Schematic Studies on the Structural Properties and Device Physics of All Small Molecule Ternary Photovoltaic Cells

Although the field of ternary organic solar cells has seen much progress in terms of device performance in the past few years, limited understanding has restricted further development. For example, studies of the crystalline packing structure of ternary blends have rarely been reported in the solar cell field. Consequently, we chose two ternary blends of small molecules, two fullerene derivatives (small-molecule:PC71BM:PC61BM or small-molecule:PC71BM:ICBA), to investigate crystallization behavior and interactions among the three components. The crystalline structure of the ternary active blends was characterized using various techniques such as 2D-GIWAXS and AFM, and the relationship of the observed morphologies to device performance is discussed. Furthermore, the device physics associated with the charge generation, transport, and recombination dynamics of these ternary blend systems were investigated.