Fullerene–non-fullerene hybrid acceptors for enhanced light absorption and electrical properties in organic solar cells

Z. Wu, S. Lee, S. Y. Jeong, M. H. Jee, H. G. Lee, C. Lim, C. Wang, B. J. Kim, H. Y. Woo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Two fullerene–non-fullerene hybrid acceptors, IDTIC-PC61BM (IP) and PC61BM-IDTIC-PC61BM (PIP), are synthesized by combining a non-fullerene acceptor, 3,9-bis(2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2′,3′-d’]-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b’]dithiophene (IDTIC), and a fullerene derivative, phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM). To evaluate the potential of these hybrid acceptors, we fabricate organic solar cells (OSCs) based on the four different acceptors (i.e. IP, PIP, IDTIC, and PC61BM) and the same polymer donor (PBDB-T). In IP and PIP, the IDTIC moiety compensates for the poor light absorption of PC61BM in the visible wavelength region, improving the short-circuit current density (JSC) of the hybrid acceptor-based OSCs (11.9 → 13.1 mA cm−2). Meanwhile, the charge transport and recombination properties of the PBDB-T:IDTIC devices improve significantly after the substitution of IDTIC with IP or PIP, leading to a significant increase in the fill factor (0.54 → 0.68) as well as JSC (11.8 → 13.1 mA cm−2) of the devices. Therefore, owing to the synergistic effect of the broad light absorption of IDTIC and efficient electron transport of PC61BM, the hybrid acceptor-based OSCs show significantly higher power conversion efficiencies of 8.81% (PBDB-T:PIP) and 8.17% (PBDB-T:IP) than the PBDB-T:PC61BM (7.62%) and PBDB-T:IDTIC (5.98%) OSCs. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the hybrid acceptor design in overcoming the shortcomings of individual acceptors and improving their photovoltaic performance.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100651
JournalMaterials Today Energy
Volume20
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021 Jun

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea ( NRF-2020M3H4A3081814 , 2019R1A6A1A11044070 , 2016M1A2A2940911 , 2020M3H4A1A01086888 , and 2020M3D1A2102869 ). This research used resources of the Advanced Light Source, which is a DOE office of Science User Facility under contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 . We thank the IBS Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics (IBS-R023-D1) for providing NMR spectrometry and technical support.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (NRF-2020M3H4A3081814, 2019R1A6A1A11044070, 2016M1A2A2940911, 2020M3H4A1A01086888, and 2020M3D1A2102869). This research used resources of the Advanced Light Source, which is a DOE office of Science User Facility under contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. We thank the IBS Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics (IBS-R023-D1) for providing NMR spectrometry and technical support.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Complementary absorption
  • Electron mobility
  • Hybrid acceptors
  • Polymer solar cells
  • Power conversion efficiency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Materials Science (miscellaneous)
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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