Boosted Efficiency Over 18.1% of Polymer Solar Cells by Employing Large Extinction Coefficients Material as the Third Component

Shuping Zhang; Xiaoling Ma; Chunyu Xu; Wenjing Xu; Sang Young Jeong; Han Young Woo; Zhengji Zhou; Xiaoli Zhang; Fujun Zhang

doi:10.1002/marc.202200345

Boosted Efficiency Over 18.1% of Polymer Solar Cells by Employing Large Extinction Coefficients Material as the Third Component

Macromol Rapid Commun. 2022 Aug;43(15):e2200345. doi: 10.1002/marc.202200345. Epub 2022 May 1.

Authors

Shuping Zhang¹, Xiaoling Ma¹, Chunyu Xu¹, Wenjing Xu¹, Sang Young Jeong², Han Young Woo², Zhengji Zhou³, Xiaoli Zhang⁴, Fujun Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Luminescence and Optical Information, Ministry of Education, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China.
² Organic Optoelectronic Materials Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea.
³ Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, and School of Materials, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan Province, 475004, China.
⁴ State Centre for International Cooperation on Designer Low-Carbon & Environmental Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.

PMID: 35445480
DOI: 10.1002/marc.202200345

Abstract

A series of binary and ternary polymer solar cells (PSCs) is successfully fabricated. The optimal ternary PSCs achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.14%, benefiting from the increased short circuit current density (J_SC ) of 26.53 mA cm^-2 and fill factor (FF) of 78.51% in comparison with the J_SC s (25.05 mA cm^-2 and 25.65 mA cm^-2 ) and the FFs (77.13% and 76.55%) of the corresponding binary PSCs. The photon harvesting ability of ternary active layers can be enhanced, which can be confirmed from the EQE spectral difference of the optimized ternary and binary PSCs, especially in the wavelength range from 680 nm to 800 nm. The refractive index and extinction coefficients of binary and ternary blend films are measured, which can well support the enhanced photon harvesting ability in different wavelength ranges. Photogenerated exciton distribution in active layers is simulated by the transmission matrix method based on the Beer-Lambert law. The photogenerated exciton density can be enhanced in the middle of the active layers by incorporating a third component in acceptors, which is conducive to charge collection by individual electrodes, resulting in the simultaneously enhanced J_SC and FF of the optimal ternary PSCs.

Keywords: morphology regulators; photogenerated exciton distribution; polymer solar cells; power conversion efficiency; ternary strategies.

Abstract

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