Eco-Friendly Solvent-Processed Dithienosilicon-Bridged Carbazole-Based Small-Molecule Acceptors Achieved over 25.7% PCE in Ternary Devices under Indoor Conditions

Manohar Reddy Busireddy, Sheng Ci Huang, Yi Jia Su, Ze Ye Lee, Chuan Hsin Wang, Markus C. Scharber, Jiun Tai Chen, Chain Shu Hsu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Terminal acceptor atoms and side-chain functionalization play a vital role in the construction of efficient nonfullerene small-molecule acceptors (NF-SMAs) for AM1.5G/indoor organic photovoltaic (OPV) applications. In this work, we report three dithienosilicon-bridged carbazole-based (DTSiC) ladder-type (A-DD′D-A) NF-SMAs for AM1.5G/indoor OPVs. First, we synthesize DTSiC-4F and DTSiC-2M, which are composed of a fused DTSiC-based central core with difluorinated 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (2F-IC) and methylated IC (M-IC) end groups, respectively. Then, alkoxy chains are introduced in the fused carbazole backbone of DTSiC-4F to form DTSiCODe-4F. From solution to film absorption, DTSiC-4F exhibits a bathochromic shift with strong π-πinteractions, which improves the short-circuit current density (Jsc) and the fill factor (FF). On the other hand, DTSiC-2M and DTSiCODe-4F display up-shifting lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels, which enhances the open-circuit voltage (Voc). As a result, under both AM1.5G/indoor conditions, the devices based on PM7:DTSiC-4F, PM7:DTSiC-2M, and PM7:DTSiCOCe-4F show power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 13.13/21.80%, 8.62/20.02, and 9.41/20.56%, respectively. Furthermore, the addition of a third component to the active layer of binary devices is also a simple and efficient strategy to achieve higher photovoltaic efficiencies. Therefore, the conjugated polymer donor PTO2 is introduced into the PM7:DTSiC-4F active layer because of the hypsochromically shifted complementary absorption, deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level, good miscibility with PM7 and DTSiC-4F, and optimal film morphology. The resulting ternary OSC device based on PTO2:PM7:DTSiC-4F can improve exciton generation, phase separation, charge transport, and charge extraction. As a consequence, the PTO2:PM7:DTSiC-4F-based ternary device achieves an outstanding PCE of 13.33/25.70% under AM1.5G/indoor conditions. As far as we know, the obtained PCE results under indoor conditions are one of the best binary/ternary-based systems processed from eco-friendly solvents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)24658-24669
Number of pages12
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume15
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - 24 May 2023

Keywords

  • alkoxy side chain
  • carbazole-based NF-SMAs
  • eco-friendly solvent
  • end-group functionalization
  • indoor OPVs
  • power conversion efficiency
  • ternary devices

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