acceptors display a more balanced donor and acceptor phase separation, leading to more efficient free carrier separation and transport in an operating device. Sacrificing efficiency for superior stability, we show that the improved structure in all-polymer blend could deliver a more stable morphology under thermal stress.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1593692

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1775376

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-75202; MainId:16692; UUID:637bfb9b-99ef-e911-9c29-ac162d87dfe5; MainAdminID:5170

Journal Information:: Solar RRL, Journal Name: Solar RRL Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 4; ISSN 2367-198X

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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