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A chlorinated polymer promoted analogue co-donors for efficient ternary all-polymer solar cells

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Abstract

The efficient ternary all-polymer solar cells (PSCs) are designed and fabricated, using a polymer acceptor of NDP-V-C7 and analogue co-donors containing a chlorinated polymer PBClT and classical PTB7-Th. PBClT and PTB7-Th possess very similar chemical structure and matched energy levels to form the cascade of the co-donors. Meanwhile, benefiting from those analogous polymer structures, there is little influence of the morphology in blend film compared to their pristine polymer films. The binary PBClT:NDP-V-C7 devices exhibit a high open-circuit voltage (Voc) due to the deep HOMO level of PBClT. The Voc of all-PSCs could be finely manipulated by adjusting the content of PBClT in blend film. The ternary all-PSCs have the more balanced charge mobility and prolonged carrier lifetime compared to the binary devices. The PBClT also help improve the miscibility of ternary blend and suppress crystallization in films, bringing about favorable morphology with appropriate orientation and surface roughness in blend film. With the optimal processing, the champion ternary all-PSCs obtain a high PCE of 9.03%, which is about 10% enhancement compared to that of binary device. The results indicate that the ternary approach using analogue co-donors is a practical method to enhance the performance of all-PSCs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the SUSTech, the Recruitment Program of Global Youth Experts of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51773087, 21733005), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2016A030313637), Shenzhen Fundamental Research Program (JCYJ20170817111214740) and Shenzhen Nobel Prize Scientists Laboratory Project (C17783101). We also thank Dr. Joseph Strzalka and Dr. Zhang Jiang for the assistance with GIWAXS measurements. Use of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract No. DEAC02- 06CH11357.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Shenzhen Grubbs Institute, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Hui Chen, Pengjie Chao, Longzhu Liu & Feng He

  2. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Key Lab of Polymer Chemistry & Physics of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Yikun Guo & Dahui Zhao

  3. Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois, 60439, USA

    Wei Chen

  4. Institute for Molecular Engineering, the University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, USA

    Wei Chen

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  1. Hui Chen
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  2. Yikun Guo
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  3. Pengjie Chao
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  4. Longzhu Liu
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  5. Wei Chen
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  6. Dahui Zhao
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  7. Feng He
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Correspondence to Dahui Zhao or Feng He.

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Chen, H., Guo, Y., Chao, P. et al. A chlorinated polymer promoted analogue co-donors for efficient ternary all-polymer solar cells. Sci. China Chem. 62, 238–244 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-018-9371-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-018-9371-0

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