Energy transfer to a stable donor suppresses degradation in organic solar cells
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Despite many advances toward improving the stability of organic photovoltaic devices, environmental degradation under ambient conditions remains a challenging obstacle for future application. Particularly conventional systems employing fullerene derivatives are prone to oxidize under illumination, limiting their applicability. Here, the environmental stability of the small molecule donor DRCN5T together with the fullerene acceptor PC70BM is reported. It is found that this system exhibits exceptional device stability, mainly due to almost constant short‐circuit current. By employing ultrafast femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, this remarkable stability is attributed to two separate mechanisms: 1) DRCN5T exhibits high intrinsic resistance toward external factors, showing no signs of deterioration. 2) The highly sensitive PC70BM is stabilized against degradation by the presence of DRCN5T through ultrafast, long‐range energy transfer to the donor, rapidly quenching the fullerene excited states which are otherwise precursors for chemical oxidation. It is proposed that this photoprotective mechanism be utilized to improve the device stability of other systems, including nonfullerene acceptors and ternary blends.
Date Issued
2019-11-20
Date Acceptance
2019-11-01
Citation
Advanced Functional Materials, 2019, 30 (5), pp.1-9
ISSN
1616-301X
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1
End Page
9
Journal / Book Title
Advanced Functional Materials
Volume
30
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
The Royal Society
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000497202900001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
UF130178
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry, Physical
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
Chemistry
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
Physics
device stability
energy transfer
organic photovoltaics
small molecule donor
transient absorption spectroscopy
INDIUM-TIN-OXIDE
ENVIRONMENTAL STABILITY
FAILURE-MECHANISM
BANDGAP POLYMER
HIGH-EFFICIENCY
LIGHT
PHOTOOXIDATION
FULLERENES
ACCEPTORS
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 1907432
Date Publish Online
2019-11-20