Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptor

The record power conversion efficiency of solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) has almost doubled since non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) replaced fullerene derivatives as the best-performing acceptor molecules. The successful transition from C60 to NFAs is still pending for vacuum-thermal eva...

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Main Authors: Irfan Habib, Pascal Kaienburg, Dondong Xia, Olivia Gough, Ming Zhu, Joseph Spruce, Weiwei Li, Moritz Riede
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2023-06-01
Series:APL Materials
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0148208
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author Irfan Habib
Pascal Kaienburg
Dondong Xia
Olivia Gough
Ming Zhu
Joseph Spruce
Weiwei Li
Moritz Riede
author_facet Irfan Habib
Pascal Kaienburg
Dondong Xia
Olivia Gough
Ming Zhu
Joseph Spruce
Weiwei Li
Moritz Riede
author_sort Irfan Habib
collection DOAJ
description The record power conversion efficiency of solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) has almost doubled since non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) replaced fullerene derivatives as the best-performing acceptor molecules. The successful transition from C60 to NFAs is still pending for vacuum-thermal evaporated (VTE) OSCs, not least because most NFAs are too large to be evaporated without breaking. Due to VTE’s relevance in terms of industrial manufacturing, discovering high-performing VTE NFAs is a major opportunity for OSCs. Here, we fabricate evaporated OSCs based on the NFA BTIC-H known from solution processing. This A–D–A molecule has an unfused bithiophene core, 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone end groups, and hexyl side chains, making it small enough to be evaporated well. We pair BTIC-H with four commonly used evaporated donors—DCV5T-Me(3,3), DTDCPB, HB194, and SubNc—in planar heterojunctions. We observe appreciable photocurrents and a voltage loss of ∼0.8 V, matching that of corresponding C60 devices. Donor:BTIC-H bulk heterojunctions likely face charge collection issues due to unfavorable microstructure. Our work demonstrates one of few NFA based evaporated OSCs with encouraging performance results and gives one potential starting point for molecule design of further NFAs suitable for VTE.
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spelling doaj.art-970ece215ffb4dc9b20417e56649e94f2023-07-26T16:22:28ZengAIP Publishing LLCAPL Materials2166-532X2023-06-01116061128061128-1110.1063/5.0148208Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptorIrfan Habib0Pascal Kaienburg1Dondong Xia2Olivia Gough3Ming Zhu4Joseph Spruce5Weiwei Li6Moritz Riede7Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United KingdomClarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United KingdomInstitute of Applied Chemistry, Jiangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanchang 330096, People’s Republic of ChinaClarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United KingdomClarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United KingdomClarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United KingdomBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of ChinaClarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United KingdomThe record power conversion efficiency of solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) has almost doubled since non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) replaced fullerene derivatives as the best-performing acceptor molecules. The successful transition from C60 to NFAs is still pending for vacuum-thermal evaporated (VTE) OSCs, not least because most NFAs are too large to be evaporated without breaking. Due to VTE’s relevance in terms of industrial manufacturing, discovering high-performing VTE NFAs is a major opportunity for OSCs. Here, we fabricate evaporated OSCs based on the NFA BTIC-H known from solution processing. This A–D–A molecule has an unfused bithiophene core, 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone end groups, and hexyl side chains, making it small enough to be evaporated well. We pair BTIC-H with four commonly used evaporated donors—DCV5T-Me(3,3), DTDCPB, HB194, and SubNc—in planar heterojunctions. We observe appreciable photocurrents and a voltage loss of ∼0.8 V, matching that of corresponding C60 devices. Donor:BTIC-H bulk heterojunctions likely face charge collection issues due to unfavorable microstructure. Our work demonstrates one of few NFA based evaporated OSCs with encouraging performance results and gives one potential starting point for molecule design of further NFAs suitable for VTE.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0148208
spellingShingle Irfan Habib
Pascal Kaienburg
Dondong Xia
Olivia Gough
Ming Zhu
Joseph Spruce
Weiwei Li
Moritz Riede
Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptor
APL Materials
title Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptor
title_full Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptor
title_fullStr Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptor
title_full_unstemmed Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptor
title_short Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A–D–A non-fullerene acceptor
title_sort vacuum deposited organic solar cells with btic h as a d a non fullerene acceptor
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0148208
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