Unraveling the influence of non-fullerene acceptor molecular packing on photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells

Ye, Linglong; Weng, Kangkang; Xu, Jinqiu; Du, Xiaoyan; Chandrabose, Sreelakshmi; Chen, Kai; Zhou, Jiadong; Han, Guangchao; Tan, Songting; Xie, Zengqi; Yi, Yuanping; Li, Ning; Liu, Feng; Hodgkiss, Justin M.; Brabec, Christoph J.; Sun, Yanming

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19853-z

Unraveling the influence of non-fullerene acceptor molecular packing on photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells

Journal Article · Thu Nov 26 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19853-z· OSTI ID:1816804

Ye, Linglong ^[1]; Weng, Kangkang ^[2]; Xu, Jinqiu ^[3]; Du, Xiaoyan ^[4]; Chandrabose, Sreelakshmi ^[5]; Chen, Kai ^[6]; Zhou, Jiadong ^[7]; Han, Guangchao ^[8]; Tan, Songting ^[9]; Xie, Zengqi ^[7]; ^[8]; ^[10]; ^[11]; Hodgkiss, Justin M. ^[6]; ^[4]; ^[12]

Beihang Univ., Beijing (China). School of Chemistry; Xiangtan Univ., Xiangtan (China). College of Chemistry. Key Lab. of Environmentally Friendly Chemistry and Applications of Ministry of Education; OSTI
Beihang Univ., Beijing (China). School of Chemistry
Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (China). Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen (Germany). Inst. of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET); Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN), Erlangen (Germany)
Victoria Univ. of Wellington (New Zealand). School of Chemical and Physical Sciences. MacDiarmid Inst. for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
Victoria Univ. of Wellington (New Zealand). School of Chemical and Physical Sciences. MacDiarmid Inst. for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
South China Univ. of Technology, Guangzhou (China). Guangdong Provincial Key Lab. of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates. Inst. of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices. State Key Lab. of Luminescent Materials and Devices
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). Inst. of Chemistry. Key Lab. of Organic Solids. Beijing National Lab. for Molecular Science
Xiangtan Univ., Xiangtan (China). College of Chemistry. Key Lab. of Environmentally Friendly Chemistry and Applications of Ministry of Education
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen (Germany). Inst. of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET); Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN), Erlangen (Germany); Zhengzhou Univ. (China). National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology
Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (China). Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Beihang Univ., Beijing (China). School of Chemistry; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beijing (China)

In non-fullerene organic solar cells, the long-range structure ordering induced by end-group π–π stacking of fused-ring non-fullerene acceptors is considered as the critical factor in realizing efficient charge transport and high power conversion efficiency. Here, we demonstrate that side-chain engineering of non-fullerene acceptors could drive the fused-ring backbone assembly from a π–π stacking mode to an intermixed packing mode, and to a non-stacking mode to refine its solid-state properties. Different from the above-mentioned understanding, we find that close atom contacts in a non-stacking mode can form efficient charge transport pathway through close side atom interactions. The intermixed solid-state packing motif in active layers could enable organic solar cells with superior efficiency and reduced non-radiative recombination loss compared with devices based on molecules with the classic end-group π–π stacking mode. Our observations open a new avenue in material design that endows better photovoltaic performance.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1816804

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 11; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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