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Delicate chemical structure regulation of nonfullerene acceptor for efficient and large thickness organic solar cells

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Abstract

Inspired by the success of CH-series acceptors, a small-molecular acceptor, CH-Tz was reported by adopting a new conjugation-extended electron-deficient unit ([1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-b]pyrazine) on the central core. Owing to the enhanced inter-/intra-molecular interactions, CH-Tz exhibited near-infrared absorption and an effective three-dimensional molecular packing network in its single crystal. When blended with polymer donor PM6, the binary device achieved a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.54%, with a notable short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 27.54 mA cm−2 and an excellent fill factor (FF) over 80%, which can be partly ascribed to the balanced charge transport properties in the blend film. After employing D18-Cl as the third component, an enhanced PCE of 18.85% was achieved due to a more obvious fiber network. Impressively, the CH-Tz-based OSC devices show excellent thermal stability and thickness insensitivity. Record-breaking Jsc of 28.92 mA cm−2 was reached for PM6:D18-Cl:CH-Tz ternary device with a thickness of 560 nm. Besides, CH-Tz shows potential in fabricating multicomponent high-performance organic solar cells, where over 19% efficiency could be realized in the quaternary device. Our work advances the strong influence of electron-deficient central units on molecular photovoltaic properties and guides the design of acceptors for stable and large-thickness organic solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2022YFB4200400, 2019YFA0705900, 2023YFE0210400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21935007, 52025033, 52303237, 22361132530). The authors thank Yu Chen at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics for performing GIWAXS measurements.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Zhe Zhang, Wanying Feng, Peiran Wang, Zhaoyang Yao, Chenxi Li, Xiangjian Wan & Yongsheng Chen

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Institute for Advanced Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China

    Yunxin Zhang, Shaohui Yuan, Yuyang Bai & Bin Kan

  3. Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS Chongqing), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400722, China

    Tainan Duan

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  1. Zhe Zhang
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Correspondence to Zhaoyang Yao, Bin Kan or Yongsheng Chen.

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Supporting information The supporting information is available online at chem.scichina.com and link.springer.com/journal/11426. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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Zhang, Z., Feng, W., Zhang, Y. et al. Delicate chemical structure regulation of nonfullerene acceptor for efficient and large thickness organic solar cells. Sci. China Chem. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-024-1948-6

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