Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jeromy James Rech, Liang Yan, Zhen Wang, Qianqian Q. Zhang, Spencer Bradshaw, Harald Ade, Wei You
Summary: This study systematically investigated the impact of different functional groups such as nitrogen heteroatoms, fluorine substituents, and cyano groups on benzotriazole (TAZ) based acceptor moieties in conjugated polymers. By strategically altering the position and amount of functional groups, the performance of conjugated polymers can be adjusted, but the effects and impacts vary for different functional groups.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xiaowei Zhong, Tsung-Wei Chen, Liang Yan, Wei You
Summary: D18 and its derivatives are high-performance conjugated polymers for bulk heterojunction solar cells, with efficiency reaching 17% when paired with small molecule acceptors such as Y6 and its derivatives. However, the complex synthesis of the D18 series has limited its accessibility to the research community. In this study, we redesigned the synthetic scheme of D18, particularly the key monomer, and replaced difficult or low-yielding steps with simple and high-yielding reactions. The optimized synthesis of D18 series offers great synthetic tunability and will facilitate the design and synthesis of conjugated polymers for optoelectronics.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Bingyan Yin, Shuting Pang, Zhili Chen, Wanyuan Deng, Zhitian Liu, Chunhui Duan, Fei Huang, Yong Cao
Summary: The article introduces a new polymer, PTTzF, which has the advantages of low cost, high efficiency, excellent reproducibility, and universality, making it suitable for practical applications.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Negar Kazerouni, Elizabeth L. Melenbrink, Pratyusha Das, Barry C. Thompson
Summary: This study incorporated a series of new ductile semirandom donor-acceptor copolymers into ternary blend organic solar cells to investigate their impact on the solar cell performance. The results showed that increasing the CBS polymer content appropriately can enhance the hole mobility of the ternary active layers, leading to improved solar cell performance.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jeromy James Rech, Justin Neu, Yunpeng Qin, Stephanie Samson, Jordan Shanahan, Richard F. Josey, Harald Ade, Wei You
Summary: Conjugated polymers have a long history in organic solar cells, and a new synthetic approach towards PTQ10 has significantly reduced cost and achieved high efficiency, demonstrating promising prospects for commercialization.
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Kangkang Zhou, Kaihu Xian, Long Ye
Summary: This review discusses high-performance strategies for all-polymer solar cells (All-PSCs), focusing on morphology control. By driving the molecular design of novel polymer acceptors and optimizing morphology, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of All-PSCs has rapidly developed and exceeded 17%. The crucial role of molecular miscibility in influencing morphological features and performance metrics is emphasized.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Li-Hui Chou, Tsubasa Mikie, Masahiko Saito, Cheng-Liang Liu, Itaru Osaka
Summary: In this study, new NTz-based polymers were synthesized with improved solubility by introducing alkylthienyl substituents in the polymer backbone. These polymers exhibited higher photovoltaic performances in nonfullerene-based organic photovoltaic cells, attributed to enhanced miscibility with the nonfullerene acceptor and improved charge generation and reduced charge recombination.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Zhi-Guo Zhang, Yang Bai, Yongfang Li
Summary: The J-series polymers are a type of two-dimensional conjugated polymers with medium energy bandgap and strong absorption characteristics, exhibiting ordered crystalline structures and high hole mobilities, with energy levels tunable depending on structural variations.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Soo-Young Jang, In-Bok Kim, Yunseul Kim, Dae-Hee Lim, Hongkyu Kang, Martin Heeney, Dong-Yu Kim
Summary: Direct arylation polymerization (DArP) is a sustainable method for synthesizing conjugated polymers, with comparable optoelectronic properties to traditional methods. PDCBT synthesized by DArP can be used as a donor material in organic solar cells.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhongfei Liu, Wanru Liu, Dan Su, Fugang Shen, Shuying Huo, Mingmei Han, Aiju Xu, Chuanlang Zhan
Summary: This study introduced two alkynyl-decorated acceptors, ISI-4F and ISI-4Cl, which replaced the thienyl side chains with ethynyl units to enhance the absorptivity and reduce the energy levels of the acceptor molecules. Compared to the thienyl-linked counterparts, the ethynyl unit significantly improved the efficiency and fill factor of the acceptors, demonstrating the potential of trialkylsilylalkynyl units as side-chain candidates for designing highly efficient acceptor materials.
MATERIALS CHEMISTRY FRONTIERS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Linglong Ye, Yinuo Yang, Chunhui Liu, Xiaopeng Duan, Shijie Wang, Wei Li, Xiaobo Sun, Tao Wang, Wei Ma, Weiwei Li, Yanming Sun
Summary: A cross-linking strategy is employed to create a three-dimensional network structure, enhancing the mechanical properties of copolymers. The synthesized cross-linked conjugated copolymers, PC2, PC5, and PC8, with different monomer ratios, exhibit higher power conversion efficiencies (PCE) when blended with Y6 acceptor compared to the random linear copolymer, PR2. Additionally, the flexible PSC based on PC2:Y6 retains approximately 88% of the initial efficiency value after 2000 bending cycles, outperforming the PR2:Y6-based device with only 12.8% remaining initial PCE.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhe Zhang, Zhixiang Li, Peiran Wang, Hongbin Chen, Kangqiao Ma, Yunxin Zhang, Tainan Duan, Chenxi Li, Zhaoyang Yao, Bin Kan, Xiangjian Wan, Yongsheng Chen
Summary: Developing new polymerized small molecular acceptor (PSMA) is crucial for improving the performance of all-polymer solar cells. Two PSMAs (namely PZC16 and PZC17) are reported based on the newly developed CH-series small molecule acceptors. Non-aromatic conjugated units are adopted as the linkers to reduce molecular torsion. The PM6:PZC17-based devices exhibit significantly higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to PM6:PZC16-based devices, and the large area device achieves an excellent PCE of 15.14%, among the top performance for reported all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs).
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Zixuan Guo, Aaron Plant, Joshua Del Mundo, Josh H. Litofsky, Bangzhi Liu, Raymond J. L. Hallman, Esther W. Gomez, Michael A. Hickner, Youngmin Lee, Enrique D. Gomez
Summary: In this study, a new donor-acceptor block copolymer was synthesized and added into polymer blend solar cells to improve their thermal stability. The results showed that, with an appropriate amount, the block copolymer can effectively reduce thermal degradation of the photovoltaic devices while maintaining the initial power conversion efficiency.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Zhaofan Yang, Chong Guan, Xudong Jiang, Guangcong Zhang, Chengcheng Xie, Chunhui Liu, Chengyi Xiao, Weiwei Li
Summary: A wide-bandgap double-cable conjugated polymer is chosen as the photoactive layer material for indoor photovoltaic applications, showing well-matched absorption spectra with indoor light and providing high power conversion efficiency and storage stability.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Analia 'Orazio-Colman, Dong Hwan Son, Rahmatia Fitri Binti Nasrun, Joo Hyun Kim
Summary: A series of polymers based on indandione derivatives were synthesized and used as donor materials for PSCs. The best power conversion efficiency was achieved using TIND-DHT-BDTF as the donor in the inverted-type PSCs.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Dong-Xu Li, Shu-Fang Li, Cheng-Long Wen, Chao-Yuan Sun, Chang-Zhou Shi, Xin-Xin Xia, Xin-Hui Lu, Li-Hui Jiang, Jun Yuan, Ying-Ping Zou
Summary: In recent years, research on p-type electron donor materials that match current efficient small molecule acceptors (SMAs) has become important due to the rapid development of high-performance SMAs. By employing asymmetric strategies and taking advantage of fluorine atoms for noncovalent interactions and strong electron withdrawing properties, we designed and synthesized asymmetric aromatic side chain quinoxaline-based polymer donors TPQ-0F, TPQ-1F, TPQ-1Fi, and TPQ-2F. The binary device based on TPQ-2F achieved a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.27% due to balanced charge transport, reduced recombination, and improved morphology. Our work demonstrates the potential of asymmetric aromatic side chain quinoxaline-based polymer donors in optimizing film morphology and enhancing inter/intramolecular interactions for more efficient organic solar cells.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ligang Yuan, Weiya Zhu, Yiheng Zhang, Yuan Li, Christopher C. S. Chan, Minchao Qin, Jianhang Qiu, Kaicheng Zhang, Jiaxing Huang, Jiarong Wang, Huiming Luo, Zheng Zhang, Ruipeng Chen, Weixuan Liang, Qi Wei, Kam Sing Wong, Xinhui Lu, Ning Li, Christoph J. Brabec, Liming Ding, Keyou Yan
Summary: Researchers have developed a dopant-free hole transport material (HTM) to improve the stability of n-i-p perovskite solar cells (PSCs). This new material has shown high power conversion efficiency and long-term stability.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhaotong Qin, Haibo Xue, Minchao Qin, Yuhao Li, Xiao Wu, Wei-Ru Wu, Chun-Jen Su, Geert Brocks, Shuxia Tao, Xinhui Lu
Summary: The influence of two isomeric A'-site ligands on the crystal growth of 2D perovskites was studied, revealing that branched iso-BA(+) facilitates the formation of large clusters and promotes the crystallization of vertically oriented 2D perovskites. Additionally, iso-BA(+) is less likely to be incorporated into the perovskite lattice, suppressing the formation of unwanted multi-oriented perovskites. These findings explain the better performance of 2D perovskite solar cells based on iso-BA(+) and elucidate the fundamental mechanism of ligand structural impact on 2D perovskite crystallization.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Heng Liu, Yuang Fu, Zeng Chen, Jiayu Wang, Jiehao Fu, Yuhao Li, Guilong Cai, Chun-Jen Su, U-Ser Jeng, Haiming Zhu, Gang Li, Xinhui Lu
Summary: This study develops a dual-additive-driven morphology optimization method for all-small-molecule organic solar cells (ASM-OSCs). By incorporating 1,4-diiodobenzene (DIB) and diiodomethane (DIM) as additives, the intermolecular interactions and acceptor phase separation can be modulated, while the over-aggregation of the donor is suppressed. The optimized ASM-OSC device achieves a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.2%, one of the highest PCE reported for binary ASM-OSCs without solvent annealing treatment. This work demonstrates the potential of morphology tuning via the incorporation of dual additives into ASM-OSCs, enabling comparable efficiencies to those of conventional polymer/small-molecule based OSCs.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Han Yu, Yan Wang, Xinhui Zou, Han Han, Ha Kyung Kim, Zefan Yao, Zhibo Wang, Yuhao Li, Ho Ming Ng, Wentao Zhou, Jianquan Zhang, Shangshang Chen, Xinhui Lu, Kam Sing Wong, Zonglong Zhu, He Yan, Huawei Hu
Summary: Tuning the properties of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) through halogenation is a promising strategy to enhance the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, the influence of F and Cl choice on molecular packing and performance between small-molecule and polymeric acceptors remains unclear. This study investigates the effects of fluorination and chlorination on small-molecule and polymeric acceptors, and finds that chlorinated small-molecule acceptors exhibit better performance due to their stronger intermolecular packing mode, while fluorinated polymers achieve a denser packing mode and better performance compared to chlorinated polymers.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fuliang Cheng, Yongjie Cui, Feng Ding, Zeng Chen, Qian Xie, Xinxin Xia, Peipei Zhu, Xinhui Lu, Haiming Zhu, Xunfan Liao, Yiwang Chen
Summary: Terpolymerization and regioisomerization strategies are utilized to develop novel polymer donors for improving the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). The study shows that the position of chlorine substituents significantly affects the molecular planarity and electrostatic potential (ESP), thereby influencing the aggregation behavior and miscibility of the donor and acceptor. The terpolymer PM6-TTO-10 exhibits enhanced coplanarity, crystallinity, aggregation behavior, and phase separation, leading to efficient exciton dissociation and charge transfer. Consequently, OSCs based on PM6-TTO-10 achieve a high power conversion efficiency of 18.37% with an outstanding fill factor of 79.97%, which are among the highest reported for terpolymer-based OSCs.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuan Gao, Xinrong Yang, Wei Wang, Rui Sun, Jiting Cui, Yuang Fu, Kai Li, Meimei Zhang, Chao Liu, Haiming Zhu, Xinhui Lu, Jie Min
Summary: The use of combinatory blending strategy in designing efficient organic solar cells (OSCs) shows promise in increasing short-circuit current density and fill factor. This study presents a high-performance ternary all-small molecule OSC (all-SMOSCs) using a narrow-bandgap alloy acceptor and a wide-bandgap small molecule donor. By optimizing the weight ratio of the components, a champion efficiency of 18.02% is achieved, demonstrating the potential for high-performance ternary all-SMOSCs.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shengfan Wu, Jie Zhang, Minchao Qin, Fengzhu Li, Xiang Deng, Xinhui Lu, Wen-Jung Li, Alex K. -Y. Jen
Summary: By incorporating a cross-linkable organic ligand into the perovskite precursor solution, the facet orientation of polycrystalline perovskite films can be controlled, leading to enhanced performance of perovskite-based devices. The resulting low-dimensional perovskites (LDPs) can passivate defects and improve the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), with power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 24.12% (rigid) and 23.23% (flexible). Furthermore, the ligand enables the derived LDPs to be crosslinked, enhancing the mechanical bending durability of flexible devices.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Julianna Panidi, Eva Mazzolini, Flurin Eisner, Yuang Fu, Francesco Furlan, Zhuoran Qiao, Martina Rimmele, Zhe Li, Xinhui Lu, Jenny Nelson, James R. Durrant, Martin Heeney, Nicola Gasparini
Summary: The use of biorenewable solvents 2MeTHF and CPME to process the active layers of organic photovoltaic devices without additional additives achieves high performance, opening the door to large-scale and green manufacturing of organic solar cells.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kunal Datta, Alessandro Caiazzo, Michael A. Hope, Junyu Li, Aditya Mishra, Manuel Cordova, Zehua Chen, Lyndon Emsley, Martijn M. Wienk, Rene A. J. Janssen
Summary: Photoinduced halide segregation limits the widespread application of three-dimensional mixed-halide perovskites. In this study, we investigate the phenomenon of photoinduced halide segregation in lower-dimensional mixed iodide-bromide perovskites. We find that layered two-dimensional structures exhibit additional stability against halide demixing due to reduced halide mobility, which is supported by solid-state NMR analysis.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Riccardo Ollearo, Xiao Ma, Hylke B. Akkerman, Marco Fattori, Matthew J. Dyson, Albert J. J. M. van Breemen, Stefan C. J. Meskers, Wijnand Dijkstra, Rene A. J. Janssen, Gerwin H. Gelinck
Summary: Remote measurement of vital sign parameters is a challenging task that requires the use of large-field-of-view, easy-to-integrate unobtrusive sensors. In this study, we present a narrowband solution-processed thin-film photodiode with high NIR responsivity, low dark currents, and operational stability. The device shows superior tolerance to background light compared to silicon-based sensors and has potential for remote monitoring of heart rate and respiration rate.
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xiao Ma, Rene A. J. Janssen, Gerwin H. Gelinck
Summary: The performance of organic photodetectors is improving, but is still lower than the intrinsic limit. Chemical impurities and structural defects create carrier trapping states, impacting the electrical performance. This review focuses on trap-assisted charge generation and recombination in organic photodiodes and their effect on various performance parameters.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Le Mei, Xinxin Xia, Rui Sun, Yuyu Pan, Jie Min, Xinhui Lu, Alex K. -Y. Jen, Xian-Kai Chen
Summary: This study investigates the thermodynamic and dynamic impact of additives with different pi-conjugation degrees on molecular packings in Y6-based OSC films using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. The results demonstrate that the van der Waals interactions between the Y6 end groups and the studied additives are the strongest, and the pi-conjugation degree of the additive molecules determines the strength of the interactions with Y6 molecules. Strengthening the interactions between the Y6 end groups and the additive molecules not only accelerates the formation of ordered packing of Y6 molecules, but also reduces the intermolecular distances between Y6 molecules.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhiwen Zhou, Qihua Li, Mojun Chen, Xuerong Zheng, Xiao Wu, Xinhui Lu, Shuxia Tao, Ni Zhao
Summary: In this study, a strategy of additive engineering was used to improve the stability and performance of field-effect transistors (FETs) based on 3D formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI(3)) films. By studying the effects of different additives, it was discovered that phenethyl-ammonium (PEA) and its fluorinated derivative (FPEA) can enhance the crystallization of FASnI(3) films and reduce structural defects. The optimized FPEA-modified FASnI(3) FETs showed record high field-effect mobility and excellent stability.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lin-Yong Xu, Yuan Gao, Wei Wang, Yiming Shao, Mingxia Chen, Xinrong Yang, Yuang Fu, Meimei Zhang, Xinhui Lu, Rui Sun, Jie Min
Summary: To realize the application of OSCs, the material cost should be reduced, and one approach is to optimize the synthetic method of the active layer materials. In this study, a convenient synthetic route of TPD acceptor unit derivatives was developed, greatly minimizing the synthetic cost of the relevant polymer donors. Two TPD-based P(D)s, PTTB-H and PTTB-F, were synthesized, and PTTB-F exhibited superior performance with promising device performance.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)