Uncovering the out-of-plane nanomorphology of organic photovoltaic bulk heterojunction by GTSAXS

Xinxin Xia, Tsz-Ki Lau, Xuyun Guo, Yuhao Li, Minchao Qin, Kuan Liu, Zeng Chen, Xiaozhi Zhan, Yiqun Xiao, Pok Fung Chan, Heng Liu, Luhang Xu, Guilong Cai, Na Li, Haiming Zhu, Gang Li, Ye Zhu, Tao Zhu, Xiaowei Zhan, Xun-Li Wang and Xinhui Lu ()
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Xinxin Xia: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Tsz-Ki Lau: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Xuyun Guo: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom
Yuhao Li: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Minchao Qin: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Kuan Liu: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon
Zeng Chen: Zhejiang University
Xiaozhi Zhan: Spallation Neutron Source Science Center
Yiqun Xiao: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Pok Fung Chan: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Heng Liu: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Luhang Xu: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Guilong Cai: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories
Na Li: Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science
Haiming Zhu: Zhejiang University
Gang Li: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon
Ye Zhu: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom
Tao Zhu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaowei Zhan: Peking University
Xun-Li Wang: City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon
Xinhui Lu: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The bulk morphology of the active layer of organic solar cells (OSCs) is known to be crucial to the device performance. The thin film device structure breaks the symmetry into the in-plane direction and out-of-plane direction with respect to the substrate, leading to an intrinsic anisotropy in the bulk morphology. However, the characterization of out-of-plane nanomorphology within the active layer remains a grand challenge. Here, we utilized an X-ray scattering technique, Grazing-incident Transmission Small-angle X-ray Scattering (GTSAXS), to uncover this new morphology dimension. This technique was implemented on the model systems based on fullerene derivative (P3HT:PC71BM) and non-fullerene systems (PBDBT:ITIC, PM6:Y6), which demonstrated the successful extraction of the quantitative out-of-plane acceptor domain size of OSC systems. The detected in-plane and out-of-plane domain sizes show strong correlations with the device performance, particularly in terms of exciton dissociation and charge transfer. With the help of GTSAXS, one could obtain a more fundamental perception about the three-dimensional nanomorphology and new angles for morphology control strategies towards highly efficient photovoltaic devices.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26510-6

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