Donor polymer design enables efficient non-fullerene organic solar cells

Zhengke Li, Kui Jiang, Guofang Yang, Joshua Yuk Lin Lai, Tingxuan Ma, Jingbo Zhao, Wei Ma () and He Yan ()
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Zhengke Li: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Kui Jiang: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Guofang Yang: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Joshua Yuk Lin Lai: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Tingxuan Ma: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Jingbo Zhao: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay
Wei Ma: State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University
He Yan: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract To achieve efficient organic solar cells, the design of suitable donor–acceptor couples is crucially important. State-of-the-art donor polymers used in fullerene cells may not perform well when they are combined with non-fullerene acceptors, thus new donor polymers need to be developed. Here we report non-fullerene organic solar cells with efficiencies up to 10.9%, enabled by a novel donor polymer that exhibits strong temperature-dependent aggregation but with intentionally reduced polymer crystallinity due to the introduction of a less symmetric monomer unit. Our comparative study shows that an analogue polymer with a C2 symmetric monomer unit yields highly crystalline polymer films but less efficient non-fullerene cells. Based on a monomer with a mirror symmetry, our best donor polymer exhibits reduced crystallinity, yet such a polymer matches better with small molecular acceptors. This study provides important insights to the design of donor polymers for non-fullerene organic solar cells.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13094

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