The role of interfacial donor–acceptor percolation in efficient and stable all-polymer solar cells

Wang, Zhen; Guo, Yu; Liu, Xianzhao; Shu, Wenchao; Han, Guangchao; Ding, Kan; Mukherjee, Subhrangsu; Zhang, Nan; Yip, Hin-Lap; Yi, Yuanping; Ade, Harald; Chow, Philip Y.

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45455-0

Title: The role of interfacial donor–acceptor percolation in efficient and stable all-polymer solar cells

Journal Article · 07 February 2024 · Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45455-0 · OSTI ID:2471027

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^[1]; Shu, Wenchao ^[2]; Han, Guangchao ^[2]; Ding, Kan ^[3]; Mukherjee, Subhrangsu ^[3]; Zhang, Nan ^[4];

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Univ. of Hong Kong, Pokfulam (Hong Kong)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Chemistry
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)
City Univ. of Hong Kong, Kowloon (Hong Kong)

Polymerization of Y6-type acceptor molecules leads to bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells with both high power-conversion efficiency and device stability, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here we show that the exciton recombination dynamics of polymerized Y6-type acceptors (Y6-PAs) strongly depends on the degree of aggregation. While the fast exciton recombination rate in aggregated Y6-PA competes with electron-hole separation at the donor–acceptor (D–A) interface, the much-suppressed exciton recombination rate in dispersed Y6-PA is sufficient to allow efficient free charge generation. Indeed, our experimental results and theoretical simulations reveal that Y6-PAs have larger miscibility with the donor polymer than Y6-type small molecular acceptors, leading to D–A percolation that effectively prevents the formation of Y6-PA aggregates at the interface. Besides enabling high charge generation efficiency, the interfacial D–A percolation also improves the thermodynamic stability of the blend morphology, as evident by the reduced device “burn-in” loss upon solar illumination.

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Hong Kong Research Grant Council; National Natural Science Foundation of China

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2471027

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 15; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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