聚合物太阳能电池高效共轭聚合物给体和富勒烯受体光伏材料

聚合物太阳能电池（PSC）由共轭聚合物给体和富勒烯衍生物受体的共混膜（活性层）夹在ITO透明导电玻璃正极和低功函数金属负极之间所组成,具有制备过程简单、成本低、重量轻、可制备成柔性器件等突出优点,近年来成为国内外研究前沿和热点。当前研究的焦点是提高器件的光电能量转换效率,而提高效率的关键是高效共轭聚合物给体和富勒烯衍生...     

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.     

聚合物:富勒烯薄膜光伏电池的反常高温热稳定性研究

聚合物太阳能电池光电转换效率已接近商业化要求,但稳定性差却成为其实用化瓶颈因素.高温暴晒是聚合物太阳能电池实用化必须面临的环境,因此提高聚合物太阳能电池的热稳定性至关重要.本文以典型的Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl(P3HT):[6,6]-Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester(PC61BM)基聚合物太阳能电池为研究模型,考察其在不同加热温度下(50~110℃)持续工作时的器件效率变化行为,结果发现电池在高温下表现出一种非常规的性能衰减再回升的行为,具体表现为高温下电池首先表现指数式急速衰减(20%~25%),随后发生反常的性能快速恢复至接近初始效率,之后电池保持超长的高温稳定性.光学显微镜和激光光束诱导电流成像结果证明,顶电极覆盖可以有效抑制活性层中PC61BM的聚集结晶,因而电池的反常热诱导稳定性提升与PC61BM的大量聚集结晶无关.活性层薄膜的紫外可见吸收光谱和器件外量子效率的表征结果证明,持续高温加热没有促进PC61BM二聚体的形成,反而有利于PC61BM二聚体的解离.综合实验分析结果,推测PC61BM在光照下的快速二聚反应及其高温解离是导致电池表现出反常热稳定性提升行为的主要原因.实验结果揭示了初期制备的聚合物太阳能电池实际处于一种亚稳态,对器件进行短暂的前期热退火有利于稳定活性层结构,消除亚稳态,有效提升器件稳定性.本研究工作不仅对富勒烯基聚合物太阳能电池的热诱导反常稳定性提升机理机制给出了解释,而且提供了一种提高聚合物太阳能电池稳定性的新策略.     

高性能聚合物光伏材料的设计与应用

高性能聚合物光伏材料对于推动聚合物太阳能电池领域的发展具有十分重要的作用.随着研究的深入,聚合物光伏材料从早期的聚噻吩体系逐步发展到具有推拉电子作用的给体-受体(D-A)交替共聚物,其相应的器件光伏效率也从最初的1%左右提升到如今超过11%.近十年来,种类繁多的给受体单元被开发并应用于聚合物材料的构建中,其中基于苯并二噻吩(BDT)单元的聚合物材料因为具有良好的光伏性能,得到了十分广泛的应用.近年来,非富勒烯受体的迅速发展给聚合物太阳能电池的研究注入了新的活力,BDT类聚合物在基于非富勒烯受体的聚合物太阳能电池中也展现出重要的作用,已经获得了超过11%的光电转化效率.本文简要介绍了我们在高性能聚合物光伏材料的设计与应用中的相关工作,主要分为聚噻吩和苯并二噻吩材料的设计与应用、活性层形貌调控以及非富勒烯聚合物太阳能电池的相关研究.     

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.     

聚合物太阳能电池给体材料研究进展

随着能源和环境问题日益严重,人们日益关注于太阳能的开发和应用。同时,无机太阳能电池因其自身原因而受到限制,聚合物太阳能电池受到更多的关注。在聚合物基的太阳能电池中,给体材料制约着电池效率的提高,其中材料的带隙和能级是影响其性能的主要因素。而通过研究和选取具有合适带隙和能级的给体材料可以有效地调节电池器件的效率。本文介绍了太阳能电池给体材料的设计原则与主要影响因素,并叙述了近年来该领域内的研究进展和以及发展前景。     

基于一种新型聚噻吩衍生物为给体的非富勒烯聚合物太阳能电池

With the development of non-fullerene small-molecule acceptors, non-fullerene polymer solar cells (PSCs) have garnered increased attention due to their high performance. While photons are absorbed and converted to free charge carriers in the active layer, the donor and acceptor materials both play a critical role in determining the performance of PSCs. Among the various conjugated-polymer donor materials, polythiophene (PT) derivatives such as poly(3-hexylthiophene), have attracted considerable interest due to their high hole mobility and simple synthesis. However, there are limited studies on the applications of PT derivatives in non-fullerene PSCs. Fabrication of highly efficient non-fullerene PSCs utilizing PT derivatives as the donor is a challenging topic. In this study, a new PT derivative, poly[5, 5′-4, 4′-bis(2-butyloctylsulphanyl)-2, 2′-bithiophene-alt-5, 5′-4, 4′-difluoro-2, 2′-bithiophene] (PBSBT-2F), with alkylthio groups and fluorination was synthesized for use as the donor in non-fullerene PSC applications. The absorption spectra, electrochemical properties, molecular packing, and photovoltaic properties of PBSBT-2F were investigated and compared with those of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). The polymer exhibited a wide bandgap of 1.82 eV, a deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of -5.02 eV, and an ordered molecular packing structure. Following this observation, PSCs based on a blend of PBSBT-2F as the donor and 3, 9-bis(2-methylene-(3-(1, 1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone)-5, 5, 11, 11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno-[2, 3-d:2′, 3′-d′]-s-indaceno[1, 2-b:5, 6-b′]dithiophene (ITIC) as the acceptor were fabricated. The absorption spectra were collected and the energy levels were found to be well matched. These devices exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.7% with an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.75 V, a short-circuit current density (J_SC) of 13.5 mA·cm^-2, and a fill factor (FF) of 66.6%. These properties were superior to those of P3HT (1.2%) under the optimal conditions. This result indicates that PBSBT-2F is a promising donor material for non-fullerene PSCs.     

Silaindacenodithiophene‐Based Fused‐Ring Non‐Fullerene Electron Acceptor for Efficient Polymer Solar Cells

In this work, a new A‐D‐A type nonfullerene small molecular acceptor SiIDT‐IC, with a fused‐ring silaindacenodithiophene (SiIDT) as D unit and 2‐(3‐oxo‐2,3‐dihydroinden‐1‐ylidene)malononitrile (INCN) as the end A unit, was design and synthesized. The SiIDT‐IC film shows absorption peak and edge at 695 and 733 nm, respectively. The HOMO and LUMO of SiIDT‐IC are of −5.47 and −3.78 eV, respectively. Compared with carbon‐bridging, the Si‐bridging can result in an upper‐lying LUMO level of an acceptor, which is benefit to achieve a higher open‐circuit voltage in polymer solar cells (PSCs). Complementary absorption and suitable energy level alignment between SiIDT‐IC and wide bandgap polymer donor PBDB‐T were found. For the PBDB‐T:SiIDT‐IC based inverted PSCs, a D/A ratio of 1: 1 was optimal to achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.27%. With thermal annealing (TA) of the blend film, a higher PCE of 8.16% could be realized due to increasing of both short‐circuit current density and fill factor. After the TA treatment, hole and electron mobilities were elevated to 3.42 × 10⁻⁴ and 1.02 × 10⁻⁴ cm²·V⁻¹·s⁻¹, respectively. The results suggest that the SiIDT, a Si‐bridged fused ring, is a valuable D unit to construct efficient nonfullerene acceptors for PSCs.     

Anode Engineering of Highly Efficient Polymer Solar Cells Using Treated ITO

ITO substrates were treated with organic solvent cleaning(OSC), SC1 treatment[V(NH₄OH):V(H₂O₂): V(H₂O)=1:1:5], O₂ plasma and UV ozone, respectively. Combined investigations of atom force microscopy(AFM), water contact angle measurements, ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy(UPS) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS) demonstrated that UV ozone treatment could give rise to the smoothest surface, the most hydrophilic property and the highest work function(WF) of ITO due to the removal of hydrophobic C-O impurity from the ITO surface and the enrichments of more oxygen on the ITO surface. When PEDOT:PSS film[(poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy- thiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate)] was deposited on the ITO substrates treated with UV ozone, it showed a lower root-mean- square roughness in AFM images, a higher transmission in UV-Vis transmission spectra and a higher WF in UPS spectra than the PEDOT:PSS films deposited on the ITO substrates treated by other three methods. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells(PSCs) based on PTB7:PC₇₁BM as an active layer and ITO treated by UV ozone as an anode can reach 8.48% because of the simultaneously improved short circuit current, open circuit voltage and fill factor compared to the PSCs with ITO treated with other three methods.     

聚(3-己基噻吩)作为光谱增感层在有机太阳电池光谱响应增强中的应用

报道了利用聚(3-己基噻吩)(P3HT)作为前置缓冲层来弥补(4,8-双-(2-乙基己氧基)-苯并[1,2-b:4,5-b']二噻吩)-(4-氟代噻并[3,4-b]噻吩(PBDT-TT-F):[6,6]-苯基-C₆₁-丁酸甲酯(PC₆₁BM)共混体相异质结(BHJ)电池对450-600 nm处光谱响应不足的新的器件结构设计思路. 光谱带隙为1.8 eV的PBDT-TT-F 在550-700 nm处有很强的光谱吸收, 在有机太阳电池器件上有很好的应用潜能. 但其在350-550 nm处的吸收不强, 影响了器件对太阳光谱的利用效率. 与此相比, P3HT薄膜的光谱吸收主要在450-600 nm范围内, 同PBDT-TT-F 形成良好的互补关系. 新设计的器件外量子效率(EQE)研究结果表明, 利用P3HT 作为前置缓冲层可以与PBDT-TT-F:PC₆₁BM薄膜中的PC₆₁BM形成平面异质结, 从而拓展了器件在450-600 nm处的光谱响应范围,实现光谱增感作用. 优化P3HT的厚度为20 nm左右, 器件对外输出的短路光电流密度从11.42 mA·cm^-2提高到12.15 mA·cm^-2, 达到了6.3%的提升.     

Polymer Acceptor Based on B←N Units with Enhanced Electron Mobility for Efficient All‐Polymer Solar Cells

We demonstrate that polymer electron acceptors with excellent all‐polymer solar‐cell (all‐PSC) device performance can be developed from polymer electron donors by using B←N units. By alleviating the steric hindrance effect of the bulky pendant moieties on the conjugated polymers that contain B←N units, the π–π stacking distance of polymer backbones is decreased and the electron mobility is consequently enhanced by nearly two orders of magnitude. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of all‐PSCs with the polymer acting as the electron acceptor is greatly improved from 0.12 % to 5.04 %. This PCE value is comparable to that of the best all‐PSCs with state‐of‐the‐art polymer acceptors.     

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Based on a Blend of Hyperbranched Poly(aryl-ether-urethane) Electrolyte with TiO2 Nanoparticles

Hyperbranched poly(aryl-ether-urethane) is reported in this work as an efficient polymer electrolyte for photovoltaic application. Along with KI and I₂ as redox carriers in nanocrystalline dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC), this polymer yielded an overall conversion efficiency of 4.1%, upon illumination with visible light. The fabricated cell results in stable device performing under thermal stress maintaining about 70% of its initial value for 2 days in the direct atmosphere without sealing.     

苝二酰亚胺:有机膦盐基双组份共混电子传输层及其开路电压接近1.0 V的非富勒烯聚合物太阳电池

The fabrication of high-efficiency organic solar cells requires a cathode interlayer (CIF) having multiple properties such as forming an ohmic contact with the active layer, high electron conductivity, low-density traps, and hole blocking. These roles can be more completely fulfilled by using a suitable binary blended CIF rather than a single molecule based CIF. In this article, we present the roles by using binary blended PDINO (amino N-oxide perylene diimide) and QPhPBr (tetraphenylphosphonium bromide) as the CIF to fabricate fullerene-free polymer solar cells (PSCs) with PBDB-T:IDTBR, a new donor: acceptor combination, as the active layer. The high-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of the acceptor and the low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the polymer with small driving force (the donor-acceptor HOMO-HOMO energy offset, ∆HOMO) for the hole transfer, both result in a high open circuit voltage (V_oc). Moreover, our strategy to insert a dual mixed solution of CIF over the blended active layer better facilitates the role, which significantly improves charge extraction and collection, leading to the high V_oc, short-circuit current density (J_sc), and fill factor (FF) observed in comparison to a single CIF material. It was observed that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) increases to 8.27%, with a high V_oc of 1.0 V, using a binary mixture of CBL. Such tremendous improvements in V_oc using well known polymer donors have not been reported till date in binary solar cell systems. This idea demonstrates that the minimum energy loss because of the small ∆HOMO of the D-A combination and the use of a dual mixed layer of CBL together present the future prospects of non-fullerene photovoltaic devices for researchers.     

有机太阳能电池给受体材料界面的微纳结构调控

有机太阳能电池因具有成本低、质轻、柔韧性好、可大面积印刷制备等优势,引起了人们极大的关注并成为现阶段有机电子学研究的重要热点之一。有机功能层中电子给体和受体界面特性对电池的功率转换效率影响很大,通过给受体界面的微纳结构化,可扩大给受体的接触面积、缩短给体和受体的距离、增强光吸收,能产生更多激子并促进激子有效分离,从而有效提高器件的电池效率。本文综述了纳米压印、自组装、溶剂挥发以及模板法等调控微纳结构的技术和方法,总结了基于微纳结构构建有机光伏器件的发展现状,并对目前微纳结构化方法和光伏应用中存在问题和研究重点做了简要评述,最后展望了该研究领域下一步的发展方向和应用前景。     

Effects of Donor and Acceptor on Optoelectronic Performance for Porphyrin Derivatives: Nonlinear Optical Properties and Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Typical asymmetric donor-π-bridge-acceptor(D-π-A) zinc porphyrin dyes have been synthesized, and further modified by reacting the ethynyl groups of them with click reagent through a formal [2+2] click reaction. The electronic interaction between the push and pull electronic groups and the click reaction process were investigated by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The nonlinear optical(NLO) properties of the dyes were studied by the Z-scan technique and clearly reverse saturable absorption to saturable absorption(RSA-SA) transition could be observed through click reaction of the dyes with TCNE. Furthermore, the photovoltaic properties of these porphyrin dyes were reaso- nably explained by the J-V curve fitting based on the equivalent-circuit model as well as the comparison between the absorption and incident-photon-to-current-conversion efficiency(IPCE) spectra. Besides, these dyes with different donors or acceptors could self-assembly into different microstructures by phase transfer methodology.     

给受体共混质量比对P3HT:PCBM薄膜结构和器件性能的影响

以聚3-己基噻吩(P3HT)为给体、[6,6]-苯基-C61-丁酸甲酯(PCBM)为受体的光伏体系作为研究对象,采用溶剂退火的后处理方法制备薄膜样品,利用紫外-可见(UV-Vis)吸收光谱、原子力显微镜(AFM)、X射线衍射(XRD)等测试手段分别对共混膜样品的形貌和结构进行表征,同时利用熵值统计方法对AFM形貌图像进行分析处理.并在此基础上制备太阳能电池器件,其结构为氧化铟锡导电玻璃/聚3,4-乙撑二氧噻吩:聚苯乙烯磺酸盐/聚3-己基噻吩:[6,6]-苯基-C61-丁酸甲酯/金属铝(ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/Al),研究了给受体共混比例(质量比)对活性层薄膜以及电池性能的影响.结果表明,受体PCBM含量的增加会影响P3HT给体相的有序结晶,当给受体比例为1:1时,活性层薄膜具有较宽的紫外-可见吸收特征,且具有较好的相分离和结晶度,基于该样品制备的电池器件其光电转换效率达到三种比例的最大值(2.77%).表明退火条件下,改变给受体比例可以影响活性层的微纳米结构而最终影响电池的光电转换效率.     

Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Based on (Donor‐π‐Acceptor)2 Dyes With Dithiafulvalene as the Donor

Dipolar metal‐free sensitizers (D‐π‐A; D=donor, π=conjugated bridge, A=acceptor) consisting of a dithiafulvalene (DTF) unit as the electron donor, a benzene, thiophene, or fluorene moiety as the conjugated spacer, and 2‐cyanoacrylic acid as the electron acceptor have been synthesized. Dimeric congeners of these dyes, (D‐π‐A)₂, were also synthesized through iodine‐induced dimerization of an appropriate DTF‐containing segment. Dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with the new dyes as the sensitizers have cell efficiencies that range from 2.11 to 5.24 %. In addition to better light harvesting, more effective suppression of the dark current than the D‐π‐A dyes is possible with the (D‐π‐A)₂ dyes.     

A-D-A型小分子电子给体光伏材料的端基修饰及其光伏性能

有机太阳能电池(OSCs)活性层中的给体材料主要包括共轭聚合物与有机小分子,由于有机小分子给体具有结构确定、易于提纯、重复性高等独特的优势,近年来受到研究工作者的广泛关注。本工作中,我们采取具有良好共平面性的三联苯并二噻吩(TriBDT-T)为推电子(D)中心共轭单元,分别以罗丹宁(RN)、氰基罗丹宁(RCN)和1,3-茚二酮(IDO)为拉电子(A)共轭端基,设计并合成了三种具有A-D-A型结构的小分子给体材料TriBDT-T-RN、TriBDT-T-RCN和TriBDT-T-IDO。我们对比研究了三种端基对其热分解温度、吸收光谱和分子能级等基本性能的影响,并分别将三种小分子给体与非富勒烯型受体材料IT-4F共混制备器件,详细研究了活性层形貌与光伏性能之间的关系。结果表明,不同的A型端基对小分子给体材料的光学性能、电化学性能、光伏器件中活性层的微观形貌以及能量转换效率(PCE)产生显著影响。基于TriBDTT-RN:IT-4F、TriBDT-T-RCN:IT-4F和TriBDT-T-IDO:IT-4F的光伏器件的能量转换效率分别为9.25%、6.31%和6.18%。