Maximizing Performance and Stability of Organic Solar Cells at Low Driving Force for Charge Separation

Lüer L, Wang R, Liu C, Dube H, Heumüller T, Hauch J, Brabec C (2023)

Publication Type: Journal article, Review article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

Advanced Science Wiley Open Access

DOI: 10.1002/advs.202305948

Abstract

Thanks to the development of novel electron acceptor materials, the power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices are now approaching 20%. Further improvement of PCE is complicated by the need for a driving force to split strongly bound excitons into free charges, causing voltage losses. This review discusses recent approaches to finding efficient OPV systems with minimal driving force, combining near unity quantum efficiency (maximum short circuit currents) with optimal energy efficiency (maximum open circuit voltages). The authors discuss apparently contradicting results on the amount of exciton binding in recent literature, and approaches to harmonize the findings. A comprehensive view is then presented on motifs providing a driving force for charge separation, namely hybridization at the donor:acceptor interface and polarization effects in the bulk, of which quadrupole moments (electrostatics) play a leading role. Apart from controlling the energies of the involved states, these motifs also control the dynamics of recombination processes, which are essential to avoid voltage and fill factor losses. Importantly, all motifs are shown to depend on both molecular structure and process conditions. The resulting high dimensional search space advocates for high throughput (HT) workflows. The final part of the review presents recent HT studies finding consolidated structure–property relationships in OPV films and devices from various deposition methods, from research to industrial upscaling.

Authors with CRIS profile

Larry Lüer Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Rong Wang Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Chao Liu Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Henry Dube Lehrstuhl für Organische Chemie I Thomas Heumüller Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Jens Hauch
Christoph Brabec Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET)

Involved external institutions

Helmholtz-Institut Erlangen-Nürnberg für Erneuerbare Energien (HI-ERN) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Lüer, L., Wang, R., Liu, C., Dube, H., Heumüller, T., Hauch, J., & Brabec, C. (2023). Maximizing Performance and Stability of Organic Solar Cells at Low Driving Force for Charge Separation. Advanced Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202305948

MLA:

Lüer, Larry, et al. "Maximizing Performance and Stability of Organic Solar Cells at Low Driving Force for Charge Separation." Advanced Science (2023).

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