Unraveling the Microstructure-Related Device Stability for Polymer Solar Cells Based on Nonfullerene Small-Molecular Acceptors

Du X, Heumüller T, Gruber W, Almora O, Classen A, Qu J, He F, Unruh T, Li N, Brabec C (2020)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Advanced Materials Wiley

Article Number: 1908305

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201908305

Abstract

As the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs) has surpassed the 17% baseline, the long-term stability of highly efficient OSCs is essential for the practical application of this photovoltaic technology. Here, the photostability and possible degradation mechanisms of three state-of-the-art polymer donors with a commonly used nonfullerene acceptor (NFA), IT-4F, are investigated. The active-layer materials show excellent intrinsic photostability. The initial morphology, in particular the mixed region, causes degradation predominantly in the fill factor (FF) under illumination. Electron traps are formed due to the reorganization of polymers and diffusion-limited aggregation of NFAs to assemble small isolated acceptor domains under illumination. These electron traps lead to losses mainly in FF, which is in contradistinction to the degradation mechanisms observed for fullerene-based OSCs. Control of the composition of NFAs close to the thermodynamic equilibrium limit while keeping adequate electron percolation and improving the initial polymer and NFA ordering are of the essence to stabilize the FF in NFA-based solar cells, which may be the key tactics to develop next-generation OSCs with high efficiency as well as excellent stability.

Authors with CRIS profile

Xiaoyan Du Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Thomas Heumüller Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Wolfgang Gruber Professur für Nanomaterialcharakterisierung (Streumethoden) Osbel Almora Rodriguez Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Andrej Classen Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Tobias Unruh Professur für Nanomaterialcharakterisierung (Streumethoden) Ning Li Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Christoph Brabec Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET)

Additional Organisation(s)

Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies Interdisziplinäres Zentrum, Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM)

Related research project(s)

PV-ZUM - DynaSol/ Transientes photolelektronisches Messverfahren (DynaSolar) May 1, 2017 - July 31, 2020

Involved external institutions

Southern University of Science and Technology CN China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Du, X., Heumüller, T., Gruber, W., Almora, O., Classen, A., Qu, J.,... Brabec, C. (2020). Unraveling the Microstructure-Related Device Stability for Polymer Solar Cells Based on Nonfullerene Small-Molecular Acceptors. Advanced Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201908305

MLA:

Du, Xiaoyan, et al. "Unraveling the Microstructure-Related Device Stability for Polymer Solar Cells Based on Nonfullerene Small-Molecular Acceptors." Advanced Materials (2020).

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