Layer-by-Layer-Processed Organic Solar Cells with 18.02% Efficiency Enabled by Regulating the Aggregation of Bottom Polymers

Wu, Xing; Wu, Yixuan; Peng, Shichu; Xiao, Liangang; Xiao, Zijie; Zhang, Wei; Ren, Guoxing; Min, Yonggang; Liu, Yi

doi:10.1002/solr.202300136

Layer-by-Layer-Processed Organic Solar Cells with 18.02% Efficiency Enabled by Regulating the Aggregation of Bottom Polymers

Journal Article · Mon Mar 27 04:00:00 EDT 2023 · Solar RRL

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202300136· OSTI ID:2328531

Wu, Xing ^[1]; Wu, Yixuan ^[1]; Peng, Shichu ^[1]; ^[1]; Xiao, Zijie ^[1]; Zhang, Wei ^[1]; Ren, Guoxing ^[1]; Min, Yonggang ^[1]; ^[2]

Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou (China)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry

The fabrication of organic solar cells (OSCs) by a layer-by-layer (LBL) method has attracted growing attention in recent years. As already known, the pre-aggregates of conjugated polymers in solution have a profound impact on their microstructure morphology in films. Herein, by simply controlling the solution temperature and annealing processes, the pre-aggregation behavior of D18 polymer in solution can be fine-tuned and the microstructure of D18 bottom layer is well manipulated. The optimized D18 bottom layer can effectively regulate L8-BO upper-layer-forming suitable networks for efficient charge transportation. In addition, a vertical phase separation with a special D/D:A/A structure (P-i-N-type component distribution) is also formed. As a result, compared to the 16.43% power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the bulk heterojunction devices, such control enables bilayer OSC devices based on the polymer D18 and L8-BO to deliver an enhanced PCE of 18.02% with simultaneously improved short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor. Importantly, it is also demonstrated in these results that the LBL deposition process utilizing the pre-aggregation of polymer and its fiber-network-forming ability is a very promising approach to improve charge dynamics, suppress carrier recombination, and fabricate highly efficient OSCs.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2328531

Journal Information:: Solar RRL, Journal Name: Solar RRL Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 7; ISSN 2367-198X

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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14 SOLAR ENERGY
layer-by-layer
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pre-aggregation
vertical phase separation

Layer-by-Layer-Processed Organic Solar Cells with 18.02% Efficiency Enabled by Regulating the Aggregation of Bottom Polymers

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