Long-range exciton diffusion in molecular non-fullerene acceptors

Firdaus Y, Le Corre VM, Karuthedath S, Liu W, Markina A, Huang W, Chattopadhyay S, Nahid MM, Nugraha MI, Lin Y, Seitkhan A, Basu A, Zhang W, Mcculloch I, Ade H, Labram J, Laquai F, Andrienko D, Koster LJA, Anthopoulos TD (2020)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Nature Communications Nature Publishing Group: Nature Communications

Publisher: NATURE PORTFOLIO

Book Volume: 11

Article Number: ARTN 5220

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19029-9

Abstract

The short exciton diffusion length associated with most classical organic semiconductors used in organic photovoltaics (5-20nm) imposes severe limits on the maximum size of the donor and acceptor domains within the photoactive layer of the cell. Identifying materials that are able to transport excitons over longer distances can help advancing our understanding and lead to solar cells with higher efficiency. Here, we measure the exciton diffusion length in a wide range of nonfullerene acceptor molecules using two different experimental techniques based on photocurrent and ultrafast spectroscopy measurements. The acceptors exhibit balanced ambipolar charge transport and surprisingly long exciton diffusion lengths in the range of 20 to 47nm. With the aid of quantum-chemical calculations, we are able to rationalize the exciton dynamics and draw basic chemical design rules, particularly on the importance of the end-group substituent on the crystal packing of nonfullerene acceptors.

Authors with CRIS profile

Vincent Marc Le Corre Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET)

Involved external institutions

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) / جامعة الملك عبد الله للعلوم و التقنية SA Saudi Arabia (SA) North Carolina State University US United States (USA) (US) University of Groningen / Rijksuniversiteit Groningen NL Netherlands (NL)

How to cite

APA:

Firdaus, Y., Le Corre, V.M., Karuthedath, S., Liu, W., Markina, A., Huang, W.,... Anthopoulos, T.D. (2020). Long-range exciton diffusion in molecular non-fullerene acceptors. Nature Communications, 11(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19029-9

MLA:

Firdaus, Yuliar, et al. "Long-range exciton diffusion in molecular non-fullerene acceptors." Nature Communications 11.1 (2020).

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