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Title: Efficient, Thermally Stable, and Mechanically Robust All-Polymer Solar Cells Consisting of the Same Benzodithiophene Unit-Based Polymer Acceptor and Donor with High Molecular Compatibility

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Korea Advanced Inst. Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)
  2. Gyeongsang National University, Jinju (Korea, Republic of)
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)

Abstract All‐polymer solar cells (all‐PSCs) are a highly attractive class of photovoltaics for wearable and portable electronics due to their excellent morphological and mechanical stabilities. Recently, new types of polymer acceptors ( P A s) consisting of non‐fullerene small molecule acceptors (NFSMAs) with strong light absorption have been proposed to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all‐PSCs. However, polymerization of NFSMAs often reduces entropy of mixing in PSC blends and prevents the formation of intermixed blend domains required for efficient charge generation and morphological stability. One approach to increase compatibility in these systems is to design P A s that contain the same building blocks as their polymer donor ( P D ) counterparts. Here, a series of NFSMA‐based P A s [P(BDT2BOY5‐X), (X = H, F, Cl)] are reported, by copolymerizing NFSMA (Y5‐2BO) with benzodithiophene (BDT), a common donating unit in high‐performance P D s such as PBDB‐T. All‐PSC blends composed of PBDB‐T P D and P(BDT2BOY5‐X) P A show enhanced molecular compatibility, resulting in excellent morphological and electronic properties. Specifically, PBDB‐T:P(BDT2BOY5‐Cl) all‐PSC has a PCE of 11.12%, which is significantly higher than previous PBDB‐T:Y5‐2BO (7.02%) and PBDB‐T:P(NDI2OD‐T2) (6.00%) PSCs. Additionally, the increased compatibility of these all‐PSCs greatly improves their thermal stability and mechanical robustness. For example, the crack onset strain (COS) and toughness of the PBDB‐T:P(BDT2BOY5‐Cl) blend are 15.9% and 3.24 MJ m –3 , respectively, in comparison to the PBDB‐T:Y5‐2BO blends at 2.21% and 0.32 MJ m –3 .

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; DE‐AC02‐05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1837372
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1804550
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 11, Issue 5; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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