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Title: Versatile Sequential Casting Processing for Highly Efficient and Stable Binary Organic Photovoltaics

Abstract

Forming an ideal bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology is a critical issue governing the photon to electron process in organic solar cells (OSCs). Complementary to the widely-used blend casting (BC) method for BHJ construction, sequential casting (SC) can also enable similar or even better morphology and device performance for OSCs. Here, BC and SC methods on three representative donor:acceptor (D:A) blends are utilized, that is, PM6:PC71BM, PM6:IT-4F and PM6:L8-BO. Higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) in all cases by taking advantage of beneficial morphology from SC processing are achieved, and a champion PCE of 18.86% (certified as 18.44%) based on the PM6:L8-BO blend is reached, representing the record value among binary OSCs. The observations on phase separation and vertical distribution inspire the proposal of the swelling–intercalation phase-separation model to interpret the morphology evolution during SC processing. Further, the vertical phase segregation is found to deliver an improvement of device performance via affecting the charge transport and collection processes, as evidenced by the D:A-ratio-dependent photovoltaic properties. Besides, OSCs based on SC processing show advantages on device photostability and upscale fabrication. Finally, this work demonstrates the versatility and efficacy of the SC method for BHJ-based OSCs.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China)
  2. Xi'an Jiaotong Univ. (China)
  3. Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou (China)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1981358
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Advanced Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 34; Journal Issue: 33; Journal ID: ISSN 0935-9648
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 14 SOLAR ENERGY; binary devices; bulk-heterojunctions; organic solar cells; phase-separation; sequential casting

Citation Formats

He, Chengliang, Pan, Youwen, Lu, Guanghao, Wu, Baohua, Xia, Xinxin, Ma, Chang‐Qi, Chen, Zeng, Zhu, Haiming, Lu, Xinhui, Ma, Wei, Zuo, Lijian, and Chen, Hongzheng. Versatile Sequential Casting Processing for Highly Efficient and Stable Binary Organic Photovoltaics. United States: N. p., 2022. Web. doi:10.1002/adma.202203379.
He, Chengliang, Pan, Youwen, Lu, Guanghao, Wu, Baohua, Xia, Xinxin, Ma, Chang‐Qi, Chen, Zeng, Zhu, Haiming, Lu, Xinhui, Ma, Wei, Zuo, Lijian, & Chen, Hongzheng. Versatile Sequential Casting Processing for Highly Efficient and Stable Binary Organic Photovoltaics. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202203379
He, Chengliang, Pan, Youwen, Lu, Guanghao, Wu, Baohua, Xia, Xinxin, Ma, Chang‐Qi, Chen, Zeng, Zhu, Haiming, Lu, Xinhui, Ma, Wei, Zuo, Lijian, and Chen, Hongzheng. Wed . "Versatile Sequential Casting Processing for Highly Efficient and Stable Binary Organic Photovoltaics". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202203379. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1981358.
@article{osti_1981358,
title = {Versatile Sequential Casting Processing for Highly Efficient and Stable Binary Organic Photovoltaics},
author = {He, Chengliang and Pan, Youwen and Lu, Guanghao and Wu, Baohua and Xia, Xinxin and Ma, Chang‐Qi and Chen, Zeng and Zhu, Haiming and Lu, Xinhui and Ma, Wei and Zuo, Lijian and Chen, Hongzheng},
abstractNote = {Forming an ideal bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology is a critical issue governing the photon to electron process in organic solar cells (OSCs). Complementary to the widely-used blend casting (BC) method for BHJ construction, sequential casting (SC) can also enable similar or even better morphology and device performance for OSCs. Here, BC and SC methods on three representative donor:acceptor (D:A) blends are utilized, that is, PM6:PC71BM, PM6:IT-4F and PM6:L8-BO. Higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) in all cases by taking advantage of beneficial morphology from SC processing are achieved, and a champion PCE of 18.86% (certified as 18.44%) based on the PM6:L8-BO blend is reached, representing the record value among binary OSCs. The observations on phase separation and vertical distribution inspire the proposal of the swelling–intercalation phase-separation model to interpret the morphology evolution during SC processing. Further, the vertical phase segregation is found to deliver an improvement of device performance via affecting the charge transport and collection processes, as evidenced by the D:A-ratio-dependent photovoltaic properties. Besides, OSCs based on SC processing show advantages on device photostability and upscale fabrication. Finally, this work demonstrates the versatility and efficacy of the SC method for BHJ-based OSCs.},
doi = {10.1002/adma.202203379},
journal = {Advanced Materials},
number = 33,
volume = 34,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 29 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Wed Jun 29 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}

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