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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization
Published on: January 29, 2017
An Isomeric Solid Additive Enables High-Efficiency Polymer Solar Cells Developed Using a Benzo-Difuran-Based Donor
Lu Chen1,2, Jicheng Yi2, Ruijie Ma3
1College of New Materials and New Energies, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen, 518118, P. R. China.
Researchers developed a new benzo-difuran (BDF) polymer donor for organic photovoltaics, achieving a record 18.4% efficiency. A novel additive, 2-chloronaphthalene, significantly enhanced device performance, offering a promising alternative to current materials.
Area of Science:
- Organic electronics
- Materials science
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- High-efficiency organic photovoltaic devices predominantly utilize benzo-dithiophene (BDT) donor polymers.
- Benzo-difuran (BDF) units offer potential for reduced steric hindrance, improved molecular packing, and tunable energy levels in donor polymers.
- Previous BDF-based devices exhibited lower performance compared to BDT counterparts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore benzo-difuran (BDF) as a viable building block for high-performance donor polymers in organic photovoltaics.
- To achieve high power conversion efficiency in BDF-based organic photovoltaic devices.
- To investigate the role of additives in optimizing BDF-based device performance.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of a novel BDF-based donor polymer, D18-Fu.
- Fabrication of organic photovoltaic devices utilizing the D18-Fu polymer.
- Optimization of device morphology and performance using 2-chloronaphthalene as a solid additive.
Main Results:
- Achieved a power conversion efficiency of 18.4% for a BDF-based polymer donor, the highest reported to date for BDF materials.
- Demonstrated the significant positive impact of 2-chloronaphthalene on optimizing morphology and enhancing device parameters.
- The new BDF donor polymer achieved efficiencies comparable to established BDT-based materials.
Conclusions:
- Benzo-difuran (BDF) units represent a promising alternative building block for high-efficiency organic photovoltaic donor polymers.
- 2-chloronaphthalene is an effective additive for optimizing BDF-based organic photovoltaic devices, offering a potential replacement for 1-chloronaphthalene.
- This study advances the development of high-performance organic photovoltaic materials and processing additives.
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