Metallated Macrocyclic Derivatives as a Hole – Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells

Spiro‐OMeTAD is widely used as thehole‐transporting material (HTM) in perovskite solar cells (PSC), which extracts positive charges and protects the perovskite materials from metal electrode, setting a new world‐record efficiency of more than 20 %. Spiro‐OMeTAD layer engross moisture leading to the degradation of perovskite, and therefore, has poor air stability. It is also expensive therefore limiting scale‐up, so macrocyclic metal complex derivatives (MMDs) could be a suitable replacement. Our review covers low‐cost, high yield hydrophobic materials with minimal steps required for synthesis of efficient HTMs for planar/mesostructured PSCs. The MMDs based devices demonstrated PCEs around 19 % and showed stability for a longer duration, indicating that MMDs are a promising alternative to spiro‐OMeTAD and also easy to scale‐up via solution approach. Additionally, this review describes how optical and electrical properties of MMDs change with chemical structure, allowing for the design of novel hole‐mobility materials to achieve negligible hysteresis and act as effective functional barriers against moisture which results in a significant increase in the stability of the device. We provide an overview of the apt green‐synthesis, characterization, stability and implementation of the various classes of macrocyclic metal complex derivatives as HTM for photovoltaic applications.     

有机空穴传输材料在钙钛矿太阳电池中的应用

有机-无机杂化钙钛矿太阳电池(PSCs)由于其诸多优点得到广泛关注,而有机固态空穴传输材料(HTMs)代替液体电解质使其得到飞速的发展,提升了电池的效率和稳定性,已经成为PSCs的重要组成部分。目前应用于PSCs的空穴传输材料分为有机空穴传输材料和无机空穴传输材料两大类。无机空穴传输材料的可选择范围较窄,对应器件的光电转换效率相对较低。开发各类能级匹配、空穴迁移率高的有机空穴传输材料是提高器件效率和稳定性的有效手段,成为相关领域的研究热点。本文依据相对分子质量的大小,将应用于PSCs中的有机空穴传输材料分为小分子类和聚合物类空穴传输材料,详细评述了有机空穴传输材料分子结构对PSCs光电转换效率、填充因子、开路电压、短路电流和稳定性的影响,并对其能级、空穴迁移率的高低、添加剂的使用等进行了讨论。最后详细论述了有机空穴传输材料未来的研究重点和发展趋势。     

Aggregation-induced Emission Materials for High-efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells

The perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with high efficiency and stability are in great demand for commercial applications. Although the remarkable photovoltaic feature of perovskite layer plays a great role in improving the PCE of PSCs, the inevitable defects and poor stability of perovskite, etc. are the bottleneck and restrict the commercialization of PSCs. Herein, a review provides a strategy of applying aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules, containing passivation functional groups and distinct AIE character, which serves as the alternative materials for fabricating high-efficiency and high-stability PSCs. The methods of introducing AIE molecules to PSCs are also summarized, including additive engineering, interfacial engineering, hole transport materials and so on. In addition, the functions of AIE molecule are discussed, such as defects passivation, morphology modulation, well-matched energy level, enhanced stability, hole transport ability, carrier recombination suppression. Finally, the detailed functions of AIE molecules are offered and further research trend for high performance PSCs based on AIE materials is proposed.     

钙钛矿太阳能电池中小分子空穴传输材料的研究进展

有机-无机钙钛矿太阳能电池(PSCs)从2009年低于5%的能量转换效率到现在经过认证的超过22%的效率,成为科研热点和最有希望商业化的新型太阳能电池。在高性能的PSCs中,空穴传输材料是关键的一环,起到从钙钛矿活性层材料到对电极有效抽取和传输空穴的作用。本文在现有研究成果的基础上,对有机分子空穴传输材料在PSC中的应用进行总结,并强调分子材料结构对PSC器件性能(效率和稳定性)的影响。     

掺杂PEDOT：PSS空穴传输层在钙钛矿太阳能电池中的应用

钙钛矿太阳能电池(PSCs)因易于制备、生产成本低和能量转换效率高而受到广泛关注。聚乙撑二氧噻吩-聚(苯乙烯磺酸盐)(PEDOT∶PSS)由于具有易低温加工、透光度高和适宜空穴迁移率等特点而成为PSCs中空穴传输层的研究热点。本文简述了倒置PSCs的结构及工作原理,重点介绍了掺杂PEDOT∶PSS空穴传输层在PSCs领域的研究现状。分别从有机化合物掺杂剂、无机化合物掺杂剂和表面活性剂掺杂剂三个类别概述了掺杂PEDOT∶PSS空穴传输层对PSCs性能的影响。最后,对该领域存在的问题提出潜在措施以改善PEDOT∶PSS掺杂层在PSCs中的应用。     

Economical and Environmentally Friendly Organic hydrazone Derivatives Characterized by a Heteroaromatic Core as Potential Hole Transporting Materials in Perovskite Solar Cells

A series of organic electron-rich π-bridged symmetric hydrazones, composed of two donor moieties connected through a thiophene- or a pyrrole-based π-spacer, has been synthesized as a suitable alternative to 2,2’,7,7’-tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9’-spirobifluorene ( Spiro-OMeTAD ), considered the benchmark hole transporting material (HTM) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The cheap synthetic protocol is suitable for potential large-scale production. All the compounds were characterized, showing good energy levels alignments with the perovskite and very close energy levels to the Spiro-OMeTAD . Furthermore, computational analysis confirmed the electrochemical trend observed. The costs of synthesis were estimated, as well as the produced waste to synthesise the final HTMs, underlining the low impact of these compounds on the environment with the respect to Spiro-OMeTAD . Overall, the relevant electrochemical properties and the low cost of the synthetic approaches allow these compounds to be a greener and easy-to-synthesize alternative to the Spiro-OMeTAD for industrial development of PSCs.     

Dendritic-Like Molecules Built on a Pillar[5]arene Core as Hole Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells

Multi-branched molecules have recently demonstrated interesting behaviour as charge-transporting materials within the fields of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). For this reason, extended triarylamine dendrons have been grafted onto a pillar[5]arene core to generate dendrimer-like compounds, which have been used as hole-transporting materials (HTMs) for PSCs. The performances of the solar cells containing these novel compounds have been extensively investigated. Interestingly, a positive dendritic effect has been evidenced as the hole transporting properties are improved when going from the first to the second-generation compound. The stability of the devices based on the best performing pillar[5]arene material has been also evaluated in a high-throughput ageing setup for 500 h at high temperature. When compared to reference devices prepared from spiro-OMeTAD, the behaviour is similar. An analysis of the economic advantages arising from the use of the pillar[5]arene-based material revealed however that our pillar[5]arene-based material is cheaper than the reference.     

低成本富勒烯衍生物电子传输层在钙钛矿太阳能电池的应用

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted significant attention owing to their high absorption coefficient and ambipolar charge transport properties. With only several years of development, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) has increased from 3.8% to 22.7%. In general, PSCs have two types of structural architecture: mesoporous and planar. The latter possesses higher potential for commercialization due to its simpler structure and fabrication process, especially the inverted planar structure, which possesses negligible hysteresis. In an inverted PSC, the electron transport materials (ETM) are deposited on a perovskite film. Only a few ETMs can be used for inverted PSCs as the perovskite film is easily damaged by the solvent used to dissolve the ETM. Furthermore, the energy levels of the ETM should be well aligned with that of the perovskites. Normally it is difficult to use inorganic ETMs as they require high temperatures for the annealing process to improve the electron conductivity; the perovskite film cannot sustain these high temperatures. To date, the fullerene derivative, [6, 6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), is the most commonly used organic ETM for high efficiency inverted planar PSCs. However, the high manufacturing cost due to its complex synthesis retards the industrialization of the PSCs. Here, we introduce a fullerene pyrrolidine derivative, N-methyl-2-pentyl-[60]fullerene pyrrolidine (NMPFP), synthesized via the Prato reaction of C₆₀ directly with cheap hexanal and sarcosine. Then the NMPFP electron transport layer (ETL) was prepared by a simple solution process. The properties of the resulting NMPFP ETLs were characterized using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry measurements, atomic force microscopy, and conductivity test. From the results of the UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry measurements, the LUMO level of NMPFP ETL was calculated to be 0.2 eV higher than that of the PCBM ETL. This contributes to a higher open-circuit photovoltage. In addition, the NMPFP film presented higher conductivity than the PCBM film. Thus, the photo-generated charge carriers in the perovskite films should be transported more efficiently to the NMPFP electron transport layer (ETL) than to the PCBM ETL. This was confirmed by the results of the steady-state photoluminescence spectroscopy. Finally, the NMPFP as an alternative low-cost ETL was employed in an inverted planar PSC to evaluate the device performance. The device made with the NMPFP ETL yielded an efficiency of 13.83% with negligible hysteresis, which is comparable to the PCBM counterpart devices. Moreover, since stability is another important parameter retarding the commercialization of PSCs, the stability of the PCBM and NMPFP base PSCs were investigated and compared. It was found that the NMPFP devices possessed significantly improved stability due to the higher hydrophobicity of the NMPFP. In conclusion, this research demonstrates that NMPFP is a promising ETL to replace PCBM for the industrialization of cheap, efficient and stable inverted planar PSCs.     

Star‐Shaped Molecules as Dopant‐Free Hole Transporting Materials for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells: Multiscale Simulation

On the reported TCP‐OH (See Scheme 1), other two star‐shaped molecules are theoretically designed by replacement of side group of TCP‐OH by N,N‐di(4‐methoxyphenyl)aniline for TPAP‐OH and oxygen‐bridged triarylamine for TBOPP‐OH . The core group, phenol, is kept in three molecules. Their potential to be hole transport material in perovskite solar cells without dopants is evaluated by multiscale simulations. The properties of isolated molecules are estimated by the frontier molecular orbital, absorption spectrum, and hole mobility. After that, the HTM@CH₃NH₃PbI₃ adsorbed system is studied to consider the influence of adsorption on HTM performance. Besides the primary judgment, the glass transition temperature is also simulated to determine the stability of amorphous film. Not only the chemical stability is evaluated but also the amorphous film stability is considered. The latter is almost neglected in previous theoretical studies to evaluate the properties of HTMs. The performance of a designed molecule is evaluated from both the isolated molecules and HTM@CH₃NH₃PbI₃ adsorbed system including aforementioned items, which is favorable to build reliable structure‐property relationship.     

Hexaazatrinaphthylene Derivatives: Efficient Electron‐Transporting Materials with Tunable Energy Levels for Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Hexaazatrinaphthylene (HATNA) derivatives have been successfully shown to function as efficient electron‐transporting materials (ETMs) for perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). The cells demonstrate a superior power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.6 % with negligible hysteresis. This study provides one of the first nonfullerene small‐molecule‐based ETMs for high‐performance p–i–n PVSCs.     

Efficient Hole‐Transporting Materials with Triazole Core for High‐Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells

Efficient hole‐transporting materials (HTMs), TAZ‐[MeOTPA]₂ and TAZ‐[MeOTPATh]₂ incorporating two electron‐rich diphenylamino side arms, through direct linkage or thiophen bridges, respectively, on the C3‐ and C5‐positions of a 4‐phenyl‐1,2,4‐triazole core were synthesized. These synthetic HTMs with donor–acceptor type molecular structures exhibited effective intramolecular charge transfer for improving the hole‐transporting properties. The structural modification of HTMs by thiophene bridging might increase intermolecular π–π stacking in the solid state and afford a better spectral response because of their increased π‐conjugation length. Perovskite‐based cells using TAZ‐[MeOTPA]₂ and TAZ‐[MeOTPATh]₂ as HTMs afforded high power conversion efficiencies of 10.9 % and 14.4 %, respectively, showing a photovoltaic performance comparable to that obtained using spiro‐OMeTAD. These synthetically simple and inexpensive HTMs hold promise for replacing the more expensive spiro‐OMeTAD in high‐efficiency perovskite solar cells.     

Benzotrithiophene‐Based Hole‐Transporting Materials for 18.2 % Perovskite Solar Cells

New star‐shaped benzotrithiophene (BTT)‐based hole‐transporting materials (HTM) BTT‐1, BTT‐2 and BTT‐3 have been obtained through a facile synthetic route by crosslinking triarylamine‐based donor groups with a benzotrithiophene (BTT) core. The BTT HTMs were tested on solution‐processed lead trihalide perovskite‐based solar cells. Power conversion efficiencies in the range of 16 % to 18.2 % were achieved under AM 1.5 sun with the three derivatives. These values are comparable to those obtained with today's most commonly used HTM spiro‐OMeTAD, which point them out as promising candidates to be used as readily available and cost‐effective alternatives in perovskite solar cells (PSCs).     

钙钛矿太阳能电池电子传输层的制备及应用

目前,有机-无机杂化钙钛矿太阳能电池(PSC)的器件效率已经超过25％.电子传输层作为PSC中的重要组成部分在提取和传输光生电子,阻挡空穴,修饰界面,调节界面能级和减少电荷复合等方面起着关键作用.无机n型材料,例如TiO2、ZnO、SnO2和其他金属氧化物材料具有成本低和稳定性好的特点,经常在传统PSC中被用作电子传输...     

Controllable Photoelectric Properties of Carbon Dots and Their Application in Organic Solar Cells

Organic solar cells are a current research hotspot in the energy field because of their advantages of lightness,translucency,roll to roll printing and building integration.With the rapid development of small molecule acceptor materials with high-performance,the efficiency of organic solar cells has been greatly improved.Further improving the device efficiency and stability and reducing the cost of active layer materials will contribute to the industrial development of organic solar cells.As a novel type of carbon nanomaterials,carbon dots gradually show great application potential in the field of organic solar cells due to their advantages of low preparation cost,non-toxicity and excellent photoelectric performance.Firstly,the synthesis and classification of carbon dots are briefly introduced.Secondly,the photoelectric properties of carbon dots and their adjusting,including adjustable surface energy level structure,good film-forming performance and up/down conversion characteristics are summarized.Thirdly,based on these intrinsic properties,the feasibility and advantages of carbon dots used in organic solar cells are discussed.Fourthly,the application progress of carbon dots in the active layer,hole transport layer,electron transport layer,interface modification layer and down-conversion materials of organic solar cells is also reviewed.Finally,the application progress of carbon dots in organic solar cells is prospected.Several further research directions,including in-depth exploration of the controllable preparation of carbon dots and their application in the fields of interface layer and up/down conversion for improving efficiency and stability of device are pointed out.     

ZnO电极修饰层在钙钛矿太阳能电池中的应用

ZnO电极修饰层具有高电子迁移率、高透光率、可低温制备且环境友好等优点在钙钛矿太阳能电池上获得了广泛应用。本文针对传统电极修饰层需要高温退火、透光率较低、制备过程繁琐,不利于高性能柔性钙钛矿电池器件制备等问题,系统综述了以ZnO材料作为电极修饰层的制备方法,综合分析了ZnO构筑的电极修饰层形貌、厚度、掺杂及复合对钙钛矿太阳能电池性能（如开路电压、电流密度、填充因子、光电转换效率等）的影响,展望了ZnO电极修饰层材料的未来发展趋势与其在钙钛矿太阳能电池中的应用前景。     

骨架非稠合的电子受体在聚合物太阳能电池中的应用

Non-fullerene electron acceptors have attracted enormous attention of the research community owing to their advantages of optoelectronic and chemical tunabilities for promoting high-performance polymer solar cells (PSCs). Among them, fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs) are the most popular ones with the good structural planarity and rigidity, which successfully boost the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of PSCs to over 14%. In considering the cost-control of future scale-up applications, it is also worthwhile to explore novel structures that are easy to synthesize and still maintain the advantages of FREAs. In this work, we design and synthesize a new electron acceptor with an unfused backbone, 5, 5'-((2, 5-bis((2-hexyldecyl)oxy)-1, 4-phenylene)bis(thiophene-2-yl))bis(methanylylidene)) bis(3-oxo-2, 3-dihydro-1H-indene-2, 1-diylidene))dimal-ononitrile (ICTP), which contains two thiophenes and one alkoxy benzene as the core and 2-(3-oxo-2, 3-dihydroinden-1-ylidene) malononitrile (IC) as the terminal groups. The synthetic route to ICTP involves only three steps, with high yields. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the non-covalent interactions, O…H and O…S, help reinforce the space conformation between the central core and the terminals. ICTP shows broad and strong absorption in the long-wavelength range between 500 and 760 nm. The highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels of ICTP were measured to be -5.56 and -3.84 eV by cyclic voltammetry. The suitable absorption and energy levels make ICTP a good acceptor candidate for medium bandgap polymer donors. The best devices based on PBDB-T:ICTP showed a PCE of 4.43%, with an open circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.97 V, a short circuit current density (J_SC) of 8.29 mA∙cm^-2, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.55, after adding 1% 1, 8-diiodooctane (DIO) as the solvent additive. Atomic force microscopy revealed that DIO could ameliorate the strong aggregation in the blended film and lead to a smoother film surface. The hole and electron mobilities of the optimized device were measured to be 9.64 and 2.03 × 10^-5 cm²∙V^-1∙s^-1, respectively, by the space-charge-limited current method. The relatively low mobilities might be responsible for the moderate PCE. Further studies can be performed to enlarge the conjugation length by including more aromatic rings. This study provides a simple strategy to design non-fullerene acceptors and a valuable reference for the future development of PSCs.     

Bowl-Assisted Ball Assembly for Solvent-Processing the C60 Electron Transport Layer of High-Performance Inverted Perovskite Solar Cell

Pristine fullerene C₆₀ is an excellent electron transport material for state-of-the-art inverted structure perovskite solar cells (PSCs), but its low solubility leaves thermal evaporation as the only method for depositing it into a high-quality electron transport layer (ETL). To address this problem, we herein introduce a highly soluble bowl-shaped additive, corannulene, to assist in C₆₀-assembly into a smooth and compact film through the favorable bowl-ball interaction. Our results show that not only corannulene can dramatically enhance the film formability of C₆₀, it also plays a critical role in forming C₆₀-corannulene (CC) supramolecular species and in boosting intermolecular electron transport dynamics in the ETL. This strategy has allowed CC devices to deliver high power conversion efficiencies up to 21.69 %, which is the highest value among the PSCs based on the solution-processed-C₆₀ (SP-C₆₀) ETL. Moreover, the stability of the CC device is far superior to that of the C₆₀-only device because corannulene can retard and curb the spontaneous aggregation of C₆₀. This work establishes the bowl-assisted ball assembly strategy for developing low-cost and efficient SP-C₆₀ ETLs with high promise for fully-SP PSCs.     

Non‐Planar and Flexible Hole‐Transporting Materials from Bis‐Xanthene and Bis‐Thioxanthene Units for Perovskite Solar Cells

Two new hole‐transporting materials (HTMs), BX‐OMeTAD and BTX‐OMeTAD , based on xanthene and thioxanthene units, respectively, and bearing p‐methoxydiphenylamine peripheral groups, are presented for their use in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The novelty of the newly designed molecules relies on the use of a single carbon‐carbon bond ‘C?C’ as a linker between the two functionalized heterocycles, which increases the flexibility of the molecule compared with the more rigid structure of the widely used HTM spiro‐OMeTAD. The new HTMs display a limited absorbance in the visible region, due to the lack of conjugation between the two molecular halves, and the chemical design used has a remarkably impact on the thermal properties when compared to spiro‐OMeTAD. BX‐OMeTAD and BTX‐OMeTAD have been tested in ([(FAPbI₃)_0.87(MAPbBr₃)_0.13]_0.92[CsPbI₃]_0.08)‐based PSC devices exhibiting power conversion efficiencies of 14.19 and 16.55 %, respectively. The efficiencies reached, although lower than those measured for spiro‐OMeTAD (19.63 %), are good enough to consider the chemical strategy used as an interesting via to design HTMs for PSCs.     

准固态染料敏化太阳能电池中电解质体系的研究进展

染料敏化太阳能电池(Dye Sensitized Solar Cells)是新一代将光能转化为电能的重要能源转换装置。它具有低廉的材料和器件制作成本、较高的光电转换效率以及电池制作过程简单等诸多优点,拥有广阔的应用空间和巨大的潜在商业价值,因而吸引了广泛的研究关注。染料敏化太阳能电池主要由染料敏化的光阳极、电解质和对电极三个部分组成。其中,电解质作为染料敏化太阳能电池的重要组成部分,其对离子的传导和扩散,以及促进染料再生的能力极大地影响着染料敏化太阳能电池的电荷传输和光电性能。本文聚焦于染料敏化太阳能电池准固态电解质体系,主要从聚合物凝胶电解质、有机小分子凝胶电解质和无机纳米粒子凝胶电解质三大方面综述讨论了该研究领域当前最新研究进展,并对其未来研究趋势进行了展望。     

有机太阳能电池用聚合物给体材料的研究进展

有机太阳能电池由于质轻、价廉、柔性,受到人们的广泛关注.开发性能优异的聚合物给体材料,是近期有机太阳能电池研究的主流方向之一.迄今为止,已经成功开发出各种各样具有优秀的给体性质的共轭聚合物.基于这些材料制备的有机太阳能电池器件,已经突破9%的光电转换效率.按照聚合物给体材料的主链结构分类,综述了近年来这方面的研究进展.对一些受到普遍关注的材料,从设计思想、性能剖析到器件制备和性能,做了详细的介绍,以期能够深层次理解材料的化学结构-凝聚态结构-性能间的基本规律,为今后的材料研发提供有价值的参考.