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Organic Solar Cell with Efficiency of 20.49% Enabled by Solid Additive and Non-Halogenated Solvent
Longfei Liu1,2, Hui Li1,2, Juxuan Xie1,2
1Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P. R. China.
Researchers developed a new non-halogenated additive, 4-nitro-benzonitrile (NBN), to improve organic solar cells (OSCs). This benzene-based solid additive (BSA) enhances device efficiency and performance by optimizing film morphology.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- Benzene-based solid additives (BSAs) are crucial for organic solar cell (OSC) blend film morphology.
- Current BSAs often use weak, halogenated electron-withdrawing groups, limiting performance.
- Research into non-halogenated BSAs with strong electron-withdrawing groups is underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel additive strategy using non-halogenated strong electron-withdrawing groups on benzene rings.
- To investigate the efficacy of 4-nitro-benzonitrile (NBN) as a BSA for enhancing OSC performance.
- To explore the potential of NBN in non-halogenated solvent processed OSCs.
Main Methods:
- Incorporation of non-halogenated strong electron-withdrawing groups onto benzene rings.
- Selection and application of 4-nitro-benzonitrile (NBN) as an additive in OSCs.
- Fabrication and characterization of binary and ternary OSC devices with and without NBN.
Main Results:
- NBN treatment significantly improved light absorption and charge transport.
- NBN effectively mitigated charge recombination and optimized film morphology.
- Binary and ternary OSCs utilizing NBN achieved high power conversion efficiencies of 20.22% and 20.49% respectively.
- NBN demonstrated universality across different active layer systems.
Conclusions:
- The incorporation of non-halogenated strong electron-absorbing moieties is a viable strategy for designing effective BSAs.
- NBN is a promising additive for tuning film morphology and boosting OSC efficiency.
- This approach offers significant guidance for the future development of high-performance BSAs.
