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The effect of end-capping groups in A-D-A type non-fullerene acceptors on device performance of organic solar cells

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Abstract

A series of novel wide bandgap small molecules (IFT-ECA, IFT-M, IFT-TH and IFT-IC) based on the A-D-A structure with indenofluorene core, thiophene bridge, and different electron-deficient end-capping groups, were synthesized and used as non-fullerene acceptors in organic solar cells. The influences of end-capping groups on the device performance were studied. The four materials exhibited different physical and chemical properties due to the variation of end-capping groups, which further affect the exciton dissociation, charge transport, morphology of the bulk-heterojunction films and device performance. Among them, IFT-IC-based device delivered the best power conversion efficiency of 7.16% due to proper nano-scale phase separation morphology and high electron mobility, while the devices based on the other acceptors achieved lower device performance (4.14% for IFT-TH, <1% for IFT-ECA and IFT-M). Our results indicate the importance of choosing suitable electron-withdrawing groups to construct high-performance non-fullerene acceptors based on A-D-A motif.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (2014CB643501), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21520102006, 21634004, 21490573), and the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (S2012030006232).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Jianchao Jia, Nannan Zheng, Zhenfeng Wang, Yunping Huang, Chunhui Duan, Fei Huang & Yong Cao

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  1. Jianchao Jia
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  2. Nannan Zheng
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  3. Zhenfeng Wang
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  4. Yunping Huang
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Correspondence to Chunhui Duan or Fei Huang.

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Jia, J., Zheng, N., Wang, Z. et al. The effect of end-capping groups in A-D-A type non-fullerene acceptors on device performance of organic solar cells. Sci. China Chem. 60, 1458–1467 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-017-9102-1

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