Toluene Processed All-Polymer Solar Cells with 18%Efficiency and Enhanced Stability Enabled by Solid Additive:Comparison Between Sequential-Processing and Blend-Casting

The emergence of polymerized small molecule acceptors(PSMAs)has significantly improved the performance of all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs).However,the pace of device engineering lacks behind that of materials development,so that a majority of the PSMAs have not fulfilled their potentials.Furthermore,most high-performance all-PSCs rely on the use of chloroform as the processing solvent.For instance,the recent highperformance PSMA,named PJ1-γ,with high LUMO,and HOMO levels,could only achieve a PCE of 16.1%with a high-energy-level donor(JD40)using chloroform.Herein,we present a methodology combining sequential processing(SqP)with the addition of 0.5%wt PC_(71)BM as a solid additive(SA)to achieve an impressive efficiency of 18.0%for all-PSCs processed from toluene,an aromatic hydrocarbon solvent.Compared to the conventional blend-casting(BC)method whose best efficiency(16.7%)could only be achieved using chloroform,the SqP method significantly boosted the device efficiency using toluene as the processing solvent.In addition,the donor we employ is the classic PM6 that has deeper energy levels than JD40,which provides low energy loss for the device.We compare the results with another PSMA(PYF-T-o)with the same method.Finally,an improved photostability of the SqP devices with the incorporation of SA is demonstrated.

Optimizing the power conversion processes in diluted donor/acceptor heterojunctions towards 19.4%efficiency all-polymer solar cells

All polymer solar cells(all-PSCs)promise mechanically-flexible and morphologically-stable organic photovoltaics and have aroused increased interests very recently.However,due to their disorderly conformation structures within the photoactive film,inefficient charge generation and carrier transport are observed which lead to inferior photovoltaic performance compared to smaller molecular acceptor-based photovoltaics.Here,by diluting PM6 with a cutting-edge polymeric acceptor PY-IT and diluting PY-IT with PM6 or D18,donor-dominating or acceptor-dominating heterojunctions were prepared.Synchrotron X-ray and multiple spectrometer techniques reveal that the diluted heterojunctions receive increased structural order,translating to enhanced carrier mobility,improved exciton diffusion length,and suppressed non-radiative recombination loss during the power conversion.As the results,the corresponding PM6+1%PY-IT/PY-IT+1%D18 and PM6+1%PY-IT/PY-IT+1%PM6 devices fabricated by layer-by-layer deposition received superior power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 19.4%and 18.8%respectively,along with enhanced operational lifetimes in air,outperforming the PCE of 17.5%in the PM6/PY-IT reference device.

All-Polymer Solar Cells and Photodetectors with Improved Stability Enabled by Terpolymers Containing Antioxidant Side Chains

It is of vital importance to improve the long-term and photostability of organic photovoltaics,including organic solar cells(OSCs)and organic photodetectors(OPDs),for their ultimate industrialization.Herein,two series of terpolymers featuring with an antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT)-terminated side chain,PTzBI-EHp-BTBHTx and N2200-BTBHTx(x=0.05,0.1,0.2),are designed and synthesized.It was found that incorporating appropriate ratio of benzothiadiazole(BT)with BHT side chains on the conjugated backbone would induce negligible effect on the molecular weight,absorption spectra and energy levels of polymers,however,which would obviously enhance the photostability of these polymers.Consequently,all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs)and photodetectors were fabricated,and the all-PSC based on PTzBI-EHp-BTBHT0.05:N2200 realized an optimal power conversion efficiency(PCE)approaching~10%,outperforming the device based on pristine PTzBI-EHp:N2200.Impressively,the all-PSCs based on BHT-featuring terpolymers displayed alleviated PCEs degradation under continuous irradiation for 300 h due to the improved morphological and photostability of active layers.The OPDs based on BHT-featuring terpolymers achieved a lower dark current at−0.1 bias,which could be stabilized even after irradiation over 400 h.This study provides a feasible approach to develop terpolymers with antioxidant efficacy for improving the lifetime of OSCs and OPDs.

Optimizing the morphology of all-polymer solar cells for enhanced photovoltaic performance and thermal stability

Due to the complicated film formation kinetics, morphology control remains a major challenge for the development of efficient and stable all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs). To overcome this obstacle, the sequential deposition method is used to fabricate the photoactive layers of all-PSCs comprising a polymer donor PTzBI-oF and a polymer acceptor PS1. The film morphology can be manipulated by incorporating amounts of a dibenzyl ether additive into the PS1 layer. Detailed morphology investigations by grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering and a transmission electron microscope reveal that the combination merits of sequential deposition and DBE additive can render favorable crystalline properties as well as phase separation for PTzBI-oF:PS1 blends. Consequently, the optimized all-PSCs delivered an enhanced power conversion efficiency(PCE) of 15.21%along with improved carrier extraction and suppressed charge recombination. More importantly, the optimized all-PSCs remain over 90% of their initial PCEs under continuous thermal stress at 65 °C for over 500 h. This work validates that control over microstructure morphology via a sequential deposition process is a promising strategy for fabricating highly efficient and stable all-PSCs.

Effects of Flexible Conjugation-Break Spacers of Non-Conjugated Polymer Acceptors on Photovoltaic and Mechanical Properties of All-Polymer Solar Cells

All-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs)possess attractive merits including superior thermal stability and mechanical flexibility for large-area roll-to-roll processing.Introducing flexible conjugation-break spacers(FCBSs)into backbones of polymer donor(P_(D))or polymer acceptor(P_(A))has been demonstrated as an efficient approach to enhance both the photovoltaic(PV)and mechanical properties of the all-PSCs.However,length dependency of FCBS on certain all-PSC related properties has not been systematically explored.In this regard,we report a series of new non-conjugated P_(A)s by incorporating FCBS with various lengths(2,4,and 8 carbon atoms in thioalkyl segments).Unlike com-mon studies on so-called side-chain engineering,where longer side chains would lead to better solubility of those resulting polymers,in this work,we observe that the solubilities and the resulting photovoltaic/mechanical properties are optimized by a proper FCBS length(i.e.,C2)in P_(A) named PYTS-C2.Its all-PSC achieves a high efficiency of 11.37%,and excellent mechanical robustness with a crack onset strain of 12.39%,significantly superior to those of the other P_(A)s.These results firstly demonstrate the effects of FCBS lengths on the PV performance and mechanical properties of the all-PSCs,providing an effective strategy to fine-tune the structures of P_(A)s for highly efficient and mechanically robust PSCs.

Novel polymer acceptors achieving 10.18% efficiency for all-polymer solar cells

Polymer acceptors based on extended fused ring p skeleton has been proven to be promising candidates for all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs), due to their remarkable improved light absorption than the traditional imide-based polymer acceptors. To expand structural diversity of the polymer acceptors, herein,two polymer acceptors PSF-IDIC and PSi-IDIC with extended fused ring p skeleton are developed by copolymerization of 2,20-((2 Z,20 Z)-((4,4,9,9-tetrahexadecyl-4,9-dihydro-s-indaceno [1,2-b:5,6-b']dithio phene-2,7-diyl)bis(methanylylidene))bis(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1 H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile(IDIC-C16) block with sulfur(S) and fluorine(F) functionalized benzodithiophene(BDT) unit and silicon(Si) atom functionalized BDT unit, respectively. Both polymer acceptors exhibit strong light absorption.The PSF-IDIC exhibits similar energy levels and slightly higher absorption coefficient relative to the PSi-IDIC. After blended with the donor polymer PM6, the functional atoms on the polymer acceptors show quite different effect on the device performance. Both of the acceptors deliver a notably high open circuit voltage(V_(OC)) of the devices, but PSi-IDIC achieves higher V OCthan PSF-IDIC. All-PSC based on PM6:PSi-IDIC attains a power conversion efficiency(PCE) of 8.29%, while PM6:PSF-IDIC-based device achieves a much higher PCE of 10.18%, which is one of the highest values for the all-PSCs reported so far. The superior device performance of PM6:PSF-IDIC is attributed to its higher exciton dissociation and charge transport, decreased charge recombination, and optimized morphology than PM6:PSi-IDIC counterpart. These results suggest that optimizing the functional atoms of the side chain provide an effective strategy to develop high performance polymer acceptors for all-PSCs.

Non-conjugated terpolymer acceptors for highly efficient and stable lager-area all-polymer solar cells

All-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs)have made significant progress recently,but few studies have been conducted to investigate the lab-to-manufacturing translation from the spin-coating method to the printing process.Here,the random copolymerization method and non-conjugated backbone approach are integrated to manipulate the morphology and photoelectric properties of the active layer for large-area printed all-PSCs.A series of non-conjugated terpolymer acceptors PYSe-TC_(6)T(x)(x=5,10,and 20,refers to the molar ratio of TC_(6)T unit)are developed by covalently introducing non-conjugated unit TC_(6)T into the PYSe host bipolymer by random copolymerization.The spin-coated PYSe-TC_(6)T(10)-based all-PSC demonstrates the best power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 13.54%,superior to the PYSe-based one(12.45%).More intriguingly,morphological studies reveal that a combination of the random polymerization and non-conjugated backbone strategy can effectively prevent the active layer from overaggregation and improve the film quality during the printing process,thereby minimizing the efficiency and technology gap between spin-coated small-area devices and blade-coated large-area devices.By directly using the same preparation condition of spin-coating,the blade-coated small-area(0.04 cm^(2))delivers a PCE of 12.83%and the large-area(1.21 cm^(2))device achieves a PCE of 11.96%with a small PCE loss.Both PCE value and PCE loss are one of the most outstanding performances of the bladecoated all-PSCs.These findings reveal that a combination of the non-conjugated flexible backbone with random copolymerization to develop non-conjugated terpolymers is an attractive design concept to smoothly realize the lab-to-manufacturing translation.

A new low-bandgap polymer acceptor based on benzotriazole for efficient all-polymer solar cells

The rational design of polymer acceptors with strong and broad absorption is critical to improve photovoltaic performance.In this work,a new polymer acceptor PY9-T based on heptacyclic benzotriazole(Y9-C16)as a building block and thiophene unit as the linking unit was synthesized,which exhibited a low bandgap(1.37 eV)and a high extinction coefficient of the neat film(1.44×10^(5) cm^(−1)).When PY9-T was blended with the wide bandgap polymer donor PBDB-T,the all-polymer solar cells(APSCs)showed a high power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 10.45%with both high open circuit voltage of 0.881 V and short-circuit current density of 19.82 mA/cm^(2).In addition,APSCs based on PY9-T show good thermal stability,as evidenced by slight changes morphologies when annealed at 100℃.These results suggest that Y9-C16 provides a new building block to develop efficient and stable polymer acceptors.

A new perspective to develop regiorandom polymer acceptors with high active layer ductility,excellent device stability,and high efficiency approaching 17%

The recently reported efficient polymerized small-molecule acceptors(PSMAs)usually adopt a regioregular backbone by polymerizing small-molecule acceptors precursors with a low-reactivity 5-brominated 3-(dicyanomethylidene)indan-1-one(IC)end group or its derivatives,leading to low molecular weight,and thus reduce active layer mechanical properties.Herein,a series of newly designed chlorinated PSMAs originating from isomeric IC end groups are developed by adjusting chlorinated positions and copolymerized sites on end groups to achieve high molecular weight,favorable intermolecular interaction,and improved physicochemical properties.Compared with regioregular PY2Se-Cl-o and PY2Se-Cl-m,regiorandom PY2Se-Cl-ran has a similar absorption profile,moderate lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level,and favorable intermolecular packing and crystallization properties.Moreover,the binary PM6:PY2Se-Cl-ran blend achieves better ductility with a crack-onset strain of 17.5% and improved power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 16.23% in all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs)due to the higher molecular weight of PY2Se-Cl-ran and optimized blend morphology,while the ternary PM6:J71:PY2Se-Cl-ran blend offers an impressive PCE approaching 17% and excellent device stability,which are all crucial for potential practical applications of all-PSCs in wearable electronics.To date,the efficiency of 16.86% is the highest value reported for the regiorandom PSMAs-based all-PSCs and is also one of the best values reported for the all-PSCs.Our work provides a new perspective to develop efficient all-PSCs,with all high active layer ductility,impressive PCE,and excellent device stability,towards practical applications.

Polymerized A-DA'D-A type small-molecule acceptors for high performance all-polymer solar cells: progress and perspective

A-DA'D-A type polymerized small-molecule acceptors(PSMAs) have very recently received wide attention because they possess advantages such as synthetic flexibility, narrowed bandgap, low energy loss, and impressive mechanical properties. With efforts on design and synthesis of PSMAs and polymer donors, significant progress has been made on all polymer solar cells(allPSCs) with power conversion efficiencies exceeding 18%. In this review, we focus on structure-property-performance relationships of the A-DA'D-A type PSMAs. First, we in-depth review the regio-random, regio-regular, and random ternary series by focusing on their structural modification such as from aspects of side-chains, halogenation, selenophene-containing and linkers, respectively. Second, we review the mechanically flexible and stretchable properties, which helps to find structural gene that correlates the mechanical properties. Third, we review the impressive small energy loss. In all, this review provides structural and material's clues, helpfully for designing high-performance all-PSCs.

Recent Research Progress of n-Type Conjugated Polymer Acceptors and All-Polymer Solar Cells

The active layer of all polymer solar cells(all-PSCs)is composed of a blend of a p-type conjugated polymer(p-CP)as donor and an n-type conjugated polymer(n-CP)as acceptor.All-PSCs possess the advantages of light weight,thin active layer,mechanical flexibility,low cost solution processing and high stability,but the power conversion efficiency(PCE)of the all-PSCs was limited by the poor photovoltaic performance of the n-CP acceptors before 2016.Since the report of the strategy of polymerized small molecule acceptors(PSMAs)in 2017,the photovoltaic performance of the PSMA-based n-CPs improved rapidly,benefitted from the development of the A-DA’D-A type small molecule acceptors(SMAs).PCE of the all-PSCs based on the PSMA acceptors reached 17%-18%recently.In this review article,we will introduce the development history of the n-CPs,especially the recent research progress of the PSMAs.Particularly,the structure-property relationship of the PSMAs is introduced and discussed.Finally,current challenges and prospects of the n-CP acceptors are analyzed and discussed.

Regioregular Non-Fused Polymerized Small Molecular Acceptors Enabling Efficient All-Polymer Solar Cells

Comprehensive Summary The regioregularity induced by the isomers of the end-groups has been widely recognized as a key factor that determines the photovoltaic properties of polymerized small molecular acceptors(PSMAs)in all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs).However,the influence of regioregularity on the photovoltaic properties of non-fused PSMAs has not been explored yet.In this contribution,two regioregular non-fused PSMAs,PFBTz-T-γand PFBTz-T-δ,were synthesized for the first time by using the monomers with isomeric pure end-groups.Compared with PFBTz-T-δ,PFBTz-T-γhas more compact and more ordered packing in solid state,which results in a more red-shifted optical absorption and a higher electron mobility.More remarkably,PFBTz-T-γand PFBTz-T-δexhibited huge difference in photovoltaic performance in all-PSCs,which offered the power conversion efficiencies(PCEs)of 9.72%and 0.52%,respectively.Further studies have unveiled that the higher PCE of PFBTz-T-γis due to more efficient exciton dissociation,higher and more balanced electron/hole mobility,and less charge recombination as a result of favorable morphology of the blend film.This work demonstrates that the development of regioregular non-fused PSMAs by tuning the polymerization sites is an effective strategy for obtaining high-efficiency all-PSCs.

8.30%Efficiency P3HT-based all-polymer solar cells enabled by a miscible polymer acceptor with high energy levels and efficient electron transport

P3HT stands out from numerous polymer donors owing to the merits of low cost and high scalability of synthesis.However,the photovoltaic performance of P3HT-based blends lags significantly behind the state-of-the-art systems,especially for all-polymer solar cells(APSCs) that generally show efficiency of around 3%–4% due to the lack of matched polymer acceptors.Herein,a polymer acceptor,named IDTBTC8-CN,was designed and synthesized with indacenodithiophene(IDT) and mono-cyano(CN)-substituted benzothiadiazole(BT-CN) as building blocks.Introducing a CN group endowed the polymer with decreased bandgap,and apparent n-type charge transport character despite the relatively high energy levels.Additionally,IDTBTC8-CN showed largely improved miscibility with P3HT,compared with that of BT-based control polymer IDTBTC8.The high miscibility between P3HT and IDTBTC8-CN as well as the amorphous aggregation behavior of IDTBTC8-CN enabled a broad manipulation room for the blend film to acquire favorable morphology.Eventually,a champion efficiency of 8.30% was achieved,in sharp contrast to that of the IDTBTC8-based system(1.21%).Such efficiency is a new record for P3HT-based APSCs reported so far.Moreover,P3HT:IDTBTC8-CN blend film also exhibited excellent mechanical robustness.This study implies the guidance of molecular design of the polymer acceptors and morphology control for P3HT-based APSCs.

Host-Guest Strategy Enabling Nonhalogenated Solvent Processing for High-Performance All-Polymer Hosted Solar Cells

The power conversion efficiencies(PCEs)of all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs),usually processed from low-boiling-point and toxic sol-vents,have reached high values of 18%.However,poor miscibility and uncontrollable crystallinity in polymer blends lead to a nota-ble drop in the PCEs when using green solvents,limiting the practical development of all-PSCs.Herein,a third component(guest)BTO was employed to optimize the miscibility and enhance the crystallinity of PM6/PY2Se-F host film processed from green solvent toluene(TL),which can effectively suppress the excessive aggregation of PY2Se-F and facilitate a nano-scale interpenetrating net-work morphology for exciton dissociation and charge transport.As a result,TL-processed all-polymer hosted solar cells(all-PHSCs)exhibited an impressive PCE of 17.01%.Moreover,the strong molecular interaction between the host and guest molecules also en-hances the thermal stability of the devices.Our host-guest strategy provides a unique approach to developing high-efficiency and stable all-PHSCs processed from green solvents,paving the way for the industrial development of all-PHSCs.

π-Extended End Groups Enable High-Performance All-Polymer Solar Cells with Near-Infrared Absorption

Narrow-bandgap n-type polymers are essential for advancing the development of all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs).Herein,we developed a novel polymer acceptor PNT withπ-extended 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[b]naphthalen-1-ylidene)malononitrile(CPNM)end groups.Compared to commonly used 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[b]naphthalen-1ylidene)malononitrile(IC)units,CPNM units have a further extended fused ring,providing the PNT polymer with extended absorption into the near-IR region(903 nm)and exhibiting a narrow optical bandgap(1.37 eV).Furthermore,PNT exhibits a high electron mobility(6.79×10^(−4) cm^(2)·V^(−1)·S^(−1))and a relatively high-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)energy level of−3.80 eV.When blended with PBDB-T,all-PSC achieves a power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 13.7%and a high short-circuit current density(JSC)of 24.4 mA·cm^(−2),mainly attributed to broad absorption(600—900 nm)and efficient charge separation and collection.Our study provides a promising polymer acceptor for all-PSCs and demonstrates thatπ-extended CPNM units are important to achieve high-performance for all-PSCs.

Multifunctional all-polymer photovoltaic blend with simultaneously improved efficiency(18.04%),stability and mechanical durability

One of the most appealing material systems for solar energy conversion is allpolymer blend.Presently,the three key merits(power conversion efficiency,operation stability and mechanical robustness)exhibited a trade-off in a particular all-polymer blend system,which greatly limit its commercial application.Diverting the classic ternary tactic of organic solar cells based on polymer,nonfullerene small molecule and fullerene,herein we demonstrate that the three merits of a benchmark all-polymer blend PM6:PY-IT can be simultaneously maximized via the introduction of a polymerized fullerene derivative PPCBMB.Importantly,the addition of the guest component promoted the power conversion efficiency of PM6:PY-IT blend from 16.59%to 18.04%.Meanwhile,the device stability and film ductility are also improved due to the addition of this polymerized fullerene material.Morphology and device physics analyses reveal that optimal ternary system contains well-maintained molecular packing and crystallinity,being beneficial to keeping favorable charge transport and the reduced domain size contributed to charge generation and ductility improvement.Furthermore,the ternary photovoltaic blend was successfully used as photocatalysts,and an excellent heavy metal removal from water was demonstrated.This study showcases the multi-functions of all-polymer blends via the use of polymerized fullerenes.

Conjugation expansion strategy enables highly stable all-polymer solar cells

The stability issue is one of the key factors hindering the commercial application of organic solar cells.All-polymer organic solar cell is one of the effective ways to solve the stability problem.In this work,we designed and synthesized two polymer donor materials PBDT and PDTBDT with different conjugation ranges,and demonstrated for the first time that extending the conjugation range of donor materials in all polymer solar cells can significantly improve device efficiency and stability.The experimental results of materials and devices show that PDTBDT with a larger conjugation range has stronger crystallinity and a more planar structure,which endows the active layer in its corresponding device with higher exciton dissociation probability,lower carrier recombination probability,more balanced charge transport properties and more favorable film morphology.As a result,the PDTBDT:PYF-T-o devices display an outstanding PCE of 13.38%,which is much higher than PBDT with smaller conjugation range based devices.Moreover,the PDTBDT:PYF-T-o device retains 0.86 of the initial PCE after over 500 h in the air atmosphere,exhibiting significantly improved stability.The improved stability is attributed to the enhanced moisture and air tolerance of active layer film thanks to the strong crystallinity of the donor material.These results demonstrate that the conjugation expansion strategy is one of the effective ways to obtain efficient and stable all-polymer organic solar cells.

Polymerizing Ladder-type Heteroheptacene-Cored Small-Molecule Acceptors for Efficient All-Polymer Solar Cells

One important subject in the field of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) is the exploration of electron-deficient building blocks with optimized physicochemical properties to promote the performance of polymer acceptors. Here, two ladder-type heteroheptacene-containing small-molecule acceptors with branched 2-octyldodecyl or 2-hexyldecyl side-chains are synthesized and polymerized with the thiophene co-monomer to afford polymer acceptors (PW-OD and PW-HD) with strong near-infrared absorption. Experimental results reveal that the alkyl chain length has a large impact on the molecular packing behavior of the resulting polymers, which in turn affects their light-absorbing and charge transport properties, and thus the photovoltaic performance of the final devices. When blended with the polymer donor PM6, PW-HD-based all-PSCs deliver a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.12% compared to the PCE of 6.47% for the PW-OD-based all-PSCs, mainly due to its more ordered inter-chain packing and more favorable blend morphology. This work provides a promising building block for the development of high-performance narrow-bandgap polymer acceptors and highlights the importance of side-chain substitution in optimizing the photovoltaic performance of polymer acceptors.

An asymmetric non-fused electron-deficient building block for low-cost polymer acceptor in all-polymer solar cells

The development of polymerized fused-ring small molecule acceptors(FRA-PAs) has boosted the performance of all-polymer solar cells(all-PSCs).However,these FRA-PAs suffer from lengthy synthesis steps and high production costs due to the high degree of synthetic complexity for fused-ring small molecule acceptors(FRAs).Furthermore,most FRA-PAs exhibit strong batch-to-batch variation,limiting further industrial applications.Herein,we designed and synthesized asymmetric non-fused electron-deficient building block TIC-Br with a simple structure(only three synthetic steps),showing a planar configuration,excellent electron affinity,and large dipole moment.A simple polymer acceptor PTIB was further developed by polymerization of TIC-Br and sensitized fluorinated-thienyl benzodithiophene(BDT-TF-Sn).PTIB exhibits a broad absorption from 300 to 800 nm,a suitable lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO) energy level of-3.86 e V,and moderate electron mobility(1.02×10^(-4)cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1)).When matched with PM6,the device achieved the best PCE of 10.11%with a high V_(OC) of 0.97 V,which is one of the highest among those reported all-PSCs.More importantly,PTIB exhibits a lower synthetic complexity index(SC=35.0%)and higher figure-of-merit values(FOM=29.0%) than all the reported high-performance PAs.The polymer also exhibits excellent batch-to-batch reproducibility and great potential for scale-up fabrication.This study indicates that TIC-Br is a promising building block for constructing low-cost polymer acceptors for large-scale applications in all-PSCs.

Over 18.2% efficiency of layer–by–layer all–polymer solar cells enabled by homoleptic iridium(Ⅲ)carbene complex as solid additive

The vertical phase distribution of active layers plays a vital role in balancing exciton dissociation and cha rge transport for achieving efficient polymer solar cells(PSCs).The layer-by-layer(LbL)PSCs are commonly prepared by using sequential spin-coating method from donor and acceptor solutions with distinct solvents and solvent additives.The enhanced exciton dissociation is expected in the LbL PSCs with efficient charge transport in the relatively neat donor or acceptor layers.In this work,a series of LbL all-polymer solar cells(APSCs)were fabricated with PM6 as donor and PY-DT as acceptor,and triplet material m-Ir(CPmPB)_(3)is deliberately incorporated into PY-DT layer to prolong exciton lifetimes of active layers.The power conversion efficiency(PCE)of LbL APSCs is improved to 18.24%from 17.32%by incorporating 0.3 wt%m-Ir(CPMPB)_(3)in PY-DT layer,benefiting from the simultaneously enhanced short-circuit current density(Isc)of 25.17 mA cm^(-2)and fill factor(FF)of 74.70%.The enhancement of PCE is attributed to the efficient energy transfer of m-Ir(CPmPB)_(3)to PM6 and PY-DT,resulting in the prolonged exciton lifetime in the active layer and the increased exciton diffusion distance.The efficient energy transfer from m-Ir(CPmPB)_(3)to PM6 and PY-DT layer can be confirmed by the increased photoluminescence(PL)intensity and the prolonged PL lifetime of PM6 and PY-DT in PM6+m-Ir(CPmPB)_(3)and PY-DT+m-Ir(CPmPB)_(3)films.This study indicates that the triplet material as solid additive has great potential in fabricating efficient LbL APSCs by prolonging exciton lifetimes in active layers.