Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yuxin Kong, Yuxiang Li, Jianyu Yuan, Liming Ding
Summary: This article focuses on the importance of controlling the regioregularity of polymerized small molecular acceptors (PSMAs) in all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). The integration of regioregular PSMAs improves the absorption, backbone ordering, and blend morphology of the polymer acceptors compared to regiorandom ones. These regioregular PSMAs also enable repeatable synthesis and reproducible device performance, which is essential for scaling-up and commercializing all-PSCs. The article discusses the challenges and prospects of PSMAs as a new platform for advancing all-PSCs.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Hoseon You, Seungjin Lee, Donguk Kim, Hyunbum Kang, Chulhee Lim, Felix Sunjoo Kim, Bumjoon J. Kim
Summary: The effects of introducing alkoxy side chains at different positions in Qx-based polymer acceptors on the materials and device parameters of all-polymer solar cells were investigated. The meta-positioned alkoxy chains showed enhanced electron-withdrawing and electron-conducting properties, leading to a higher power conversion efficiency compared to the para-positioned alkoxy chains.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Cheng Sun, Jin-Woo Lee, Soodeok Seo, Seungjin Lee, Cheng Wang, Huan Li, Zhengping Tan, Soon-Ki Kwon, Bumjoon J. Kim, Yun-Hi Kim
Summary: Tuning the aggregation and crystalline properties of polymers is crucial for achieving optimal blend morphology and high power conversion efficiency in all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). Simultaneous engineering of PSMA backbone regioregularity and side-chain structures is important for enhancing electron mobility, optimizing blend morphology, and achieving highly efficient all-PSCs.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Xian-Ming Zhu, Su-Nan Bao, Hang Yang, Hong-Yu Fan, Chen-Ling Fan, Xiao-Xiao Li, Ke-Wei Hu, Hao-Yu Cao, Chao-Hua Cui, Yong-Fang Li
Summary: Polymerizing narrow bandgap small molecules to design efficient polymer acceptors for all-polymer solar cells is a promising strategy. In this study, nonfused-core small molecule acceptors were used to design high-performance PSMAs with simple synthetic procedures. These PSMAs showed higher figure-of-merit value compared to their fused-ring counterparts.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Baoqi Wu, Yue Zhang, Shizeng Tian, Jiyeon Oh, Mingqun Yang, Langheng Pan, Bingyan Yin, Changduk Yang, Chunhui Duan, Fei Huang, Yong Cao
Summary: The development of polymer acceptors is critical for high-efficiency all-polymer solar cells. In this study, two novel polymer acceptors derived from non-fused small molecules were reported for the first time, offering improved device performance due to more ordered polymer packing resulting in more efficient exciton separation and charge transport. This work demonstrates that polymerizing non-fused small molecular acceptors is an effective strategy for developing polymer acceptors for high-performance all-PSCs.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhenghui Luo, Tongle Xu, Cai'e Zhang, Chuluo Yang
Summary: Thanks to their broad absorption spectra, easily modifiable molecular energy levels and chemical structures, nonfullerene small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) have attracted significant attention in the recent decade. To date, SMAs and polymer donor-based organic solar cells (OSCs) have achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of over 19%. Side-chain engineering has emerged as an effective method for enhancing the photovoltaic efficiency of nonfullerene SMAs, and this article summarizes the side-chain engineering of SMAs, providing insights into their structure-performance relationships and future optimization challenges.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhi-Guo Zhang, Yongfang Li
Summary: All-polymer solar cells have attracted significant research interest due to their good film formation, stable morphology, and mechanical flexibility. The strategy of polymerizing small-molecule acceptors to construct new-generation polymer acceptors has significantly increased the power conversion efficiency, but current challenges and future prospects still need to be addressed.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Xinbi Zhao, Tao Wang, Wei Wang, Rui Sun, Qiang Wu, Hao Shen, Jianlong Xia, Yang Wang, Maojie Zhang, Jie Min
Summary: Two NIR polymer acceptors based on fused-ring BT- or BTz-based A'-DAD-A' structure were designed and synthesized. Among them, PYV-Tz with BTz unit displayed red-shifted absorption spectra, higher absorption coefficient, higher LUMO energy level, better electron mobility, and achieved a higher PCE in all-PSCs compared to the BT-based PA PYV. This suggests that PYV-Tz is a promising polymer acceptor material for the application in all-PSCs.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Haoyu Cao, Wenjing Zhang, Hang Yang, Kui Li, Hongyu Fan, Yue Wu, Chaohua Cui
Summary: Alkoxy side-chain engineering is an effective strategy for constructing efficient organic photovoltaic materials. This study developed three small molecule acceptors with different alkoxy chains and found that shorter alkoxy chains resulted in higher photovoltaic performance.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Chao Wang, Chong Guan, Ting Wu, Xiaoqing Liu, Jie Fang, Feng Liu, Chengyi Xiao, Weiwei Li
Summary: Two non-fused polymerized small-molecule acceptors (PSMAs) with a benzothiadiazole (BT) core have been developed for application in all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). The S-O non-covalent interaction and the regioregularity were introduced to improve the crystallinity and charge transport properties. As a result, a high-power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.42% with enhanced photocurrent was obtained, representing the highest PCE based on non-fused PSMAs. The encouraging results will inspire more design of non-fused PSMAs towards high-performance all-PSCs.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Youngwan Lee, Telugu Bhim Raju, Hyerim Yeom, Peddaboodi Gopikrishna, Kwangmin Kim, Hye Won Cho, Jung Woo Moon, Jeong Ho Cho, Jin Young Kim, BongSoo Kim
Summary: This study reports the performance differences of non-fullerene acceptors with different types of alkyl chains in organic solar cells, with acceptors bearing branched alkyl chains showing superior photovoltaic properties.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Suxiang Ma, Hao Zhang, Kui Feng, Xugang Guo
Summary: All-polymer solar cells have shown excellent mechanical flexibility and device stability compared to other organic solar cells. This review summarizes the recent progress of polymer acceptors based on electron-deficient building blocks, and discusses the structure-property correlations and the development of new building blocks for efficient all-polymer solar cells.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Peng Wang, Yu-Hang Zhu, Hong-Xin Tao, Yun-Long Ma, Dong-Dong Cai, Qi-Sheng Tu, Ruo-Chuan Liao, Qing-Dong Zheng
Summary: One important subject in the field of all-polymer solar cells is the exploration of electron-deficient building blocks with optimized properties. This study synthesized ladder-type heteroheptacene-containing small-molecule acceptors with different side-chains and incorporated them into polymer acceptors. The results showed that the alkyl chain length greatly influenced the molecular packing, light absorption, charge transport, and photovoltaic performance of the resulting devices.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Tao Wang, Rui Sun, Wei Wang, Hongneng Li, Yao Wu, Jie Min
Summary: This study investigated the effects of regioisomerized structures on the molecular and photovoltaic properties of near-infrared polymer acceptors (P(A)s) constructed from n-type fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs). The results showed that the PYTT-2 system had the best photovoltaic performance and stability among the three isomeric FREA-based P(A)s.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2021)
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Chuantao Gu, Yu Zhao, Bing Liu, Yong Tian, Yonghai Li, Shasha Wang, Shuguang Wen, Jiping Ma, Xichang Bao
Summary: All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have gained increasing attention due to their superior morphological stability and mechanical durability. The use of polymerized small molecular acceptors (PSMAs) has contributed to the rapid progress of all-PSCs. By integrating PSMAs with regioregularity, the materials exhibit enhanced absorption coefficients, superior backbone ordering, and optimal blend morphology. The recent advancements of regioregular PSMAs in high-performance all-PSCs are summarized in this review, along with discussions on future structure design guidelines for PSMAs.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Heng Zhao, Jingwei Xue, Hongbo Wu, Baojun Lin, Yuhang Cai, Ke Zhou, Daqin Yun, Zheng Tang, Wei Ma
Summary: The power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells has reached high values, but current fabrication methods using toxic solvents and limited photoactive layer thickness restrict their practical development. This study successfully fabricated high-efficiency, thick-film organic solar cells using non-halogenated solvents and hot slot-die coating technique, leading to the industrial development of organic solar cells.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yunhao Cai, Cong Xie, Qian Li, Chunhui Liu, Jiaxin Gao, Min Hun Jee, Jiawei Qiao, Yun Li, Jiali Song, Xiaotao Hao, Han Young Woo, Zheng Tang, Yinhua Zhou, Chunfeng Zhang, Hui Huang, Yanming Sun
Summary: Although all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have great commercial potential, their power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) lag behind small molecule acceptor-based counterparts. Achieving optimized morphology and high molecular ordering in all-polymer blends is challenging due to competition between the crystallinity of the polymer donor and acceptor during film formation. In this study, a ternary strategy is employed to modulate the morphology and molecular crystallinity of an all-polymer blend, resulting in improved PCEs and performance.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiaodong Wang, Rui Zeng, Hao Lu, Guangliu Ran, Andong Zhang, Ya-Nan Chen, Yahui Liu, Feng Liu, Wenkai Zhang, Zheng Tang, Zhishan Bo
Summary: By simplifying the pi-bridge unit, a nonfused ring electron acceptor (NFREA) BM-2F was designed and synthesized. The specific molecular structure features of BM-2F with planar molecular backbone and out-of-plane side chain are favorable for charge transport and can suppress the over-aggregation. BM-2F based neat and blend films display obvious face-on molecular orientation. Specially, a power conversion efficiency of 16.15% was achieved with D18:BM-2F based photovoltaic devices, which is the highest one based on NFREAs. Our researches manifest that NFREA is a promising direction for low-cost and high-performance organic solar cells.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
(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
Yabing Tang, Hong Zheng, Xiaobo Zhou, Zheng Tang, Wei Ma, Han Yan
Summary: Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) have not only improved the efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs), but also prompted the reevaluation of photocharge generation and charge separation routes. By introducing n-dopants, the utilization of spontaneously formed photocharges in NFAs can be optimized, leading to improved photocurrent and conversion efficiencies in ultralow donor-content dilute bulk heterojunction (BHJ) devices. Furthermore, the advantages of n-doping are observed in both 100 nm and 400 nm thick OSCs, renewing the potential of efficient single-component OSCs.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Baiqiao Liu, Shijie Liang, Safakath Karuthedath, Yakun He, Jing Wang, Wen Liang Tan, Hao Li, Yunhua Xu, Frederic Laquai, Christoph J. Brabec, Christopher R. McNeill, Chengyi Xiao, Zheng Tang, Jianhui Hou, Fan Yang, Weiwei Li
Summary: In this study, a non-fused electron acceptor was incorporated into double-cable conjugated polymers for single-component organic solar cells (SCOSCs) with near-infrared absorption. The non-fused electron acceptor consisted of a thienyl-phenyl-thienyl core with an end group of 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydroinden-1ylidene)malononitrile (IC), which served as the side unit for creating the double-cable polymers. The conjugated backbone selected was poly(benzodithiophene), and the optical and electronic properties were tuned by varying the number of chlorine (Cl) atoms. The resulting double-cable polymers showed an efficiency of over 8% and a broad photoresponse range from 300 to 800 nm in SCOSCs.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jing Wang, Deping Qian, Fangliang Dong, Hongbo Wu, Hailin Pan, Shijie Liang, Hanyu Wu, Xunda Feng, Weiwei Li, Ming Wang, Zheng Tang, Zaifei Ma
Summary: Increasing the size of side chains in donor and/or acceptor materials is an effective strategy to reduce voltage losses and improve the open-circuit voltage (Voc) of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, larger side chains can also lead to deteriorated molecular packing and limit overall cell performance. Increasing the size of acceptor side chains can improve molecular packing and enhance cell performance. The best performance is achieved when both donor and acceptor have large side chains.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fengqiang Sun, Hao Jiang, Haoyu Wang, Yueheng Zhong, Yiman Xu, Yi Xing, Muhuo Yu, Liang-Wen Feng, Zheng Tang, Jun Liu, Hengda Sun, Hongzhi Wang, Gang Wang, Meifang Zhu
Summary: Fibers, with their origins in nature and development by humans, have been an integral part of human civilization throughout history. Recent advancements in semiconducting polymer materials have further enhanced fibers and textiles with electronic functionality, making them attractive for applications in information interfacing, personalized medicine, and clean energy. This review provides an overview of the progress in semiconducting polymer-based fiber electronics, particularly focusing on smart-wearable and implantable areas.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Weiping Wang, Baofeng Zhao, Heng Zhao, Zhiyuan Cong, Liuchang Wang, Haimei Wu, Wei Ma, Zhi Yang, Zihui Meng, Chao Gao
Summary: A series of asymmetric A-pi-D-pi'-A non-fullerene acceptors were designed and synthesized, and h-IEICO-4F and h-IEICO-4Cl showed excellent photovoltaic performances due to their special molecular structures and electron-attracting properties, with an efficiency of 11.65% achieved for the J52:h-IEICO-4F device.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rui Zeng, Lei Zhu, Ming Zhang, Wenkai Zhong, Guanqing Zhou, Jiaxing Zhuang, Tianyu Hao, Zichun Zhou, Libo Zhou, Nicolai Hartmann, Xiaonan Xue, Hao Jing, Fei Han, Yiming Bai, Hongbo Wu, Zheng Tang, Yecheng Zou, Haiming Zhu, Chun-Chao Chen, Yongming Zhang, Feng Liu
Summary: This study demonstrates a thin film organic photovoltaic technology integrated with nano-sized phase separation and micro-sized surface topology, which can harvest solar energy at different incident angles throughout the day. The all-polymer solar cells with hierarchical morphology and large light-receiving angle are suitable for commercial applications of distributed photovoltaics.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Shiling Shi, Shimin Zhang, Xiang Yao, Kaihu Xian, Dexia Han, Yuxuan Zhu, Yanru Li, Xueyang Tu, Zheng Tang, Long Ye, Hongliang Zhong, Zhuping Fei
Summary: Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) with asymmetric structures, such as our novel end group, imide-containing 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile (IIC), have shown significant potential in improving the photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). We introduced IIC into the molecular design of asymmetric NFAs and prepared two novel NFAs (BTP-IIC-2Cl and BTP-IIC-BO-2Cl). The use of asymmetric end groups resulted in a larger dipole moment and the alkylchains on thiophene & beta;-sites affected the energy levels and optical band gaps between the two derivatives. The BTP-IIC-2Cl-based solar cells achieved a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.12% compared to BTP-IIC-BO-2Cl-based solar cells (16.50%).
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Baiqiao Liu, Shijie Liang, Safakath Karuthedath, Chengyi Xiao, Jing Wang, Wen Liang Tan, Ruonan Li, Hao Li, Jianhui Hou, Zheng Tang, Frederic Laquai, Christopher R. McNeill, Yunhua Xu, Weiwei Li
Summary: Three random double-cable conjugated polymers were designed with enhanced acceptor contents to achieve high-performance single-component organic solar cells (SCOSCs) by tailoring the nanophase separation of electron-donating and electron-accepting segments. The aggregation degree and charge-transporting pathways were influenced by the acceptor contents, and an optimal nanophase separation resulted in a high efficiency of 9.4% in SCOSCs. Random double-cable conjugated polymers serve as an excellent model for studying the impact of aggregation/crystallinity on high-performance SCOSCs.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jiali Song, Chao Li, Jiawei Qiao, Chunhui Liu, Yunhao Cai, Yun Li, Jiaxin Gao, Min Hun Jee, Xiaotao Hao, Han Young Woo, Zheng Tang, He Yan, Yanming Sun
Summary: Efficient ternary all-polymer solar cells were fabricated by introducing a fluorinated small molecular acceptor-derived polymer acceptor named PYF-T-o to improve the molecular crystallinity. The ternary all-PSC exhibited improved short-circuit current density and fill factor, resulting in an impressive efficiency of 18.15% (certified as 17.73%). Large-area and eco-friendly ternary all-PSCs were also obtained, showing great potential for future organic photovoltaic applications.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hongbo Wu, Zaifei Ma, Mengyang Li, Hao Lu, Ailing Tang, Erjun Zhou, Jin Wen, Yanming Sun, Wolfgang Tress, Jogvan Magnus Haugaard Olsen, Simone Meloni, Zhishan Bo, Zheng Tang
Summary: Donor halogenation improves the performance of organic solar cells by increasing the energy of the charge transfer state and reducing reorganization energy. The impact of donor halogenation varies depending on the acceptor type, with stronger effects observed for Y-series acceptors. Halogen substitution on side groups of the donor molecule is more effective in reducing voltage losses.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xinming Zheng, Wenlong Liu, Nan Wei, Andong Zhang, Guangliu Ran, Hongtao Shan, Hong Huo, Yahui Liu, Hao Lu, Xinjun Xu, Zheng Tang, Wenkai Zhang, Zhishan Bo
Summary: In this work, three new nonfused ring electron acceptors (NFREAs) were designed and synthesized. It was found that OC4-4Cl-C8 exhibited better optical properties and aggregation behaviors, leading to higher photovoltaic performance. Therefore, side-chain engineering is an efficient strategy to optimize the performance of organic solar cells.
