Boosted Efficiency Over 18.1% of Polymer Solar Cells by Employing Large Extinction Coefficients Material as the Third Component

Shuping Zhang, Xiaoling Ma, Chunyu Xu, Wenjing Xu, Sang Young Jeong, Han Young Woo, Zhengji Zhou, Xiaoli Zhang, Fujun Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A series of binary and ternary polymer solar cells (PSCs) is successfully fabricated. The optimal ternary PSCs achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.14%, benefiting from the increased short circuit current density (JSC) of 26.53 mA cm−2 and fill factor (FF) of 78.51% in comparison with the JSCs (25.05 mA cm−2 and 25.65 mA cm−2) and the FFs (77.13% and 76.55%) of the corresponding binary PSCs. The photon harvesting ability of ternary active layers can be enhanced, which can be confirmed from the EQE spectral difference of the optimized ternary and binary PSCs, especially in the wavelength range from 680 nm to 800 nm. The refractive index and extinction coefficients of binary and ternary blend films are measured, which can well support the enhanced photon harvesting ability in different wavelength ranges. Photogenerated exciton distribution in active layers is simulated by the transmission matrix method based on the Beer–Lambert law. The photogenerated exciton density can be enhanced in the middle of the active layers by incorporating a third component in acceptors, which is conducive to charge collection by individual electrodes, resulting in the simultaneously enhanced JSC and FF of the optimal ternary PSCs.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2200345
JournalMacromolecular Rapid Communications
Volume43
Issue number15
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022 Aug

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62175011, 61975006 and 62105017), the Postdoctoral Innovative Talent Support Program (BX20200042), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M680327).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Keywords

  • morphology regulators
  • photogenerated exciton distribution
  • polymer solar cells
  • power conversion efficiency
  • ternary strategies

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Organic Chemistry
  • Polymers and Plastics
  • Materials Chemistry

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