Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026
Morphology Control for Fully Printable Organic–Inorganic Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells Based on a Ti-alkoxide and Semiconducting Polymer
Published on: January 10, 2017
Alcohol-soluble Star-shaped Oligofluorenes as Interlayer for High Performance Polymer Solar Cells
Yang Zou1, Zhicai He2, Baofeng Zhao2
1Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Hubei Key Lab on Organic and Polymeric Optoelectronic Materials, Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
Star-shaped oligofluorenes enhance polymer solar cell performance. These new interfacial materials improve power conversion efficiency (PCE) by over 50% in devices, reaching a maximum of 9.30%.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- Polymer solar cells (PSCs) require efficient interfacial layers to optimize charge extraction and device performance.
- Star-shaped organic molecules offer unique structural advantages for creating effective interlayers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and synthesize novel star-shaped oligofluorenes as interfacial materials for polymer solar cells.
- To investigate the impact of molecular structure, including hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups, on device performance.
- To achieve high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in PSCs using these tailored interlayers.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of two star-shaped oligofluorenes, T0-OH and T1-OH, featuring a hexakis(fluoren-2-yl)benzene core.
- Incorporation of diethanolamino and n-hexyl groups to tune solubility and surface properties.
- Fabrication and characterization of PSCs with and without the synthesized interlayers, using conventional and inverted device structures with different active materials (PCDTBT/PC71BM and PTB7).
Main Results:
- A 50% enhancement in PCE was observed when T0-OH and T1-OH were used as interlayers in a conventional device with PCDTBT/PC71BM.
- A maximum PCE of 9.30% was achieved in an inverted device structure utilizing PTB7 as the active material, indicating high performance.
- Systematic studies revealed that tuning the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance of the star-shaped molecules significantly impacts electrode work function, surface morphology, and overall device performance.
Conclusions:
- The synthesized star-shaped oligofluorenes are effective interfacial materials for enhancing PSC performance.
- Fine-tuning molecular structure provides a method to balance hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties, crucial for high-performance interlayers.
- These materials demonstrate potential for further development in high-efficiency organic photovoltaic devices.
More Related Videos
09:32Well-aligned Vertically Oriented ZnO Nanorod Arrays and their Application in Inverted Small Molecule Solar Cells
Published on: April 25, 2018
06:49In situ Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering on Roll-To-Roll Coating of Organic Solar Cells with Laboratory X-ray Instrumentation
Published on: March 2, 2021