Publications
29 results found
Henderson C, Luke J, Bicalho I, et al., 2023, Charge transfer complex formation between organic interlayers drives light-soaking in large area perovskite solar cells, Energy and Environmental Science, Vol: 16, Pages: 5891-5903, ISSN: 1754-5692
Light soaking (LS) is a well-known but poorly understood phenomenon in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) which significantly affects device efficiency and stability. LS is greatly reduced in large-area inverted PSCs when a PC61BM electron transport layer (ETL) is replaced with C60, where the ETL is commonly in contact with a thin bathocuproine (BCP) interlayer. Herein, we identify the key molecular origins of this LS effect using a combination of surface photovoltage, ambient photoemission spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, integrated with density functional theory simulations. We find that BCP forms a photoinduced charge-transfer (CT) complex with both C60 and PC61BM. The C60/BCP complex accelerates C60 dimer formation, leading to a favourable cascading energetic landscape for electron extraction and reduced recombination loss. In contrast, the PC61BM/BCP complex suppresses PC61BM dimer formation, meaning that PC61BM dimerisation is not the cause of LS. Instead, it is the slow light-induced formation of the PC61BM/BCP CT complex itself, and the new energetic transport levels associated with it, which cause the much slower and stronger LS effect of PC61BM based PSCs. These findings provide key understanding of photoinduced ETL/BCP interactions and their impact on the LS effect in PSCs.
Luke J, Yang EJ, Labanti C, et al., 2023, Key molecular perspectives for high stability in organic photovoltaics, Nature Reviews Materials, ISSN: 2058-8437
Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have rapidly improved in efficiency, with single-junction cells now exceeding 18% efficiency. These improvements have been driven by the adoption of new non-fullerene acceptors and the fine tuning of their molecular structures. Although OPVs are highly efficient, they often show extremely poor operational stability, primarily owing to the complex interplay between the morphological instability of the blended bulk heterojunction photoactive layers and the intrinsically poor photostability of the organic semiconductor materials themselves. To realize commercialization, it is vital to understand the degradation mechanisms of these organic materials to improve their stability. Efficiency increases have, in part, been driven by the rational molecular design of materials. In this Perspective, we examine how a similar bottom-up molecular design can be applied to OPV stability. Specifically, we highlight key molecular design parameters and demonstrate how each parameter impacts different degradation pathways. Looking forward, we propose that fundamental understanding of the molecular origin of OPV stability is a key research theme for next-generation OPVs. Additionally, we discuss the tools required, across length scales, to implement these design rules, particularly the use of in situ Raman spectroscopy as a critical bridge linking the molecular scale to the nanoscale and beyond.
Yang M, Cui J, Daboczi M, et al., 2023, Interplay between Collective and Localized Effects of Point Defects on Photoelectrochemical Performance of TiO<sub>2</sub> Photoanodes for Oxygen Evolution, ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES, ISSN: 2196-7350
Stewart K, Pagano K, Tan E, et al., 2023, Understanding Effects of Alkyl Side-Chain Density on Polaron Formation Via Electrochemical Doping in Thiophene Polymers, ADVANCED MATERIALS, ISSN: 0935-9648
Hart LJF, Gruene J, Liu W, et al., 2023, Understanding the Role of Triplet-Triplet Annihilation in Non-Fullerene Acceptor Organic Solar Cells, ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, Vol: 13, ISSN: 1614-6832
Jeong S, Rana A, Kim J-H, et al., 2023, New ternary blend strategy based on a vertically self-assembled passivation layer enabling efficient and photostable inverted organic solar cells, Advanced Science, Vol: 10, Pages: 1-9, ISSN: 2198-3844
Herein, a new ternary strategy to fabricate efficient and photostable inverted organic photovoltaics (OPVs) is introduced by combining a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blend and a fullerene self-assembled monolayer (C60 -SAM). Time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry - analysis reveals that the ternary blend is vertically phase separated with the C60 -SAM at the bottom and the BHJ on top. The average power conversion efficiency - of OPVs based on the ternary system is improved from 14.9% to 15.6% by C60 -SAM addition, mostly due to increased current density (Jsc ) and fill factor -. It is found that the C60 -SAM encourages the BHJ to make more face-on molecular orientation because grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering - data show an increased face-on/edge-on orientation ratio in the ternary blend. Light-intensity dependent Jsc data and charge carrier lifetime analysis indicate suppressed bimolecular recombination and a longer charge carrier lifetime in the ternary system, resulting in the enhancement of OPV performance. Moreover, it is demonstrated that device photostability in the ternary blend is enhanced due to the vertically self-assembled C60 -SAM that successfully passivates the ZnO surface and protects BHJ layer from the UV-induced photocatalytic reactions of the ZnO. These results suggest a new perspective to improve both performance and photostability of OPVs using a facial ternary method.
Wang Y, Luke J, Privitera A, et al., 2023, The critical role of the donor polymer in the stability of high-performance non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells, Joule, Vol: 7, Pages: 810-829, ISSN: 2542-4351
The poor operational stability of non-fullerene electron acceptor (NFA) organic solar cells (OSCs) currently limits their commercial application. While previous studies have primarily focused on the degradation of the NFA component, we also consider here the electron donor material. We examine the stability of three representative donor polymers, PM6, D18, and PTQ10, paired with the benchmark NFA, Y6. After light soaking PM6 and D18 in air, we find an enhanced conversion of singlet excitons into trapped interchain polaron pairs on sub-100 femtosecond timescales. This process outcompetes electron transfer to Y6, significantly reducing the charge generation yield. However, this pathway is absent in PTQ10. We identify twisting in the benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (BDT)-thiophene motif shared by PM6 and D18 as the cause. By contrast, PTQ10 does not contain this structural motif and has improved stability. Thus, we show that the donor polymer can be a weak link for OSC stability, which must be addressed collectively with the NFA.
Luke J, Jo Y-R, Lin C-T, et al., 2022, The molecular origin of high performance in ternary organic photovoltaics identified using a combination of in situ structural probes, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol: 11, Pages: 1281-1289, ISSN: 2050-7488
A ternary blend, wherein a tertiary acceptor is incorporated into a donor:non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) binary blend has emerged as a promising strategy for improving power conversion efficiency and stability of organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaics (OPVs). However, the effects of the tertiary component remain elusive due to the complex variation of crystallinity and morphology of donor and acceptor phases during thermal annealing. Herein a combination of in situ transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy utilized during annealing identifies that (1) the addition of the tertiary component (O-IDFBR) delays the glass transition temperature of edge-on-oriented polymer donor (P3HT), prohibits the glass transition of face-on-oriented polymer donor (P3HT), broadens the crystallization temperature of O-IDTBR, and enhances the overall crystallinity of the donor and acceptor phases (P3HT and O-IDTBR), and (2) the ternary component induces homogeneously distributed nanoscale domains rather than a microscale separation between the donor and acceptor as observed in the binary blend. The optimized nanoscale domain morphology, driven by slower crystallization and enhanced overall crystallinity leads to a more stable morphology, resulting in superior device performance and stability.
Lee J, Luke J, Ahn H, et al., 2022, Efficient Charge Transport Driven by Strong Intermolecular Interactions in Cyclopentadithiophene-Based Donor-Acceptor Type Conjugated Copolymers, ADVANCED ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, Vol: 8, ISSN: 2199-160X
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- Citations: 5
Luke J, Yang EJ, Chin Y-C, et al., 2022, Strong intermolecular interactions induced by high quadrupole moments enable excellent photostability of non-fullerene acceptors for organic photovoltaics, Advanced Energy Materials, Vol: 12, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 1614-6832
Understanding degradation mechanisms of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) is a critical prerequisite for improving device stability. Herein, the effect of molecular structure on the photostability of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) is studied by changing end-group substitution of ITIC derivatives: ITIC, ITIC-2F, and ITIC-DM. Using an assay of in situ spectroscopy techniques and molecular simulations, the photodegradation product of ITIC and the rate of product formation are identified, which correlates excellently to reported device stability, with ITIC-2F being the most stable and ITIC-DM the least. The choice of acceptor is found to affect both the donor polymer (PBDB-T) photostability and the morphological stability of the bulk heterojunction blend. Molecular simulations reveal that NFA end-group substitution strongly modulates the electron distribution within the molecule and thus its quadrupole moment. Compared to unsubstituted-ITIC, end-group fluorination results in a stronger, and demethylation a weaker, molecular quadrupole moment. This influences the intermolecular interactions between NFAs and between the NFA and the polymer, which in turn affects the photostability and morphological stability. This hypothesis is further tested on two other high quadrupole acceptors, Y6 and IEICO-4F, which both show impressive photostability. The strong correlation observed between NFA quadrupole moment and photostability opens a new synthetic direction for photostable organic photovoltaic materials.
Park SY, Labanti C, Luke J, et al., 2022, Organic bilayer photovoltaics for efficient indoor light harvesting, Advanced Energy Materials, Vol: 12, Pages: 1-10, ISSN: 1614-6832
Indoor organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are a potential niche application for organic semiconductors due to their strong and well-matched absorption with the emission of indoor lighting. However, due to extremely low photocurrent generation, the device parameters critical for efficient indoor OPVs differ from those under 1 Sun conditions. Herein, these critical device parameters—recombination loss and shunt resistance (Rsh)—are identified and it is demonstrated that bilayer OPVs are suitable for indoor PV applications. Compared to bulk-heterojunction (BHJ), the open-circuit voltage loss of bilayer devices under low light intensities is much smaller, consistent with a larger surface photovoltage response, indicating suppressed recombination losses. The bilayer devices show a higher fill factor at low light intensities, resulting from high Rsh afforded by the ideal interfacial contacts between the photoactive and the charge transport layers. The high Rsh enables bilayer devices to perform well without a light-soaking process. Finally, the charge carriers are extracted rapidly in bilayers, which are attributed to strongly suppressed trap states possibly induced by isolated domains and non-ideal interfacial contacts in BHJs. This study highlights the excellent suitability of bilayer OPVs for indoor applications and demonstrates the importance of device architecture and interfacial structures for efficient indoor OPVs.
Chin Y-C, Daboczi M, Henderson C, et al., 2022, Suppressing PEDOT:PSS doping-induced interfacial recombination loss in perovskite solar cells, ACS Energy Letters, Vol: 7, Pages: 560-568, ISSN: 2380-8195
PEDOT:PSS is widely used as a hole transport layer (HTL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to its facile processability, industrial scalability, and commercialization potential. However, PSCs utilizing PEDOT:PSS suffer from strong recombination losses compared to other organic HTLs. This results in lower open-circuit voltage (VOC) and power conversion efficiency (PCE). Most studies focus on doping PEDOT:PSS to improve charge extraction, but it has been suggested that a high doping level can cause strong recombination losses. Herein, we systematically dedope PEDOT:PSS with aqueous NaOH, raising its Fermi level by up to 500 meV, and optimize its layer thickness in p-i-n devices. A significant reduction of recombination losses at the dedoped PEDOT:PSS/perovskite interface is evidenced by a longer photoluminescence lifetime and higher magnitude of surface photovoltage, leading to an increased device VOC, fill factor, and PCE. These results provide insights into the relationship between doping level of HTLs and interfacial charge carrier recombination losses.
Clarke AJ, Luke J, Meitzner R, et al., 2021, Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime, CELL REPORTS PHYSICAL SCIENCE, Vol: 2
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- Citations: 28
Kyeong M, Lee J, Daboczi M, et al., 2021, Organic cathode interfacial materials for non-fullerene organic solar cells, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A, Vol: 9, Pages: 13506-13514, ISSN: 2050-7488
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- Citations: 20
Labanti C, Sung MJ, Luke J, et al., 2021, Selenium-substituted non-fullerene acceptors: a route to superior Operational stability for organic bulk heterojunction solar cells., ACS Nano, Vol: 15, Pages: 7700-7712, ISSN: 1936-0851
Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) for organic solar cells (OSCs) have significantly developed over the past five years with continuous improvements in efficiency now over 18%. However, a key challenge still remains in order to fully realize their commercialization potential: the need to extend device lifetime and to control degradation mechanisms. Herein, we investigate the effect of two different molecular engineering routes on the widely utilized ITIC NFA, to tune its optoelectronic properties and interactions with the donor polymer in photoactive blends. Heavier selenium (Se) atoms substitute sulfur (S) atoms in the NFA core in either outer or inner positions, and methyl chains are attached to the end groups. By investigating the effects of these structural modifications on the long-term operational stability of bulk-heterojunction OSC devices, we identify outer selenation as a powerful strategy to significantly increase device lifetime compared to ITIC. Combining outer selenation and methylation results in an impressive 95% of the initial OSC efficiency being retained after 450 h under operating conditions, with an exceptionally long projected half-lifetime of 5600 h compared to 400 h for ITIC. We find that the heavier and larger Se atoms at outer-core positions rigidify the molecular structure to form highly crystalline films with low conformational energetic disorder. It further enhances charge delocalization over the molecule, promoting strong intermolecular interactions among acceptor molecules. Upon methylation, this strong intermolecular interaction stabilizes acceptor domains in blends to be resilient to light-induced morphological changes, thereby leading to superior device stability. Our results highlight the crucial role of NFA molecular structure for OSC operational stability and provide important NFA design rules via heteroatom position and end-group control.
Kafourou P, Park B, Luke J, et al., 2021, One‐step sixfold cyanation of benzothiadiazole acceptor units for air‐stable high‐performance n‐type organic field‐effect transistors, Angewandte Chemie, Vol: 133, Pages: 6035-6042, ISSN: 0044-8249
Reported here is a new high electron affinity acceptor end group for organic semiconductors, 2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole‐4,5,6‐tricarbonitrile (TCNBT). An n‐type organic semiconductor with an indacenodithiophene (IDT) core and TCNBT end groups was synthesized by a sixfold nucleophilic substitution with cyanide on a fluorinated precursor, itself prepared by a direct arylation approach. This one‐step chemical modification significantly impacted the molecular properties: the fluorinated precursor, TFBT IDT, a poor ambipolar semiconductor, was converted into TCNBT IDT, a good n‐type semiconductor. The electron‐deficient end group TCNBT dramatically decreased the energy of the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO/LUMO) compared to the fluorinated analogue and improved the molecular orientation when utilized in n‐type organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs). Solution‐processed OFETs based on TCNBT IDT exhibited a charge‐carrier mobility of up to μe≈0.15 cm2 V−1 s−1 with excellent ambient stability for 100 hours, highlighting the benefits of the cyanated end group and the synthetic approach.
Heeney M, Kafourou P, Park B, et al., 2021, One-step six-fold cyanation of benzothiadiazole acceptor Units for air-stable high-performance n-type organic field-effect transistors, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol: 60, Pages: 5970-5977, ISSN: 1433-7851
We report a new high electron affinity acceptor end group for organic semiconductors, 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-4,5,6-tricarbonitrile (TCNBT). An n-type organic semiconductor with an indacenodithiophene (IDT) core and TCNBT end groups was synthesized by a six-fold nucleophilic substitution with cyanides on a fluorinated precursor, itself prepared by a direct arylation approach. This one-step chemical modification was found to significantly impact the molecular properties: the fluorinated precursor, TFBT IDT, a poor ambipolar semiconductor, was converted into TCNBT IDT, a good n-type semiconductor. The highly electron-deficient end group TCNBT dramatically decreased the energy of the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO/LUMO) compared to the fluorinated analogue and improved the molecular orientation when utilized in n-type organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). Solution-processed OFETs based on TCNBT IDT exhibited a charge carrier mobility of up to µ e ≈ 0.15 cm 2 V -1 s -1 with excellent ambient stability for 100 hours, highlighting the benefits of the cyanated end group and the synthetic approach.
Luke J, Correa L, Rodrigues J, et al., 2021, A Commercial Benchmark: Light-Soaking Free, Fully Scalable, Large-Area Organic Solar Cells for Low-Light Applications, ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, Vol: 11, ISSN: 1614-6832
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- Citations: 33
Limbu S, Park K-B, Wu J, et al., 2021, Identifying the Molecular Origins of High-Performance in Organic Photodetectors Based on Highly Intermixed Bulk Heterojunction Blends, ACS NANO, Vol: 15, Pages: 1217-1228, ISSN: 1936-0851
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- Citations: 17
Wu J, Lee J, Chin Y-C, et al., 2020, Exceptionally low charge trapping enables highly efficient organic bulk heterojunction solar cells, Energy & Environmental Science, Vol: 13, Pages: 2422-2430, ISSN: 1754-5692
In this study, we investigate the underlying origin of the high performance of PM6:Y6 organic solar cells. Employing transient optoelectronic and photoemission spectroscopies, we find that this blend exhibits greatly suppressed charge trapping into electronic intra-bandgap tail states compared to other polymer/non-fullerene acceptor solar cells, attributed to lower energetic disorder. The presence of tail states is a key source of energetic loss in most organic solar cells, as charge carriers relax into these states, reducing the quasi-Fermi level splitting and therefore device VOC. DFT and Raman analyses indicate this suppression of tail state energetics disorder could be associated with a higher degree of conformational rigidity and uniformity for the Y6 acceptor. We attribute the origin of such conformational rigidity and uniformity of Y6 to the presence of the two alkyl side chains on the outer core that restricts end-group rotation by acting as a conformation locker. The resultant enhanced carrier dynamics and suppressed charge carrier trapping are proposed to be a key factor behind the high performance of this blend. Low energetic disorder is suggested to be a key factor enabling reasonably efficient charge generation in this low energy offset system. In the absence of either energetic disorder or a significant electronic energy offset, it is argued that charge separation in this system is primarily entropy driven. Nevertheless, photocurrent generation is still limited by slow hole transfer from Y6 to PM6, suggesting pathways for further efficiency improvement.
Daboczi M, Hamilton I, Xu S, et al., 2019, The origin of open-circuit voltage losses in perovskite solar cells investigated by surface photovoltage measurement, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol: 11, Pages: 46808-46817, ISSN: 1944-8244
Increasing the open circuit voltage (Voc) is one of the key strategies for further improvement of the efficiency of perovskite solar cells. It requires fundamental understanding of the complex optoelectronic processes related to charge carrier generation, transport, extraction and their loss mechanisms inside a device upon illumination. Herein we report the important origin of Voc losses in methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (MAPI) based solar cells, which results from undesirable positive charge (hole) accumulation at the interface between the perovskite photoactive layer and the PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer. We show strong correlation between the thickness-dependent surface photovoltage and device performance, unraveling that the interfacial charge accumulation leads to charge carrier recombination and results in a large decrease in Voc for the PEDOT:PSS/MAPI inverted devices (180 mV reduction in 50-nm-thick device compared to 230-nm-thick one). In contrast, accumulated positive charges at the TiO2/MAPI interface modify interfacial energy band bending, which leads to an increase in Voc for the TiO2/MAPI conventional devices (70 mV increase in 50-nm-thick device compared to 230-nm-thick one). Our results provide an important guideline for better control of interfaces in perovskite solar cells to improve device performance further.
Wu J, Luke J, Lee HKH, et al., 2019, Tail state limited photocurrent collection of thick photoactive layers in organic solar cells, Nature Communications, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2041-1723
Weanalyseorganic solar cells with four differentphotoactive blends exhibiting differing dependencies ofshort-circuit current upon photoactive layer thickness.These blends and devices are analysedbytransient optoelectronic techniques ofcarrier kinetics and densities, airphotoemission spectroscopyof material energetics, Kelvin probe measurements of work function, Mott-Schottky analyses of apparent doping density and by device modelling. We concludethat,for the device series studied, the photocurrent losswith thick active layersis primarilyassociatedwith the accumulation of photo-generated charge carriers in intra-bandgap tail states.This charge accumulation screens the device internal electricalfield, preventing efficient charge collection. Purification of one studied donor polymer is observed to reduce tail statedistribution anddensity and increase the maximal photoactive thickness forefficient operation. Ourwork suggests that selectingorganic photoactive layerswith a narrow distribution of tail states isa keyrequirement for the fabrication of efficient, high photocurrent, thick organic solar cells.
Way A, Luke J, Evans AD, et al., 2019, Fluorine doped tin oxide as an alternative of indium tin oxide for bottom electrode of semi-transparent organic photovoltaic devices, AIP Advances, Vol: 9, Pages: 085220-1-085220-5, ISSN: 2158-3226
Indium tin oxide (ITO) is commonly used as the transparent bottom electrode for organic solar cells. However, it is known that the cost ofthe ITO is quite high due to the indium element, and in some studies ITO coated glass substrate is found to be the most expensive componentof device fabrication. Moreover, indium migration from ITO can cause stability issues in organic solar cells. Nevertheless, the use of ITO asthe bottom electrode is still dominating in the field. Here, we explore the possibility of using fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) as an alternativeto ITO for the bottom electrode of organic solar cells particularly on semi-transparent cells. We present side-by-side comparisons on theiroptical, morphological and device properties and suggest that FTO could be more suitable than ITO as the bottom electrode for glass substratebased organic photovoltaic devices.
Speller EM, Clarke AJ, Luke J, et al., 2019, From fullerene acceptors to non-fullerene acceptors: prospects and challenges in the stability of organic solar cells, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, ISSN: 2050-7488
<p>This review highlights the opportunities and challenges in stability of organic solar cells arising from the emergence of non-fullerene acceptors.</p>
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
Luke J, Speller EM, Wadsworth A, et al., 2019, Twist and degrade – Impact of molecular structure on the photostability of non-fullerene acceptors and their photovoltaic blends, Advanced Energy Materials, Vol: 9, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 1614-6832
Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) dominate organic photovoltaic (OPV) research due to their promising efficiencies and stabilities. However, there is very little investigation into the molecular processes of degradation, which is critical to guiding design of novel NFAs for long-lived, commercially viable OPVs. Here we investigate the important role of molecular structure and conformation on NFA photostability in air by comparing structurally similar but conformationally different promising NFAs; planar O-IDTBR and non-planar O-IDFBR. We identify a three-phase degradation process: (i) initial photo-induced conformational change (i.e. torsion about the Core-BT dihedral), induced by non-covalent interactions with environmental molecules, (ii) followed by photo-oxidation and fragmentation, leading to chromophore bleaching and degradation product formation, and (iii) finally complete chromophore bleaching.Initial conformational change is a critical prerequisite for further degradation, providing fundamental understanding of the relative stability of IDTBR and IDFBR, where the alreadytwisted IDFBR is more prone to degradation. When blended with the donor polymer P3HT, both NFAs exhibit improved photostability whilst the photostability of the polymer itself is significantly reduced by the more miscible twisted NFA. Our findings elucidate the important role of NFA molecular structure on photostability of OPV systems, and provide vital insights into molecular design rules for intrinsically photostable NFAs.
Speller EM, Clarke AJ, Aristidou N, et al., 2019, Toward improved environmental stability of polymer:fullerene and polymer:non-fullerene organic solar cells: a common energetic origin of light and oxygen induced degradation, ACS Energy Letters, Vol: 4, Pages: 846-852, ISSN: 2380-8195
With the emergence of nonfullerene electron acceptors resulting in further breakthroughs in the performance of organic solar cells, there is now an urgent need to understand their degradation mechanisms in order to improve their intrinsic stability through better material design. In this study, we present quantitative evidence for a common root cause of light-induced degradation of polymer:nonfullerene and polymer:fullerene organic solar cells in air, namely, a fast photo-oxidation process of the photoactive materials mediated by the formation of superoxide radical ions, whose yield is found to be strongly controlled by the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of the electron acceptors used. Our results elucidate the general relevance of this degradation mechanism to both polymer:fullerene and polymer:nonfullerene blends and highlight the necessity of designing electron acceptor materials with sufficient electron affinities to overcome this challenge, thereby paving the way toward achieving long-term solar cell stability with minimal device encapsulation.
Newman MJ, Speller EM, Barbe J, et al., 2018, Photo-stability study of a solution-processed small molecule solar cell system: correlation between molecular conformation and degradation, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, Vol: 19, Pages: 194-202, ISSN: 1468-6996
Solution-processed organic small molecule solar cells (SMSCs) have achieved efficiency over 11%. However, very few studies have focused on their stability under illumination and the origin of the degradation during the so-called burn-in period. Here, we studied the burn-in period of a solution-processed SMSC using benzodithiophene terthiophene rhodamine:[6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (BTR:PC71BM) with increasing solvent vapour annealing time applied to the active layer, controlling the crystallisation of the BTR phase. We find that the burn-in behaviour is strongly correlated to the crystallinity of BTR. To look at the possible degradation mechanisms, we studied the fresh and photo-aged blend films with grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, UV–vis absorbance, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Although the crystallinity of BTR affects the performance drop during the burn-in period, the degradation is found not to originate from the crystallinity changes of the BTR phase, but correlates with changes in molecular conformation – rotation of the thiophene side chains, as resolved by Raman spectroscopy which could be correlated to slight photobleaching and changes in PL spectra.
Murdock D, Harris SJ, Luke J, et al., 2014, Transient UV pump-IR probe investigation of heterocyclic ring-opening dynamics in the solution phase: the role played by nσ* states in the photoinduced reactions of thiophenone and furanone, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS, Vol: 16, Pages: 21271-21279, ISSN: 1463-9076
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- Citations: 35
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