9.0% power conversion efficiency from ternary all-polymer solar cells. Issue 10 (8th September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Zhaojun; Xu, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Wei; Meng, Xiangyi; Genene, Zewdneh; Ma, Wei; Mammo, Wendimagegn; Yartsev, Arkady; Andersson, Mats R.; Janssen, René A. J.; Wang, Ergang
• Is Part Of: Energy & environmental science. Volume 10:Issue 10(2017)
• Page Start: 2212
• Page End: 2221
• Publication Date: 2017-09-08
• Subjects: Energy conversion -- Periodicals; Fuel switching -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Environmental chemistry -- Periodicals; 333.79
• DOI: 10.1039/c7ee01858d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-5692

Abstract

Abstract : High-performance ternary all-polymer solar cells with outstanding efficiency of 9.0% are realized by incorporating two donor and one acceptor polymers with complementary absorption and proper energy level alignment. Abstract : Integration of a third component into a single-junction polymer solar cell (PSC) is regarded as an attractive strategy to enhance the performance of PSCs. Although binary all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have recently emerged with compelling power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), the PCEs of ternary all-PSCs still lag behind those of the state-of-the-art binary all-PSCs, and the advantages of ternary systems are not fully exploited. In this work, we realize high-performance ternary all-PSCs with record-breaking PCEs of 9% and high fill factors (FF) of over 0.7 for both conventional and inverted devices. The improved photovoltaic performance benefits from the synergistic effects of extended absorption, more efficient charge generation, optimal polymer orientations and suppressed recombination losses compared to the binary all-PSCs, as evidenced by a set of experimental techniques. The results provide new insights for developing high-performance ternary all-PSCs by choosing appropriate donor and acceptor polymers to overcome limitations in absorption, by affording good miscibility, and by benefiting from charge and energy transfer mechanisms for efficient charge generation.