Delocalization of exciton and electron wavefunction in non-fullerene acceptor molecules enables efficient organic solar cells

Guichuan Zhang, Xian-Kai Chen (), Jingyang Xiao, Philip C. Y. Chow (), Minrun Ren, Grit Kupgan, Xuechen Jiao, Christopher C. S. Chan, Xiaoyan Du, Ruoxi Xia, Ziming Chen, Jun Yuan, Yunqiang Zhang, Shoufeng Zhang, Yidan Liu, Yingping Zou (), He Yan, Kam Sing Wong, Veaceslav Coropceanu, Ning Li, Christoph J. Brabec, Jean-Luc Bredas (), Hin-Lap Yip () and Yong Cao
Additional contact information
Guichuan Zhang: South China University of Technology
Xian-Kai Chen: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jingyang Xiao: South China University of Technology
Philip C. Y. Chow: The University of Hong Kong
Minrun Ren: South China University of Technology
Grit Kupgan: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Xuechen Jiao: University of Science and Technology of China
Christopher C. S. Chan: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay
Xiaoyan Du: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Ruoxi Xia: South China University of Technology
Ziming Chen: South China University of Technology
Jun Yuan: Central South University
Yunqiang Zhang: Central South University
Shoufeng Zhang: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Yidan Liu: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Yingping Zou: Central South University
He Yan: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay
Kam Sing Wong: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay
Veaceslav Coropceanu: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Ning Li: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Christoph J. Brabec: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Jean-Luc Bredas: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Hin-Lap Yip: South China University of Technology
Yong Cao: South China University of Technology

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract A major challenge for organic solar cell (OSC) research is how to minimize the tradeoff between voltage loss and charge generation. In early 2019, we reported a non-fullerene acceptor (named Y6) that can simultaneously achieve high external quantum efficiency and low voltage loss for OSC. Here, we use a combination of experimental and theoretical modeling to reveal the structure-property-performance relationships of this state-of-the-art OSC system. We find that the distinctive π–π molecular packing of Y6 not only exists in molecular single crystals but also in thin films. Importantly, such molecular packing leads to (i) the formation of delocalized and emissive excitons that enable small non-radiative voltage loss, and (ii) delocalization of electron wavefunctions at donor/acceptor interfaces that significantly reduces the Coulomb attraction between interfacial electron-hole pairs. These properties are critical in enabling highly efficient charge generation in OSC systems with negligible donor-acceptor energy offset.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17867-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17867-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17867-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().