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P-N junction

P-N junction

A p-n junction is formed when p-type and n-type semiconductor materials are joined together. At the interface of the p-n junction, holes from the p-side and electrons from the n-side begin to diffuse into the opposite sides due to the concentration gradient. This diffusion of carriers leads to a region around the junction where there are no free charge carriers, known as the depletion region. The charge density within the depletion region for the n-side and p-side can be described by the...

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Morphology Control for Fully Printable Organic–Inorganic Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells Based on a Ti-alkoxide and Semiconducting Polymer

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A Structurally Simple Polymer Donor Enables High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells with Minimal Energy Losses.

Qiuju Jiang¹, Xiyue Yuan¹, Yao Li²

¹Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Energy & Information Polymer Materials, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.

Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)

|March 12, 2025

Summary

Researchers developed a simple nonhalogenated polymer donor, PBDCT, for organic solar cells (OSCs). This material achieves record-breaking low energy loss (E_loss), enabling high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in OSC devices.

Keywords:

Energy losses High‐efficiency Organic solar cells Polymer donor Simple structure

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Area of Science:

Organic electronics
Materials science
Photovoltaics

Background:

Energy loss (E_loss) between optical energy gap (E_g) and open-circuit voltage (eV_oc) limits organic solar cell (OSC) efficiency.
Reducing E_loss in binary OSCs using simple materials remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a structurally simple, nonhalogenated polymer donor for high-efficiency OSCs.
To investigate methods for reducing energy loss in OSCs.
To achieve record-breaking E_loss and power conversion efficiency (PCE) in binary OSCs.

Main Methods:

Synthesis of a novel nonhalogenated polymer donor, PBDCT, featuring a 3,4-dicyanothiophene building block.
Tuning alkyl chains to enhance polymer crystallinity and reduce energetic disorder.
Fabrication of binary OSCs using the PBDCT polymer donor.
Characterization of energy loss mechanisms, exciton dynamics, and charge transport properties.

Main Results:

PBDCT exhibits a deep-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) due to the 3,4-dicyanothiophene unit, reducing recombination losses.
Optimized alkyl chains promote high crystallinity and low energetic disorder, facilitating efficient exciton dissociation.
PBDCT forms a bi-continuous crystalline fibrillary network, enhancing exciton diffusion and charge transport.
Achieved a record-breaking low E_loss of 0.476 eV and a PCE of 19.84% in binary OSCs.

Conclusions:

The developed PBDCT polymer donor significantly reduces energy loss in OSCs.
Structurally simple, nonhalogenated materials can achieve high efficiency in binary OSCs.
This work demonstrates a promising strategy for overcoming efficiency limitations in organic solar cells.