2-Dimensional cross-shaped tetrathienonaphthalene-based ladder-type acceptor for high-efficiency organic solar cells

An NC-FIC nonfullerene acceptor, using a didodecylnaphthodithiophene (NDT) embedded octacyclic ladder-type donor NC, had been described previously. In this work, a new cross-shaped TC-FIC nonfullerene acceptor is designed by substitution of the NDT unit in the NC skeleton with a 2-dimensional didodecyltetrathienonaphthalene (TTN) unit. The 2-dimensional TC π-system with two vertically fused thiophenes strengthens the electron-donating ability, promotes π-electron delocalization and enhances intramolecular donor-acceptor charge transfer and intermolecular π-π interactions. As a result, TC-FIC shows more red-shifted and widened absorption compared to the NC-FIC counterpart. The PBDB-T:TC-FIC device exhibits a higher efficiency of 11.6% which greatly outperformed the corresponding PBDB-T:NC-FIC device with an efficiency of 7.52%. The dramatic 54% enhancement in efficiency is ascribed to the improved light-harvesting ability and enhanced charge mobilities which are benefited from the central 2-dimensional TTN moiety. By incorporating PC71BM to improve absorption and electron transport, the ternary-blend PBDB-T : TC-FIC : PC71BM device (1 : 1 : 1 in wt%) achieves a highest PCE of 13.49% with an enhanced Jsc of 23.80 mA cm-2, an FF of 64.4%, and a Voc of 0.88 V.