Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells
In conventional fullerene-based organic photovoltaics (OPVs), in which the excited electrons from the donor are transferred to the acceptor, the electron charge transfer state (<i><sup>e</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub>) that electrons pass through has a great influence on...
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/20/4042 |
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| author | Dongchan Lee Do Hui Kim Chang-Mok Oh Sujung Park Narra Vamsi Krishna Febrian Tri Adhi Wibowo In-Wook Hwang Sung-Yeon Jang Shinuk Cho |
| author_facet | Dongchan Lee Do Hui Kim Chang-Mok Oh Sujung Park Narra Vamsi Krishna Febrian Tri Adhi Wibowo In-Wook Hwang Sung-Yeon Jang Shinuk Cho |
| author_sort | Dongchan Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In conventional fullerene-based organic photovoltaics (OPVs), in which the excited electrons from the donor are transferred to the acceptor, the electron charge transfer state (<i><sup>e</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub>) that electrons pass through has a great influence on the device’s performance. In a bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) system based on a low bandgap non-fullerene acceptor (NFA), however, a hole charge transfer state (<i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub>) from the acceptor to the donor has a greater influence on the device’s performance. The accurate determination of <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> is essential for achieving further enhancement in the performance of non-fullerene organic solar cells. However, the discovery of a method to determine the exact <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> remains an open challenge. Here, we suggest a simple method to determine the exact <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> level via deconvolution of the EL spectrum of the BHJ blend (EL<sub>B</sub>). To generalize, we have applied our EL<sub>B</sub> deconvolution method to nine different BHJ systems consisting of the combination of three donor polymers (PM6, PBDTTPD-HT, PTB7-Th) and three NFAs (Y6, IDIC, IEICO-4F). Under the conditions that (i) absorption of the donor and acceptor are separated sufficiently, and (ii) the onset part of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) is formed solely by the contribution of the acceptor only, EL<sub>B</sub> can be deconvoluted into the contribution of the singlet recombination of the acceptor and the radiative recombination via <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub>. Through the deconvolution of EL<sub>B</sub>, we have clearly decided which part of the broad EL<sub>B</sub> spectrum should be used to apply the Marcus theory. Accurate determination of <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> is expected to be of great help in fine-tuning the energy level of donor polymers and NFAs by understanding the charge transfer mechanism clearly. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:56:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-65f104c0c9e64c3f8c17df7e0dcd3f80 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:56:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
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| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-65f104c0c9e64c3f8c17df7e0dcd3f802023-11-19T17:50:17ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602023-10-011520404210.3390/polym15204042Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar CellsDongchan Lee0Do Hui Kim1Chang-Mok Oh2Sujung Park3Narra Vamsi Krishna4Febrian Tri Adhi Wibowo5In-Wook Hwang6Sung-Yeon Jang7Shinuk Cho8Department of Semiconductor Physics and EHSRC, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Semiconductor Physics and EHSRC, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Republic of KoreaAdvanced Photonics Research Institute, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Semiconductor Physics and EHSRC, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of KoreaAdvanced Photonics Research Institute, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Semiconductor Physics and EHSRC, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Republic of KoreaIn conventional fullerene-based organic photovoltaics (OPVs), in which the excited electrons from the donor are transferred to the acceptor, the electron charge transfer state (<i><sup>e</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub>) that electrons pass through has a great influence on the device’s performance. In a bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) system based on a low bandgap non-fullerene acceptor (NFA), however, a hole charge transfer state (<i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub>) from the acceptor to the donor has a greater influence on the device’s performance. The accurate determination of <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> is essential for achieving further enhancement in the performance of non-fullerene organic solar cells. However, the discovery of a method to determine the exact <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> remains an open challenge. Here, we suggest a simple method to determine the exact <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> level via deconvolution of the EL spectrum of the BHJ blend (EL<sub>B</sub>). To generalize, we have applied our EL<sub>B</sub> deconvolution method to nine different BHJ systems consisting of the combination of three donor polymers (PM6, PBDTTPD-HT, PTB7-Th) and three NFAs (Y6, IDIC, IEICO-4F). Under the conditions that (i) absorption of the donor and acceptor are separated sufficiently, and (ii) the onset part of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) is formed solely by the contribution of the acceptor only, EL<sub>B</sub> can be deconvoluted into the contribution of the singlet recombination of the acceptor and the radiative recombination via <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub>. Through the deconvolution of EL<sub>B</sub>, we have clearly decided which part of the broad EL<sub>B</sub> spectrum should be used to apply the Marcus theory. Accurate determination of <i><sup>h</sup>E</i><sub>CT</sub> is expected to be of great help in fine-tuning the energy level of donor polymers and NFAs by understanding the charge transfer mechanism clearly.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/20/4042organic solar cellsnon-fullerene acceptorcharge transfer statehole transportenergy loss |
| spellingShingle | Dongchan Lee Do Hui Kim Chang-Mok Oh Sujung Park Narra Vamsi Krishna Febrian Tri Adhi Wibowo In-Wook Hwang Sung-Yeon Jang Shinuk Cho Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells Polymers organic solar cells non-fullerene acceptor charge transfer state hole transport energy loss |
| title | Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells |
| title_full | Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells |
| title_short | Investigation of Hole-Transfer Dynamics through Simple EL De-Convolution in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells |
| title_sort | investigation of hole transfer dynamics through simple el de convolution in non fullerene organic solar cells |
| topic | organic solar cells non-fullerene acceptor charge transfer state hole transport energy loss |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/20/4042 |
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