Different energetics at donor:acceptor interfaces in bilayer and bulk-heterojunction polymer:non-fullerene organic solar cells
Author(s)
Tang, Yahui
Tan, Wen Liang
Fei, Zhuping
Heeney, Martin
Mcneill, Christopher R
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
To understand the limitations placed on the open-circuit voltage of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells, the energy levels of neat donor and acceptor samples are often characterized and applied to study BHJ blends. However, energy levels derived from neat samples may not necessarily reflect those at the donor:acceptor interface in blends. The properties of organic semiconductors are sensitive to microstructural changes, with non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) in particular known to exhibit different thin-film polymorphs. To investigate the influence of differences in molecular packing in neat and blend films, temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics are measured for bilayer (BL) and BHJ devices. Herein, the fullerene acceptor PC71BM is compared—whose energy levels are expected to be less sensitive to molecular packing—with the NFA ITIC, paired with the same donor polymer PTB7-Th. It is found that the interfacial energy levels differ for BL and BHJ devices for the PTB7-Th:ITIC system but remain the same for the PTB7-Th:PC71BM system. Furthermore, X-ray scattering measurements identify that ITIC exhibits a different packing mode in neat films and in BHJ blends. Such microstructure-dependent differences between neat and blend samples need to be considered when studying energy losses in NFA BHJ solar cells.
Date Issued
2023-11
Date Acceptance
2023-08-09
Citation
Solar RRL, 2023, 7 (21)
ISSN
2367-198X
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
Solar RRL
Volume
7
Issue
21
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors. Solar RRL published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:001058297300001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
ACCEPTOR
CHARGE GENERATION
ENERGY
Energy & Fuels
energy loss
LOSSES
Materials Science
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
non-fullerene acceptors
organic solar cells
PHOTOVOLTAIC PERFORMANCE
Science & Technology
small energetic offset
Technology
temperature-dependent measurements
VOLTAGE
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
2300471
Date Publish Online
2023-08-13