A Polymer Acceptor with Grafted Small Molecule Acceptor Unit for Efficient All Polymer Organic Solar Cells

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Organic Electronics

Background:

• Organic solar cells (OSCs) require efficient polymer acceptors for high performance.
• Current acceptor designs face limitations in charge transport and morphology control.
• Grafted small molecule acceptors offer a new strategy for polymer design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a novel polymer acceptor (PX-1) using a unique polymerization strategy.
• To investigate the impact of grafted small molecule acceptors on polymer properties and device performance.
• To explore an alternative pathway for developing high-efficiency polymer acceptors for OSCs.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of the polymer acceptor PX-1 via a polymerization strategy incorporating small molecule acceptors.
• Fabrication of all-polymer organic solar cells using PM6 as the donor and PX-1 as the acceptor.
• Characterization of the synthesized polymer and photovoltaic performance evaluation of the fabricated devices.

Main Results:

• The synthesized PX-1 exhibits favorable properties for charge transport due to controlled end groups and enhanced π-π interactions.
• All-polymer organic solar cells (AP-OSCs) based on PM6: PX-1 achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.55%.
• The study demonstrates the effectiveness of regulating small molecule acceptor monomers and linker units in polymer design.

Conclusions:

• The developed polymerization strategy enables the creation of polymer acceptors with improved characteristics.
• PX-1 serves as a promising alternative polymer acceptor for high-performance organic solar cells.
• This work provides a valuable approach for designing advanced polymer acceptors through molecular engineering.