Modulating Aggregation Behavior by Ternary Strategies for Efficient and Stable Thick-Film Organic Solar Cells

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Electronics
• Photovoltaics

Background:

• Functional third components are key to improving organic solar cell properties.
• Simultaneously enhancing efficiency, stability, and thick-film performance with third components is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce low-diffusion third components (IDCN and ID2CN) for organic solar cells.
• To simultaneously improve power conversion efficiency (PCE), short-circuit current (Jsc), and operational stability.
• To demonstrate the effectiveness of these components in thick-film organic solar cell devices.

Main Methods:

• Incorporation of low-diffusion third components (IDCN, ID2CN) into PM6:Y6 based organic solar cells.
• Investigation of light harvesting, energy transfer (Förster resonance energy transfer - FRET), and molecular arrangement.
• Analysis of film morphology stability and device performance in thick-film configurations.

Main Results:

• Achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.08% and a short-circuit current (Jsc) of 27.82 mA cm⁻² with PM6:Y6 and third components.
• Enhanced light harvesting (400-500 nm) and energy transfer via FRET.
• Improved morphology stability, increasing the T90 lifetime from 689 to 1545 hours.
• Demonstrated superior performance in 300 nm thick-film devices, with PM6:ID2CN:Y6 achieving 15.01% PCE.

Conclusions:

• Low-diffusion third components effectively enhance PCE and stability in organic solar cells.
• These components improve exciton dissociation and charge transport by modulating molecular arrangement.
• IDCN and ID2CN show significant potential for high-performance thick-film organic solar cell applications.