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Self-Aggregated Light-Trapping Nanodots for Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells
Huaizhi Gao1, Runnan Yu1, Yongshuai Gong1
1Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|October 30, 2022
Summary
New small organic molecules, N,N,N
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- Organic solar cells (OSCs) typically have thin photoactive layers (~100 nm), limiting light absorption and power conversion efficiency (PCE).
- Effective light-trapping strategies are crucial to minimize optical losses in these thin films for improved OSC performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and synthesize novel small organic molecules for dual functionality: light-trapping and electron-collection in OSCs.
- To investigate the impact of these molecules as cathode buffer layers (CBLs) on the performance of organic solar cells.
Main Methods:
- One-step acylation reaction for synthesizing N,N,N',N'-tetraphenyloxalamide (TPEA) and N,N,N',N'-tetraphenylmalonamide (TPMA).
- Fabrication of OSC devices incorporating TPEA and TPMA as light-trapping CBLs.
- Performance characterization of OSCs, including PCE measurements.
Main Results:
- TPEA and TPMA self-aggregate into hemispherical nanodots, enhancing light harvesting and electron collection.
- OSCs with TPEA and TPMA CBLs showed significantly improved PCEs (16.21% and 17.85%) compared to devices without a CBL (14.09%).
- A record PCE of 19.02% was achieved for a ternary OSC using TPMA as the light-trapping CBL.
Conclusions:
- TPEA and TPMA are effective multifunctional materials for enhancing light harvesting and electron transport in OSCs.
- The developed light-trapping CBLs offer a promising route to boost OSC efficiency and potentially reduce manufacturing costs (TPMA synthesis cost: $0.61/g).
- This work provides a foundation for designing advanced CBLs for high-performance and stable organic solar cells.
