Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jiaoyu Xu, Kexin Yu, Wenting Liang, Cuifen Zhang, Xiaoli Zhou, Rongna Lyu, Shenbo Zhu, Yongjie Cui, Xueliang Shi, Fengkun Chen, Zaifei Ma, Yangen Huang, Huawei Hu
Summary: This study synthesized and investigated two nonfused acceptors with different molecular shapes and found that the asymmetric acceptor with a C-shape backbone exhibited better performance due to enhanced intermolecular interactions and improved charge transfer. Therefore, precise control of molecular shape through rational molecular design represents an effective strategy for adjusting the photovoltaic performance of nonfused acceptor-based solar cells.
ACS MATERIALS LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Md Waseem Hussain, Hee Jeong Shin, Bo Ram Lee, Metin Ak, Seo-Jin Ko, Jaewon Lee, Hyosung Choi
Summary: The synthesis of two nonfused nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) with altered central acceptor core resulted in high photovoltaic performance. The A-D-A'-D-A type NFAs demonstrated broadband absorption characteristics and have the potential to significantly advance organic solar cells.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jinqiu Xu, Francis Lin, Lei Zhu, Ming Zhang, Tianyu Hao, Guanqing Zhou, Ke Gao, Yecheng Zou, Gang Wei, Yuanping Yi, Alex K. Y. Jen, Yongming Zhang, Feng Liu
Summary: This research investigates the structure features and intermolecular interactions of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) in single crystal and thin films, as well as their solar cell applications. Key parameters and intermolecular forces that lead to different crystalline packing motifs are identified. Atomic modification induces hydrogen bonding or pi-pi stacking column, resulting in different crystalline packing. Molecular assembly in thin films is initiated by hydrogen bonding and completed by pi-pi stacking reorganization. The crystalline packing motif is not directly related to device efficiency, but the crystalline morphology influences exciton/carrier dynamics and device performance. A broader understanding of the scaling behavior of organic semiconductor crystals ranging from oligoacenes to NFAs is established.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xiaodong Wang, Hao Lu, Yahui Liu, Andong Zhang, Na Yu, Hang Wang, Song Li, Yuanyuan Zhou, Xinjun Xu, Zheng Tang, Zhishan Bo
Summary: NFREAs with increasing pi-conjugation length show enhanced molar extinction coefficient and electron mobility in blend films. The molecular conformation of 2BTh-2F is planar, supported by S···N and S···O intramolecular interactions, and it forms a 3D network packing structure compared to the 2D packing of 2Th-2F. 2BTh-2F:PBDB-T-based organic solar cells achieve a high power conversion efficiency of 14.53%, reaching a record efficiency of 15.44% when D18 is used as the donor polymer.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shounuan Ye, Shuixing Li, Yuang Fu, Xiangjun Zheng, Shanlu Wang, Youwen Pan, De-Li Ma, Xinhui Lu, Chang-Zhi Li, Minmin Shi, Hongzheng Chen
Summary: A study on the structure-performance relationship of nonfused ring electron acceptors (NFREAs) reveals that regulating rigid conjugation and flexible side chains can improve the efficiency of NFREAs. By extending rigid conjugation and increasing steric hindrance, nanofiber features and suitable domain sizes are achieved, leading to higher efficiency. PhNC-4Cl with cyclopentadithiophene building block and branched alkyl side chains achieves the highest efficiency among the three NFREAs studied.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yilei Wu, Sebastian Schneider, Yue Yuan, Ryan M. Young, Tommaso Francese, Iram F. Mansoor, Peter J. Dudenas, Yusheng Lei, Enrique D. Gomez, Dean M. DeLongchamp, Mark C. Lipke, Giulia Galli, Michael R. Wasielewski, John B. Asbury, Michael F. Toney, Zhenan Bao
Summary: Molecular aggregation and crystallization during film coating are crucial for high-performing organic photovoltaics. The authors demonstrate that using twisted acceptor-donor-acceptor compounds leads to the formation of mostly amorphous phases in the as-cast film, which can be converted into more crystalline domains through thermal annealing. This design strategy improves the charge transport efficiency by achieving an optimal morphology.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jingyi Li, Zhenyu Zhang, Guangliu Ran, Xiaoyun Xu, Cai'e Zhang, Wenlong Liu, Xinming Zheng, Dawei Li, Xinjun Xu, Yahui Liu, Zheng Tang, Wenkai Zhang, Zhishan Bo
Summary: Motivated by simplifying the synthesis of nonfullerene acceptor and establishing the relation between molecular structure and photovoltaic performance, this study designed and synthesized two isomeric nonfused ring electron acceptors with different side chains. The results showed that the acceptor with V-shaped side chain exhibited better solubility, ordered packing, and charge transport, leading to a higher power conversion efficiency compared to the acceptor with a linear side chain.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Dan Zhou, Jianru Wang, Zhentian Xu, Haitao Xu, Jianwei Quan, Jiawei Deng, Yubing Li, Yongfen Tong, Bin Hu, Lie Chen
Summary: Organic solar cells (OSCs) have made significant progress in recent years due to their low cost, lightweight, mechanical flexibility, and printable fabrication. The nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) play an important role in widening the absorption range, enhancing stability, and increasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OSCs. As a result, NFAs have attracted increasing attention for their inherent advantages. Currently, the PCE of OSCs has been elevated to over 20%. Small molecule and polymer NFAs are crucial in OSCs.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Wei Gao, Francis R. Lin, Alex K-Y Jen
Summary: This article focuses on the development of near-infrared nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) in organic solar cells (OSCs), discussing their molecular design strategies, structure-property-performance relationships, and the potential in fabricating ternary and tandem OSCs. Outlooks for future design of NIR NFAs are also provided, considering material stability and production cost based on current knowledge, in hope of aiding the further development of the field.
Article
Polymer Science
Zhengwei Hu, Juxuan Xie, Jiangkai Yu, Yi Zhang, Houji Cai, Yuanqing Bai, Kai Zhang, Chunchen Liu, Fei Huang, Yong Cao
Summary: This study introduces a novel six-membered fused electron-donating core containing B-N covalent bonds for constructing high-efficiency nonfullerene electron acceptors (NFEAs) in organic solar cells (OSCs). By modulating alkyl chains on the molecules, improved molecular packing and morphology are achieved, leading to enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) in OSCs.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Hao Huang, Qiaoling Chen, Qingxin Guo, Liwen Wang, Baohua Wu, Xinjun Xu, Wei Ma, Zheng Tang, Cuihong Li, Zhishan Bo
Summary: A new nonfused ring electron acceptor PDI-DO-2F is designed and synthesized, which can greatly enhance the solubility and decrease the crystallinity compared with the control molecule DO-2F. The PBDB-T:PDI-DO-2F blend film exhibits a better morphology and higher carrier mobility, resulting in a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.78% in PDI-DO-2F based organic solar cells (OSCs) compared to DO-2F based ones (9.82%). Furthermore, the addition of PDI-DO-2F as the third component in the PBDB-T:DO-2F binary system improves the morphology of blend films and enhances the shelf stability of devices, contributing to a higher PCE of 13.82% in PBDB-T:DO-2F:PDI-DO-2F based ternary OSCs.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Taeho Lee, Chang Eun Song, Sang Kyu Lee, Won Suk Shin, Eunhee Lim
Summary: Two nonfullerene small molecules, TBTT-BORH and TBTT-ORH, are developed as electron acceptors for organic solar cells, with different alkyl groups influencing intermolecular aggregation and solubility. The introduction of a butyloctyl group greatly improves material solubility in TBTT-BORH, while a solvent-vapor annealing treatment effectively enhances film morphology. OSCs based on these acceptors and polymer donor PTB7-Th achieve good power conversion efficiency.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Joel Troughton, Sebastian Neubert, Nicola Gasparini, Diego Rosas Villalva, Jules Bertrandie, Akmaral Seitkhan, Sri Harish Kumar Paleti, Anirudh Sharma, Michele De Bastiani, Erkan Aydin, Thomas D. Anthopoulos, Stefaan De Wolf, Rutger Schlatmann, Derya Baran
Summary: Monolithically stacked tandem solar cells offer the opportunity to absorb more solar radiation with reduced energy loss, with carefully adjusted bandgaps to avoid competition for photons. Two-terminal tandem solar cells using wide bandgap amorphous silicon and narrow bandgap NFA bulk-heterojunction show high power conversion efficiencies exceeding 15%, with interface engineering allowing for stability across a wide range of light intensities. The addition of an inorganic silicon subcell enhances operational stability and reduces light-stress on the bulk heterojunction, addressing a longstanding challenge in organic photovoltaic research.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Daehee Han, Chulhee Lim, Tan Ngoc-Lan Phan, Youngkwon Kim, Bumjoon J. Kim
Summary: This study demonstrates the development of a benzotriazole-based nonfused ring acceptor (NFRA) with chlorinated end groups for efficient and thermally stable organic solar cells (OSCs). The NFRA, Triazole-4Cl, exhibits high-order packing structure and near-infrared absorption capability, resulting in enhanced charge transport and light harvesting. The OSCs based on Triazole-4Cl show high short-circuit current, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency (PCE). The thermal stability of Triazole-4Cl OSCs also exceeds that of the nonchlorinated NFRA, Triazole-H.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ailing Tang, Peiqing Cong, Tingting Dai, Zongtao Wang, Erjun Zhou
Summary: The A(2)-A(1)-D-A(1)-A(2)-type nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) have higher molecular energy levels and wider optical bandgaps compared to other NFAs, making them suitable for high-voltage organic photovoltaics (OPVs), ternary OPVs, and indoor OPVs. This review summarizes the recent progress in the molecular engineering, structure-property relationships, voltage loss, device stability, and photovoltaic performance of binary, ternary, and indoor OPVs based on A(2)-A(1)-D-A(1)-A(2)-type NFAs. The challenges and future prospects for the further development of this type of NFAs are also discussed.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)