Simultaneously Enhancing Exciton/Charge Transport in Organic Solar Cells by an Organoboron Additive

Lu, Heng; Chen, Kai; Bobba, Raja Sekhar; Shi, Jiangjian; Li, Mengyang; Wang, Yilin; Xue, Jingwei; Xue, Peiyao; Zheng, Xiaojian; Thorn, Karen E.; Wagner, Isabella; Lin, Chao‐Yang; Song, Yin; Ma, Wei; Tang, Zheng; Meng, Qingbo; Qiao, Quinn; Hodgkiss, Justin M.; Zhan, Xiaowei

doi:10.1002/adma.202205926

Simultaneously Enhancing Exciton/Charge Transport in Organic Solar Cells by an Organoboron Additive

Journal Article · Fri Aug 26 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Advanced Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202205926· OSTI ID:2422724

Lu, Heng ^[1]; Chen, Kai ^[2]; Bobba, Raja Sekhar ^[3]; Shi, Jiangjian ^[4]; Li, Mengyang ^[5]; Wang, Yilin ^[6]; Xue, Jingwei ^[6]; Xue, Peiyao ^[1]; Zheng, Xiaojian ^[1]; Thorn, Karen E. ^[2]; Wagner, Isabella ^[2]; Lin, Chao‐Yang ^[2]; Song, Yin ^[7]; Ma, Wei ^[6]; Tang, Zheng ^[5]; Meng, Qingbo ^[4]; Qiao, Quinn ^[3]; Hodgkiss, Justin M. ^[2]; ^[8]

Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
Victoria Univ. of Wellington (New Zealand)
Syracuse Univ., NY (United States)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Physics
Donghua University, Shanghai (China)
Xi'an Jiaotong Univ., Shaanxi (China)
Beijing Institute of Technology (China)
Peking Univ., Beijing (China); Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou (China)

Efficient exciton diffusion and charge transport play a vital role in advancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs). Here, a facile strategy is presented to simultaneously enhance exciton/charge transport of the widely studied PM6:Y6-based OSCs by employing highly emissive trans-bis(dimesitylboron)stilbene (BBS) as a solid additive. BBS transforms the emissive sites from a more H-type aggregate into a more J-type aggregate, which benefits the resonance energy transfer for PM6 exciton diffusion and energy transfer from PM6 to Y6. Transient gated photoluminescence spectroscopy measurements indicate that addition of BBS improves the exciton diffusion coefficient of PM6 and the dissociation of PM6 excitons in the PM6:Y6:BBS film. Transient absorption spectroscopy measurements confirm faster charge generation in PM6:Y6:BBS. Moreover, BBS helps improve Y6 crystallization, and current-sensing atomic force microscopy characterization reveals an improved charge-carrier diffusion length in PM6:Y6:BBS. Finally, owing to the enhanced exciton diffusion, exciton dissociation, charge generation, and charge transport, as well as reduced charge recombination and energy loss, a higher PCE of 17.6% with simultaneously improved open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, and fill factor is achieved for the PM6:Y6:BBS devices compared to the devices without BBS (16.2%).

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2422724

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1893975

Journal Information:: Advanced Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Materials Journal Issue: 42 Vol. 34; ISSN 0935-9648

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Simultaneously Enhancing Exciton/Charge Transport in Organic Solar Cells by an Organoboron Additive

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