Imide-functionalized acceptor-acceptor copolymers as efficient electron transport layers for high-performance perovskite solar cells

Yongqiang Shi; Wei Chen; Ziang Wu; Yang Wang; Weipeng Sun; Kun Yang; Yumin Tang; Han Young Woo; Ming Zhou; Aleksandra B. Djurišić; Zhubing He; Xugang Guo

doi:10.1039/d0ta03548c

Imide-functionalized acceptor-acceptor copolymers as efficient electron transport layers for high-performance perovskite solar cells

Yongqiang Shi, Wei Chen, Ziang Wu, Yang Wang, Weipeng Sun, Kun Yang, Yumin Tang, Han Young Woo, Ming Zhou, Aleksandra B. Djurišić, Zhubing He, Xugang Guo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Electron transport layers (ETLs) are critical for improving device performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Herein, a distannylated electron-deficient bithiophene imide (BTI-Tin) is synthesized, which enables us to access structurally novel acceptor-acceptor (A-A) type polymers. Polymerizing BTI-Tin with dibrominated naphthalene diimide (NDI-Br) and perylene diimide (PDI-Br) affords two A-A copolymers P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI). The all-acceptor backbone yields both low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels for the polymers, which combined with their high electron mobility render P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) as promising ETLs for perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). When applied as ETLs to replace the conventional [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) in planar p-i-n PVSCs, the PC61BM-free devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) achieve remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 19.5% and 20.8%, respectively, with negligible hysteresis. Such performance is attributed to efficient electron extraction and reduced charge recombination. Moreover, the devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) ETLs show improved stability compared to the PC61BM based ones due to the higher hydrophobicity of the new ETLs. This work provides important guidelines for designing n-type polymers to replace PC61BM as efficient ETLs for high-performance PVSCs with improved stability.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	13754-13762
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume	8
Issue number	27
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ta03548c
Publication status	Published - 2020 Jul 21

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Science and Technology Innovation JCYJ20170817105905899 and JCYJ20180504165709042). Z. H. is grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 61775091), National Key Research Project MOST (No. 2016YFA0202400), and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (No. ZDSYS201602261933302 and CYJ20180504165851864). Y. S. thanks the Innovative Research Foundation of Southwest Petroleum University (2019cxyb011). H. Y. W. is grateful for the nancial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (NRF-2016M1A2A2940911 and 2019R1A6A1A11044070). The authors thank the Materials Characterization and Preparation Center (MCPC) and the Pico Center of SUSTech for some characterizations in this work.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
General Materials Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1039/d0ta03548c

Cite this

@article{40f0e9da73564fd3b33f590955d5675e,

title = "Imide-functionalized acceptor-acceptor copolymers as efficient electron transport layers for high-performance perovskite solar cells",

abstract = "Electron transport layers (ETLs) are critical for improving device performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Herein, a distannylated electron-deficient bithiophene imide (BTI-Tin) is synthesized, which enables us to access structurally novel acceptor-acceptor (A-A) type polymers. Polymerizing BTI-Tin with dibrominated naphthalene diimide (NDI-Br) and perylene diimide (PDI-Br) affords two A-A copolymers P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI). The all-acceptor backbone yields both low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels for the polymers, which combined with their high electron mobility render P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) as promising ETLs for perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). When applied as ETLs to replace the conventional [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) in planar p-i-n PVSCs, the PC61BM-free devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) achieve remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 19.5% and 20.8%, respectively, with negligible hysteresis. Such performance is attributed to efficient electron extraction and reduced charge recombination. Moreover, the devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) ETLs show improved stability compared to the PC61BM based ones due to the higher hydrophobicity of the new ETLs. This work provides important guidelines for designing n-type polymers to replace PC61BM as efficient ETLs for high-performance PVSCs with improved stability.",

author = "Yongqiang Shi and Wei Chen and Ziang Wu and Yang Wang and Weipeng Sun and Kun Yang and Yumin Tang and Woo, {Han Young} and Ming Zhou and Djuri{\v s}i{\'c}, {Aleksandra B.} and Zhubing He and Xugang Guo",

note = "Funding Information: Science and Technology Innovation JCYJ20170817105905899 and JCYJ20180504165709042). Z. H. is grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 61775091), National Key Research Project MOST (No. 2016YFA0202400), and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (No. ZDSYS201602261933302 and CYJ20180504165851864). Y. S. thanks the Innovative Research Foundation of Southwest Petroleum University (2019cxyb011). H. Y. W. is grateful for the nancial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (NRF-2016M1A2A2940911 and 2019R1A6A1A11044070). The authors thank the Materials Characterization and Preparation Center (MCPC) and the Pico Center of SUSTech for some characterizations in this work. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.",

year = "2020",

month = jul,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1039/d0ta03548c",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

pages = "13754--13762",

journal = "Journal of Materials Chemistry A",

issn = "2050-7488",

publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",

number = "27",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Imide-functionalized acceptor-acceptor copolymers as efficient electron transport layers for high-performance perovskite solar cells

AU - Shi, Yongqiang

AU - Chen, Wei

AU - Wu, Ziang

AU - Wang, Yang

AU - Sun, Weipeng

AU - Yang, Kun

AU - Tang, Yumin

AU - Woo, Han Young

AU - Zhou, Ming

AU - Djurišić, Aleksandra B.

AU - He, Zhubing

AU - Guo, Xugang

N1 - Funding Information: Science and Technology Innovation JCYJ20170817105905899 and JCYJ20180504165709042). Z. H. is grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 61775091), National Key Research Project MOST (No. 2016YFA0202400), and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (No. ZDSYS201602261933302 and CYJ20180504165851864). Y. S. thanks the Innovative Research Foundation of Southwest Petroleum University (2019cxyb011). H. Y. W. is grateful for the nancial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (NRF-2016M1A2A2940911 and 2019R1A6A1A11044070). The authors thank the Materials Characterization and Preparation Center (MCPC) and the Pico Center of SUSTech for some characterizations in this work. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

PY - 2020/7/21

Y1 - 2020/7/21

N2 - Electron transport layers (ETLs) are critical for improving device performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Herein, a distannylated electron-deficient bithiophene imide (BTI-Tin) is synthesized, which enables us to access structurally novel acceptor-acceptor (A-A) type polymers. Polymerizing BTI-Tin with dibrominated naphthalene diimide (NDI-Br) and perylene diimide (PDI-Br) affords two A-A copolymers P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI). The all-acceptor backbone yields both low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels for the polymers, which combined with their high electron mobility render P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) as promising ETLs for perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). When applied as ETLs to replace the conventional [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) in planar p-i-n PVSCs, the PC61BM-free devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) achieve remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 19.5% and 20.8%, respectively, with negligible hysteresis. Such performance is attributed to efficient electron extraction and reduced charge recombination. Moreover, the devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) ETLs show improved stability compared to the PC61BM based ones due to the higher hydrophobicity of the new ETLs. This work provides important guidelines for designing n-type polymers to replace PC61BM as efficient ETLs for high-performance PVSCs with improved stability.

AB - Electron transport layers (ETLs) are critical for improving device performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Herein, a distannylated electron-deficient bithiophene imide (BTI-Tin) is synthesized, which enables us to access structurally novel acceptor-acceptor (A-A) type polymers. Polymerizing BTI-Tin with dibrominated naphthalene diimide (NDI-Br) and perylene diimide (PDI-Br) affords two A-A copolymers P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI). The all-acceptor backbone yields both low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels for the polymers, which combined with their high electron mobility render P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) as promising ETLs for perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). When applied as ETLs to replace the conventional [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) in planar p-i-n PVSCs, the PC61BM-free devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) achieve remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 19.5% and 20.8%, respectively, with negligible hysteresis. Such performance is attributed to efficient electron extraction and reduced charge recombination. Moreover, the devices based on P(BTI-NDI) and P(BTI-PDI) ETLs show improved stability compared to the PC61BM based ones due to the higher hydrophobicity of the new ETLs. This work provides important guidelines for designing n-type polymers to replace PC61BM as efficient ETLs for high-performance PVSCs with improved stability.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089485078&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1039/d0ta03548c

DO - 10.1039/d0ta03548c

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85089485078

SN - 2050-7488

VL - 8

SP - 13754

EP - 13762

JO - Journal of Materials Chemistry A

JF - Journal of Materials Chemistry A

IS - 27

ER -

Imide-functionalized acceptor-acceptor copolymers as efficient electron transport layers for high-performance perovskite solar cells

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this