Investigation of interface materials for enhancing stability in nonfullerene solar cells

Organic solar cells(OSCs)have attracted attention due to their lightweight nature,flexibility,and facile preparation using solution-based methods.Their efficiency has been further elevated by the rapid advancement of nonfullerene materials,achieving individual cell efficiencies that surpass 19%.Hence,the stability of nonfullerene solar cell production must be scrutinized.The stability of the cathode interface layer significantly impacts the overall stability of OSC devices.PFN-Br,a commonly employed cathode interface material,is susceptible to degradation due to its sensitivity to environmental humidity,consequently compromising the device stability.In this study,we introduce fluorescent dye molecules,rhodamine 101,as cathode interface layers in OSCs to establish device stability and assess their universality.A comparative investigation of rhodamine 101 and PFN-Br devices demonstrates the former’s distinct advantages in terms of thermal stability,photostability,and storage stability even without encapsulation,particularly in an inert environment.By employing the Kelvin probe,we compare the work function of different cathode interface films and reveal that the work function of the rhodamine 101 interface material remains relatively unaffected by environmental factors.As a consequence,the device performance stability is significantly enhanced.The application of such fluorescent dye molecules extends the scope of cathode interface layers,amplifies device stability,and propels industrialization.

3D layer-by-layer amorphous MoS_(x) assembled from[Mo_(3)S_(13)]^(2-)clusters for efficient removal of tetracycline:Synergy of adsorption and photo-assisted PMS activation

Peroxymonosulfate(PMS)activation and photocatalysis are effective technologies to remove organic pollutants,but the adsorption effect of the catalyst is usually unheeded in degradation process.Herein,a bifunctional catalyst of amorphous MoS_(x)(a-MoS_(x))with 3D layer-by-layer superstructure was synthesized by assembling basic active units[Mo_(3)S_(13)]^(2-)of MoS_(2).The large interlayer spacing and high exposure of active sites render a-MoS_(x)to have excellent synergy of adsorption and photo-assisted PMS activation for tetracycline(TC)degradation.Experiments and DFT calculation show that TC can be efficiently enriched on a-MoS_(x)by pore filling,π-πinteraction,hydrogen bonding and high adsorption energy.Subsequently,PMS can be quickly activated through electron transfer with a-MoS_(x),resulting in high TC degradation efficiency of 96.6%within 20 min.In addition,the synergistic mechanism of adsorption and photo-assisted PMS activation was explored,and the degradation pathway of TC was expounded.This work is inspirational for constructing bifunctional catalysts with superior synergistic adsorption and catalytic capabilities to remove refractory organic pollutants in water.

Molecular dispersion enhances photovoltaic efficiency and thermal stability in quasi-bilayer organic solar cells

In comparison to widely adopted bulk heterojunction(BHJ)structures for organic solar cells(OSC),exploiting the sequential deposition to form planar heterojunction(PHJ)structures enables to realize the favorable vertical phase separation to facilitate charge extraction and reduce charge recombination in OSCs.However,effective tunings on the power conversion efficiency(PCE)in PHJ-OSCs are still restrained by the currently available methods.Based on a polymeric donor PBDBT-2 F(PBDBT=Poly[[4,8-bis[5-(2-ethylhexyl)-4-fluoro-2-thienyl]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl]-2,5-thiophenediyl[5,7-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4,8-dioxo-4 H,8 H-benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c′]dithiophene-1,3-diyl]-2,5-thiophenediyl])and a non-fullerene(NF)acceptor Y6,we proposed a strategy to improve the properties of photovoltaic performances in PHJ-based OSCs through dilute dispersions of the PBDBT-2 F donor into the acceptor-dominant phase with the sequential film deposition.With the control of donor dispersions,the charge transport balance in the PHJ-OSCs is improved,leading to the expedited photocarrier sweep-out with reduced bimolecular charge recombination.As a result,a PCE of 15.4%is achieved in the PHJ-OSCs.Importantly,the PHJ solar cells with donor dispersions exhibit better thermal stability than corresponding BHJ devices,which is related to the better film morphology robustness and less affected charge sweep-out during the thermal aging.

On the Understandings of Dielectric Constant and Its Impacts on the Photovoltaic Efficiency in Organic Solar Cells

Dielectric constant(ε)is an important parameter affecting the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells(OSC).Increasingεof bulk heterojunctions in general can benefit the performance of OSCs,as an increasedεwill reduce the influence of Coulomb interaction between weakly bound electron-hole pairs on charge-transfer states or bimolecular recombination involving mobile carriers to reduce geminate and nongeminate losses.In this review,we overview the current understandings on dielectric constant and its impacts on exciton dissociation and voltage losses in OSCs and summarize recent efforts attempting to modify the dielectric properties of OSC materials through synthetic approaches.We further discuss the commonly adopted techniques for determining the parameter ofεwith stressing the testing conditions that may affect the accuracy of results.At last,we suggest that novel experimental methods to improve the dielectric constant and resultant physical processes in OSCs will be appreciated,which helps enrich the existing strategy reservoir toward enhancement of photovoltaic efficiencies.