High-efficiency organic solar cells processed from a real green solvent.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Electronics
• Green Chemistry

Background:

• Organic solar cells (OSCs) fabrication relies on toxic chlorinated solvents, hindering industrial scalability.
• Alternative solvents are often not truly eco-friendly, failing UN "Globally Harmonized System" criteria.
• Processing OSCs from green solvents like anisole is a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop high-performance photovoltaic materials processable from green solvents.
• To enable the fabrication of efficient OSCs using anisole, a UN-recommended green solvent.
• To overcome the fundamental challenges in achieving high efficiency with green-processed OSCs.

Main Methods:

• Incorporation of a Boron-Nitrogen (B-N) covalent bond into the conjugated backbone of polymer donors.
• Development of a novel B-N-based polymer for OSC fabrication.
• Fabrication and testing of OSC devices using anisole as the processing solvent.

Main Results:

• Achieved record-high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) for OSCs processed from anisole.
• Demonstrated 15.65% efficiency in a 0.04 cm² device and 14.01% in a 1.10 cm² device.
• Successfully fabricated high-performance OSCs via green processing using a B-N-based polymer.

Conclusions:

• The incorporation of B-N bonds is an effective strategy for creating green-processable, high-efficiency photovoltaic materials.
• B-N-based polymers enable OSC fabrication from eco-compatible anisole, marking a breakthrough for sustainable organic electronics.
• This work paves the way for the industrial manufacturing of efficient and environmentally friendly organic solar cells.