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Hierarchical phase separation in all small-molecule organic solar cells

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Abstract

Solution processable small-molecule organic solar cells have progressed a lot in terms of donor and acceptor materials, device architectures, fabrication techniques, and optimization methodologies which have enabled credible performance gains. The hierarchical active layer morphology is one such strategy that has led to significant performance gains by overcoming the earlier systems’ shortcomings and providing an optimized active layer morphology with features well within the confines of the excitonic diffusion length (LD) (5–30 nm). Multi-length scale domains, lateral and vertical phase separation, and interconnected network-like charge transport pathways are some of the key morphological features that lead to enhanced open-circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor, and in turn, greater power conversion efficiencies. This has furthered our understanding of the relationship between morphology and the charge generation, transport, disassociation, and extraction processes. In this review, we summarize the efforts concentrated on achieving such optimized hierarchical morphologies in binary and ternary small molecule-based organic solar cells and provide insights into the relationship between performance and morphology.

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [127] Copyright © 2016, Nature Communications

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [128] Copyright © 2019, Nature Communications

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [129] Copyright © 2020, Wiley‐VCH GmbH

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [130] Copyright © 2021, Wiley‐VCH GmbH

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [131] Copyright © 2016, Royal Society of Chemistry

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [132] Copyright © 2020, American Chemical Society

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [133] Copyright © 2018, Nature Energy

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [134] Copyright © 2008, Royal Society of Chemistry

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Reproduced with permission from ref. [135] Copyright © 2021, Wiley‐VCH GmbH

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22135001, 21721002 and 52073068) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB36000000).

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  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Junaid Iqbal, Jianqi Zhang & Zhixiang Wei

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Junaid Iqbal & Zhixiang Wei

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Iqbal, M.J., Zhang, J. & Wei, Z. Hierarchical phase separation in all small-molecule organic solar cells. J Nanopart Res 24, 225 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-022-05568-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-022-05568-3

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