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Advances in Green-Solvent-Processable All-Polymer Solar Cells

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Abstract

All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have significantly improved long-term stability and mechanical stretchability. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all-PSCs has been rapidly improved from ∼1% to now over ∼17%, driven by rational molecular design, blend morphology optimization, and device engineering. However, most all-PSCs are generally processed with halogenated solvents, hazardous for human health and the global environment. Achieving high-performance all-PSCs with halogen-free solvent processing remains a challenge. This feature article presents recent advances in green-solvent-processable all-PSCs from the material design and morphological control perspective, and further reviews progress in using more environmentally friendly solvents (i.e., water or alcohol) to achieve genuinely sustainable and environmentally friendly manufacturing all-PSCs. Finally, we provide an outlook on the challenges and opportunities for large-scale manufacturing of green-solvent-processable all-PSCs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52173172, 52173171 and 21801124), the Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Guangdong Province (No. 2021B1515020027), GuangDong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2021A1515110892), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021M700062), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (Nos. JCYJ202103243104813035 and JCYJ20180504165709042) and the Open Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices (South China University of Technology). X.G. is thankful for the financial support from the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (No. 2021SLABFK03). Our work was also supported by the Center for Computational Science and Engineering of SUSTech.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Analytical Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Qingqing Bai, Huiliang Sun & Li Niu

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Huiliang Sun & Xugang Guo

  3. Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Huiliang Sun

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  1. Qingqing Bai
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  2. Huiliang Sun
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  3. Xugang Guo
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  4. Li Niu
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Correspondence to Huiliang Sun.

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Biography

Huiliang Sun received his Ph.D. degree from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics in 2017. He successively did postdoctoral research at South China University of Technology-Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from July 2017 to July 2020. He was appointed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, SUSTech in July 2019. He joined Guangzhou University as the Hundred-Talent Program (A) in November 2021 and was also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Materials, SUSTech. He leads an organic semiconductor group working on novel organic and organic-inorganic hybrid semiconductor materials and devices, key technology research on optical conversion materials, related mechanisms and devices, green organic synthetic chemistry, and photocatalysis.

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The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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Bai, Q., Sun, H., Guo, X. et al. Advances in Green-Solvent-Processable All-Polymer Solar Cells. Chin J Polym Sci 40, 846–860 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-022-2772-7

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