Suppressing Static and Dynamic Disorder for High-Efficiency and Stable Thick-Film Organic Solar Cells via Synergistic...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Electronics
• Photovoltaics

Background:

• Developing stable and efficient thick-film organic solar cells (OSCs) is essential for commercial viability.
• Existing OSCs face challenges with stability and efficiency due to issues in interfacial layers and active layer morphology.
• Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) require advanced strategies to overcome performance limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel synergistic dilution strategy for enhancing the performance of thick-film OSCs.
• To utilize Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA)-modified zinc oxide (ZnO) as an interfacial layer.
• To improve the stability and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells.

Main Methods:

• A synergistic dilution strategy was employed using PMMA-modified ZnO as the interfacial layer.
• This approach mitigated oxygen defects in ZnO and regulated the active layer's self-assembly for ordered donor-acceptor distribution.
• Electron-phonon coupling was suppressed to reduce dynamic disorder, and molecular stacking was improved to reduce static disorder.

Main Results:

• The synergistic dilution strategy significantly enhanced the performance of a 300 nm PM6:L8-BO OSC device, achieving a PCE >17% with excellent thermal stability.
• In a typical ternary system, the PCE was boosted from 17.89% to 18.72%, demonstrating the strategy's general applicability.
• The approach led to reduced dynamic and static disorder through suppressed electron-phonon coupling and improved molecular interactions.

Conclusions:

• The synergistic dilution strategy, using PMMA-modified ZnO, offers a promising pathway for developing highly efficient and stable thick-film OSCs.
• This method addresses key challenges in OSC performance, paving the way for large-scale commercial implementation.
• The enhanced efficiency and stability achieved ensure cost-effectiveness and practical application of organic photovoltaics.