Publications
26 results found
Zhao L, Shi Z, Zhou Y, et al., 2024, Surface-defect-passivation-enabled near-unity charge collection efficiency in bromide-based perovskite gamma-ray spectrum devices, Nature Photonics, Vol: 18, Pages: 250-257, ISSN: 1749-4885
Hybrid lead halide perovskites have superior charge transport properties to all-inorganic perovskites, but high-resolution spectroscopic radiation detectors have not been realized. Here we show that surface deep traps severely limit charge collection in formamidinium lead bromide (FAPbBr3) single-crystal devices, despite having a good bulk transport property. Three types of defect on the crystal surface, namely, FA vacancies, uncoordinated lead and Pb–Pb dimers caused by bromide loss, are found to form deep traps, resulting in non-radiative charge recombinations at the metal/perovskite interface. By tailoring the passivation functional groups, we find that ammonium bromide can passivate all these three deep traps on FAPbBr3 surfaces, improving the charge collection efficiency to near unity. The comparable bulk and surface recombination lifetimes indicate that all the surface defects are effectively passivated. Surface passivation also reduces the dark current by 10 times and decreases the dark counts by ~60 times. The energy resolution of the 137Cs spectra acquired using the FAPbBr3 detectors is improved from 5.7% to 1.7% when all the surface defects are passivated without changing the bulk properties, which is the best among solution-grown semiconductor detectors. Surface passivation is stable for more than six months, and FAPbBr3 spectroscopic detectors can operate at unprecedented high temperatures of more than 130 °C.
Fei R, Hautzinger MP, Rose AH, et al., 2024, Controlling Exciton/Exciton Recombination in 2-D Perovskite Using Exciton-Polariton Coupling., J Phys Chem Lett, Vol: 15, Pages: 1748-1754
In this paper, we demonstrate that exciton/exciton annihilation in the 2D perovskite (PEA)2PbI4 (PEPI)─a major loss mechanism in solar cells and light-emitting diodes, can be controlled through coupling of excitons with cavity polaritons. We study the excited state dynamics using time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy and show that the system can be tuned through a strong coupling regime by varying the cavity width through the PEPI layer thickness. Remarkably, strong coupling occurs even when the cavity quality factor remains poor, providing easy optical access. We demonstrate that the observed derivative-like transient absorption spectra can be modeled using a time-dependent Rabi splitting that occurs because of transient bleaching of the excitonic states. When PEPI is strongly coupled to the cavity, the exciton/exciton annihilation rate is suppressed by 1 order of magnitude. A model that relies on the partly photonic character of polaritons explains the results as a function of detuning.
Park SY, Labanti C, Pacalaj RA, et al., 2023, The state-of-the-art solution-processed single component organic photodetectors achieved by strong quenching of intermolecular emissive state and high quadrupole moment in non-fullerene acceptors, Advanced Materials, Vol: 35, ISSN: 0935-9648
A bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) blend is commonly used as the photoactive layer in organic photodetectors (OPDs) to utilize the donor (D)/acceptor (A) interfacial energetic offset for exciton dissociation. However, this strategy often complicates optimization procedures, raising serious concerns over device processability, reproducibility, and stability. Herein, highly efficient OPDs fabricated with single-component organic semiconductors are demonstrated via solution-processing. The non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) with strong intrinsic D/A character are used as the photoactive layer, where the emissive intermolecular charge transfer excitonic (CTE) states are formed within <1 ps, and efficient photocurrent generation is achieved via strong quenching of these CTE states by reverse bias. Y6 and IT-4F-based OPDs show excellent OPD performances, low dark current density (≈10-9 A cm-2 ), high responsivity (≥0.15 A W-1 ), high specific detectivity (>1012 Jones), and fast photo-response time (<10 µs), comparable to the state-of-the-art BHJ OPDs. Together with strong CTE state quenching by electric field, these excellent OPD performances are also attributed to the high quadrupole moments of NFA molecules, which can lead to large interfacial energetic offset for efficient CTE dissociation. This work opens a new way to realize efficient OPDs using single-component systems via solution-processing and provides important molecular design rules.
Qian D, Pratik SM, Liu Q, et al., 2023, Correlating the Hybridization of Local-Exciton and Charge-Transfer States with Charge Generation in Organic Solar Cells, ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, ISSN: 1614-6832
Lee TH, Fu Y, Chin Y-C, et al., 2023, Molecular orientation-dependent energetic shifts in solution-processed non-fullerene acceptors and their impact on organic photovoltaic performance, Nature Communications, Vol: 14, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 2041-1723
The non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) employed in state-of-art organic photovoltaics (OPVs) often exhibit strong quadrupole moments which can strongly impact on material energetics. Herein, we show that changing the orientation of Y6, a prototypical NFA, from face-on to more edge-on by using different processing solvents causes a significant energetic shift of up to 210 meV. The impact of this energetic shift on OPV performance is investigated in both bilayer and bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) devices with PM6 polymer donor. The device electronic bandgap and the rate of non-geminate recombination are found to depend on the Y6 orientation in both bilayer and BHJ devices, attributed to the quadrupole moment-induced band bending. Analogous energetic shifts are also observed in other common polymer/NFA blends, which correlates well with NFA quadrupole moments. This work demonstrates the key impact of NFA quadruple moments and molecular orientation on material energetics and thereby on the efficiency of high-performance OPVs.
Lee TH, Dong Y, Pacalaj RA, et al., 2022, Organic Planar Heterojunction Solar Cells and Photodetectors Tailored to the Exciton Diffusion Length Scale of a Non-Fullerene Acceptor, ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Vol: 32, ISSN: 1616-301X
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- Citations: 8
Maimaris M, Pettipher AJ, Azzouzi M, et al., 2022, Sub-10-fs observation of bound exciton formation in organic optoelectronic devices, Nature Communications, Vol: 13, ISSN: 2041-1723
Fundamental mechanisms underlying exciton formation in organic semiconductors are complex and elusive as it occurs on ultrashort sub-100-fs timescales. Some fundamental aspects of this process, such as the evolution of exciton binding energy, have not been resolved in time experimentally. Here, we apply a combination of sub-10-fs Pump-Push-Photocurrent, Pump-Push-Photoluminescence, and Pump-Probe spectroscopies to polyfluorene devices to track the ultrafast formation of excitons. While Pump-Probe is sensitive to the total concentration of excited states, Pump-Push-Photocurrent and Pump-Push-Photoluminescence are sensitive to bound states only, providing access to exciton binding dynamics. We find that excitons created by near-absorption-edge photons are intrinsically bound states, or become such within 10 fs after excitation. Meanwhile, excitons with a modest >0.3 eV excess energy can dissociate spontaneously within 50 fs before acquiring bound character. These conclusions are supported by excited-state molecular dynamics simulations and a global kinetic model which quantitatively reproduce experimental data.
Kosco J, Gonzalez Carrero S, Howells CT, et al., 2022, Generation of long-lived charges in organic semiconductor heterojunction nanoparticles for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, Nature Energy, Vol: 7, Pages: 340-351, ISSN: 2058-7546
Organic semiconductor photocatalysts for the production of solar fuels are attractive as they can be synthetically tuned to absorb visible light while simultaneously retaining suitable energy levels to drive a range of processes. However, a greater understanding of the photophysics that determines the function of organic semiconductor heterojunction nanoparticles is needed to optimize performance. Here, we show that such materials can intrinsically generate remarkably long-lived reactive charges, enabling them to efficiently drive sacrificial hydrogen evolution. Our optimized hetereojunction photocatalysts comprise the conjugated polymer PM6 matched with Y6 or PCBM electron acceptors, and achieve external quantum efficiencies of 1.0% to 5.0% at 400 to 900 nm and 8.7% to 2.6% at 400 to 700 nm, respectively. Employing transient and operando spectroscopies, we find that the heterojunction structure in these nanoparticles greatly enhances the generation of long-lived charges (millisecond to second timescale) even in the absence of electron/hole scavengers or Pt. Such long-lived reactive charges open potential applications in water-splitting Z-schemes and in driving kinetically slow and technologically desirable oxidations.
Maimaris M, Pettipher AJ, Azzouzi M, et al., 2022, Sub-10fs Photocurrent and Photoluminescence Action Spectroscopies of Organic Optoelectronic Devices Reveals Ultrafast Formation of Bound Excitonic States
We apply ultrafast pump-push-photocurrent and pump-push-photoluminescence spectroscopies to polyfluorene organic diode to track in time the bound exciton formation. ‘Cold’-excitons become bound within 10-fs while ‘hot’-excitons can dissociate spontaneously within 50-fs before acquiring bound character.
Wu J, Cha H, Du T, et al., 2022, A Comparison of Charge Carrier Dynamics in Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells, ADVANCED MATERIALS, Vol: 34, ISSN: 0935-9648
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- Citations: 87
Vasilopoulou M, Mohd Yusoff ARB, Daboczi M, et al., 2021, High efficiency blue organic light-emitting diodes with below-bandgap electroluminescence, Nature Communications, Vol: 12, ISSN: 2041-1723
Blue organic light-emitting diodes require high triplet interlayer materials, which induce large energetic barriers at the interfaces resulting in high device voltages and reduced efficiencies. Here, we alleviate this issue by designing a low triplet energy hole transporting interlayer with high mobility, combined with an interface exciplex that confines excitons at the emissive layer/electron transporting material interface. As a result, blue thermally activated delay fluorescent organic light emitting diodes with a below-bandgap turn-on voltage of 2.5 V and an external quantum efficiency of 41.2% were successfully fabricated. These devices also showed suppressed efficiency roll-off maintaining an EQE of 34.8% at 1000 cd m-2. Our approach paves the way for further progress through exploring alternative device engineering approaches instead of only focusing on the demanding synthesis of organic compounds with complex structures.
Mohapatra AA, Dong Y, Boregowda P, et al., 2021, Rational design of donor-acceptor based semiconducting copolymers with high dielectric constants, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C: Energy Conversion and Storage, Optical and Electronic Devices, Interfaces, Nanomaterials, and Hard Matter, Vol: 125, Pages: 6886-6896, ISSN: 1932-7447
The low dielectric constant of organic semiconductors limits the efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs). In an attempt to improve the dielectric constant of conjugated polymers, we report the synthesis of three semiconducting copolymers by combining the thiophene-substituted diketopyrrolopyrrole (TDPP) monomer with three different monomeric units with varying electron donating/accepting strengths: benzodithiophene (BBT-3TEG-TDPP), TDPP (TDPP-3TEG-TDPP), and naphthalene diimide (P(gNDI-TDPP)). Among the series, BBT-3TEG-TDPP and P(gNDI-TDPP) exhibited the highest dielectric constants (∼5) at 1 MHz frequency, signifying the contribution of dipolar polarization from TEG side-chains. Furthermore, transient absorption spectroscopic studies performed on these polymers indicated low exciton diffusion length as observed in common organic semiconducting polymers. Our findings suggest that utilizing the polar side-chains enhances the dielectric constant in a frequency regime of megahertz. However, it is not sufficient to reduce the Coulombic interaction between hole and electron in excitonic solar cells.
Nikolis VC, Dong Y, Kublitski J, et al., 2020, Field Effect versus Driving Force: Charge Generation in Small-Molecule Organic Solar Cells, ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, ISSN: 1614-6832
Dong Y, Nikolis VC, Talnack F, et al., 2020, Orientation dependent molecular electrostatics drives efficient charge generation in homojunction organic sol, Nature Communications, Vol: 11, ISSN: 2041-1723
Organic solar cells usually utilise a heterojunction between electron-donating (D) and electron-accepting (A) materials to split excitons into charges. However, the use of D-A blends intrinsically limits the photovoltage and introduces morphological instability. Here, we demonstrate that polycrystalline films of chemically identical molecules offer a promising alternative and show that photoexcitation of α-sexithiophene (α-6T) films results in efficient charge generation. This leads to α-6T based homojunction organic solar cells with an external quantum efficiency reaching up to 44% and an open-circuit voltage of 1.61 V. Morphological, photoemission, and modelling studies show that boundaries between α-6T crystalline domains with different orientations generate an electrostatic landscape with an interfacial energy offset of 0.4 eV, which promotes the formation of hybridised exciton/charge-transfer states at the interface, dissociating efficiently into free charges. Our findings open new avenues for organic solar cell design where material energetics are tuned through molecular electrostatic engineering and mesoscale structural control.
Cha H, Zheng Y, Dong Y, et al., 2020, Exciton and charge carrier dynamics in highly crystalline PTQ10:IDIC organic solar cells, Advanced Energy Materials, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 1614-6832
Herein the morphology and exciton/charge carrier dynamics in bulk heterojunctions (BHJs) of the donor polymer PTQ10 and molecular acceptor IDIC are investigated. PTQ10:IDIC BHJs are shown to be particularly promising for low cost organic solar cells (OSCs). It is found that both PTQ10 and IDIC show remarkably high crystallinity in optimized BHJs, with GIWAXS data indicating pi‐pi stacking coherence lengths of up to 8 nm. Exciton‐exciton annihilation studies indicate long exciton diffusion lengths for both neat materials (19 nm for PTQ10 and 9.5 nm for IDIC), enabling efficient exciton separation with half lives of 1 and 3 ps, despite the high degree of phase segregation in this blend. Transient absorption data indicate exciton separation leads to the formation of two spectrally distinct species, assigned to interfacial charge transfer (CT) states and separated charges. CT state decay is correlated with the appearance of additional separate charges, indicating relatively efficient CT state dissociation, attributed to the high crystallinity of this blend. The results emphasize the potential for high material crystallinity to enhance charge separation and collection in OSCs, but also that long exciton diffusion lengths are likely to be essential for efficient exciton separation in such high crystallinity devices.
Mohapatra AA, Dong Y, Boregowda P, et al., 2020, Rational Design of Donor Acceptor Based Semiconducting Copolymers with High Dielectric Constant
<jats:p>An efficient photogeneration of free charge carriers has long been recognized as the paramount challenge in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. The low dielectric constant organic semiconductors fall short to reduce strong Coulombic interaction of tightly bound exciton and hence lead to a loss mechanism in OPVs due to charge-carrier recombination. To circumvent this problem, we adopt a strategy to enhance the dielectric constant of organic semiconductors by incorporating tetraethyleneglycol (TEG) side-chains. We report synthesis of three new semiconducting copolymers by combining thiophene substituted diketopyrrolopyrrole (TDPP) monomer with three other monomeric units with varying electron donating strength: benzodithiophene (BBT-3TEG-TDPP), TDPP (TDPP-3TEG-TDPP) and naphthalene diimide (PNDITEG-TDPP). BBT-3TEG-TDPP and PNDITEG-TDPP showed highest dielectric constants (~ 5) at 1MHz frequency suggesting efficient contribution of dipolar polarization from TEG side-chains. To understand the electronic contribution of the polymer backbone and the polarity of TEG side-chains, and the resulting enhancement of the dielectric constant, we further performed first-principles density functional theory calculations. Single-component organic solar cells (OSC) fabricated utilizing these polymers resulted in poor performance which is attributed to the absence of free charge generation. Furthermore, transient absorption spectroscopy studies show low exciton diffusion length as observed in donor-acceptor type conjugated polymers. Our results suggest that, the strategy of enhancing dielectric constant with polar side-chains is not sufficient to reduce Coulombic interaction between hole and electron in OSCs.</jats:p>
Schraff S, Maity S, Schleeper L, et al., 2020, All-conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers featuring a pentafulvenyl-polyisocyanide-acceptor, Polymer Chemistry, Vol: 11, Pages: 1852-1859, ISSN: 1759-9954
We report a fulvenyl-functionalized polyisocyanide (PIC2) with a high electron mobility of μe = 10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1. PIC2 has been incorporated into block-copolymers with either regioregular poly(3-dodecylthiophene) (P3DT → P(3DT-b-IC2)) or regioregular polythiazole (PTzTHX → P(TzTHX-b-IC2)). Block copolymer batches with different block-sizes have been isolated and their properties have been studied. Fluorescence quenching in the solid state and transient absorption spectroscopy indicate energy transfer from the donor- to the acceptor block upon photo-excitation. Fabrication of proof-of-principle organic photovoltaic cells with P(3DT-b-IC2) gave cells with an open circuit voltage (VOC) of ca. 0.89 V. The aggregation behavior of P(3DT-b-IC2) from solution was also studied, which revealed self-assembly into discreet microspheres of 1–8 μm diameter, with a size distribution of 1.72 (±0.37) μm under optimized aggregation conditions.
Hamid Z, Wadsworth A, Rezasoltani E, et al., 2020, Influence of Polymer Aggregation and Liquid Immiscibility on Morphology Tuning by Varying Composition in PffBT4T-2DT/Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells, ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, Vol: 10, ISSN: 1614-6832
Corby S, Pastor E, Dong Y, et al., 2019, Charge separation, band-bending, and recombination in WO3 photoanodes, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol: 10, Pages: 5395-5401, ISSN: 1948-7185
In metal oxide-based photoelectrochemical devices, the spatial separation of photogenerated electrons and holes is typically attributed to band-bending at the oxide/electrolyte interface. However, direct evidence of such band-bending impacting upon charge carrier lifetimes has been very limited to date. Herein we use ultrafast spectroscopy to track the rapid relaxation of holes in the space-charge layer and their recombination with trapped electrons in WO3 photoanodes. We observe that applied bias can significantly increase carrier lifetimes on all time scales from picoseconds to seconds and attribute this to enhanced band-bending correlated with changes in oxygen vacancy state occupancy. We show that analogous enhancements in carrier lifetimes can be obtained by changes in electrolyte composition, even in the absence of applied bias, highlighting routes to improve photoconversion yields/performance, through changes in band-bending. This study thus demonstrates the direct connection between carrier lifetime enhancement, increased band-bending, and oxygen vacancy defect state occupancy.
Cha H, Fish G, Luke J, et al., 2019, Suppression of Recombination Losses in Polymer:Nonfullerene Acceptor Organic Solar Cells due to Aggregation Dependence of Acceptor Electron Affinity, ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, Vol: 9, ISSN: 1614-6832
Yang W, Godin R, Kasap H, et al., 2019, Electron accumulation induces efficiency bottleneck for hydrogen production in carbon nitride photocatalysts, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol: 141, Pages: 11219-11229, ISSN: 1520-5126
This study addresses the light intensity dependence of charge accumulation in a photocatalyst suspension, and its impact on both charge recombination kinetics and steady-state H2 evolution efficiency. Cyanamide surface functionalized melon-type carbon nitride (NCNCNx) has been selected as an example of emerging carbon nitrides photocatalysts because of its excellent charge storage ability. Transient spectroscopic studies (from ps to s) show that the bimolecular recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes in NCNCNx can be well described by a random walk model. Remarkably, the addition of hole scavengers such as 4-methylbenzyl alcohol can lead to ∼400-fold faster recombination kinetics (lifetime shortening to ∼10 ps). We show that this acceleration is not the direct result of ultrafast hole extraction by the scavenger, but is rather caused by long-lived electron accumulation in NCNCNx after hole extraction. The dispersive pseudo-first order recombination kinetics become controlled by the density of accumulated electrons. H2 production and steady-state spectroscopic measurements indicate that the accelerated recombination caused by electron accumulation limits the H2 generation efficiency. The addition of a reversible electron acceptor and mediator, methyl viologen (MV2+), accelerates the extraction of electrons from the NCNCNx and increases the H2 production efficiency under one sun irradiation by more than 30%. These results demonstrate quantitatively that while long-lived electrons are essential to drive photoinduced H2 generation in many photocatalysts, excessive electron accumulation may result in accelerated recombination losses and lower performance, and thus highlight the importance of efficient electron and hole extraction in enabling efficient water splitting photocatalysts.
Wadsworth A, Bristow H, Hamid Z, et al., 2019, End Group Tuning in Acceptor–Donor–Acceptor Nonfullerene Small Molecules for High Fill Factor Organic Solar Cells, Advanced Functional Materials, Pages: 1808429-1808429, ISSN: 1616-301X
Dimitrov SD, Azzouzi M, Wu J, et al., 2019, Spectroscopic investigation of the effect of microstructure and energetic offset on the nature of interfacial charge transfer states in polymer: fullerene blends, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol: 141, Pages: 4634-4643, ISSN: 0002-7863
Despite performance improvements of organic photovoltaics, the mechanism of photoinduced electron-hole separation at organic donor-acceptor interfaces remains poorly understood. Inconclusive experimental and theoretical results have produced contradictory models for electron-hole separation in which the role of interfacial charge-transfer (CT) states is unclear, with one model identifying them as limiting separation and another as readily dissociating. Here, polymer-fullerene blends with contrasting photocurrent properties and enthalpic offsets driving separation were studied. By modifying composition, film structures were varied from consisting of molecularly mixed polymer-fullerene domains to consisting of both molecularly mixed and fullerene domains. Transient absorption spectroscopy revealed that CT state dissociation generating separated electron-hole pairs is only efficient in the high energy offset blend with fullerene domains. In all other blends (with low offset or predominantly molecularly mixed domains), nanosecond geminate electron-hole recombination is observed revealing the importance of spatially localized electron-hole pairs (bound CT states) in the electron-hole dynamics. A two-dimensional lattice exciton model was used to simulate the excited state spectrum of a model system as a function of microstructure and energy offset. The results could reproduce the main features of experimental electroluminescence spectra indicating that electron-hole pairs become less bound and more spatially separated upon increasing energy offset and fullerene domain density. Differences between electroluminescence and photoluminescence spectra could be explained by CT photoluminescence being dominated by more-bound states, reflecting geminate recombination processes, while CT electroluminescence preferentially probes less-bound CT states that escape geminate recombination. These results suggest that apparently contradictory studies on electron-hole separation can be exp
Dong Y, Cha H, Zhang J, et al., 2019, The binding energy and dynamics of charge-transfer states in organic photovoltaics with low driving force for charge separation, Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol: 150, ISSN: 0021-9606
Recent progress in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) has been enabled by optimization of the energetic driving force for charge separation, and thus maximization of open-circuit voltage, using non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) materials. In spite of this, the carrier dynamics and relative energies of the key states controlling the photophysics of these systems are still under debate. Herein, we report an in-depth ultrafast spectroscopic study of a representative OPV system based on a polymer donor PffBT4T-2OD and a small-molecule NFA EH-IDTBR. Global analysis of the transient absorption data reveals efficient energy transfer between donor and acceptor molecules. The extracted kinetics suggest that slow (∼15 ps) generation of charge carriers is followed by significant geminate recombination. This contrasts with the "reference" PffBT4T-2OD:PC71BM system where bimolecular recombination dominates. Using temperature-dependent pump-push-photocurrent spectroscopy, we estimate the activation energy for the dissociation of bound charge-transfer states in PffBT4T-2OD:EH-IDTBR to be 100 ± 6 meV. We also observe an additional activation energy of 14 ± 7 meV, which we assign to the de-trapping of mobile carriers. This work provides a comprehensive picture of photophysics in a system representing new generation of OPV blends with a small driving force for charge separation.
Becker-Koch D, Rivkin B, Paulus F, et al., 2019, Probing charge transfer states at organic and hybrid internal interfaces by photothermal deflection spectroscopy, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Vol: 31, ISSN: 0953-8984
In organic and hybrid photovoltaic devices, the asymmetry required for charge separation necessitates the use of a donor and an acceptor material, resulting in the formation of internal interfaces in the device active layer. While the core objective of these interfaces is to facilitate charge separation, bound states between electrons and holes may form across them, resulting in a loss mechanism that diminishes the performance of the solar cells. These interfacial transitions appear in organic systems as charge transfer (CT) states and as bound charge pairs (BCP) in hybrid systems. Despite being similar, the latter are far less investigated. Herein, we employ photothermal deflection spectroscopy and pump-push-probe experiments in order to determine the characteristics and dynamics of interfacial states in two model systems: an organic P3HT:PCBM and hybrid P3HT:ZnO photovoltaic layer. By controlling the area of the internal interface, we identify CT states between 1.4 eV and 1.8 eV in the organic bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) and BCP between 1.1 eV and 1.4 eV in the hybrid BHJ. The energetic distribution of these states suggests that they not only contribute to losses in photocurrent, but also significantly limit the possible maximum open circuit voltage obtainable from these devices.
Cha H, Tan C-H, Wu J, et al., 2018, An analysis of the factors determining the efficiency of photocurrent generation in polymer:nonfullerene acceptor solar cells, Advanced Energy Materials, Vol: 8, ISSN: 1614-6832
Herein, a meta‐analysis of the device performance and transient spectroscopic results are undertaken for various donor:acceptor blends, employing three different donor polymers and seven different acceptors including nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs). From this analysis, it is found that the primary determinant of device external quantum efficiency (EQE) is the energy offset driving interfacial charge separation, ΔECS. For devices employing the donor polymer PffBT4T blended with NFA and fullerene acceptors, an energy offset ΔECS = 0.30 eV is required to achieve near unity charge separation, which increases for blends with PBDTTT‐EFT and P3HT to 0.36 and ≈1.2 eV, respectively. For blends with PffBT4T and PBDTTT‐EFT, a 100 meV decrease in the LUMO of the acceptor is observed to result in an approximately twofold increase in EQE. Steady state and transient optical data determine that this energy offset requirement is not associated with the need to overcome the polymer exciton binding energy and thereby drive exciton separation, with all blends studied showing efficient exciton separation. Rather, the increase in EQE with larger energy offset is shown to result from suppression of geminate recombination losses. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the design of donor/NFA interfaces in organic solar cells, and strategies to achieve further advances in device performance.
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