Abstract
Incorporation of siloxane-functionalized units into polymers backbone has proven to be an efficient strategy to improve photovoltaic performance. In this work, a low-cost siloxane-containing unit was developed to construct a series of terpolymers, and the effects of siloxane on the polymer performance were systematically studied. Different contents of thiophene containing siloxane-functionalized side chain were introduced into PM6 to obtain a series of polymers (PM6, PM6-SiO-10, PM6-SiO-20 and PM6-SiO-30). The siloxane-functionalized side chains in polymers have only a slight effect on the absorption behavior and frontier molecular orbitals. However, when the siloxane content increased, the terpolymers’ aggregation property decreased and the temperature-dependency increased, leading to improved donor-acceptor compatibility. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) based on PM6:Y6, PM6-SiO-20:Y6 and PM6-SiO-30:Y6 devices was 15.64%, 16.03% and 15.82%, respectively. In comparison, the active layer based on PM6-SiO-10:Y6 exhibits the most appropriate phase separation morphology, resulting in effective exciton dissociation, more balanced hole-electron transport and less recombination. Consequently, the highest PCE of 16.69% with an outstanding short-circuit current density of 26.96 mA·cm−2 was obtained, which are one of the highest values for siloxane-functionalized polymer-based devices. This work demonstrates that finely controlling the content of siloxane-functionalized thiophene is beneficial for obtaining high-performance terpolymer donors and provides a novel and low-cost method to improve photovoltaic performance.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Yu, G.; Gao, J.; Hummelen, J. C.; Wudl, F.; Heeger, A. J. Polymer photovoltaic cells: enhanced efficiencies via a network of internal donor-acceptor heterojunctions. Science 1995, 270, 1789–1791.
Zhang, G.; Lin, F. R.; Qi, F.; Heumüller, T.; Distler, A.; Egelhaaf, H. J.; Li, N.; Chow, P. C. Y.; Brabec, C. J.; Jen, A. K. Y.; Yip, H. L. Renewed prospects for organic photovoltaics. Chem. Rev. 2022, 122, 14180–14274.
Li, S.; Li, Z.; Wan, X.; Chen, Y. Recent progress in flexible organic solar cells. eScience 2023, 3, 100085.
Xie, Q.; Liu, Y.; Liao, X.; Cui, Y.; Huang, S.; Hu, L.; He, Q.; Chen, L.; Chen, Y. Isomeric effect of wide bandgap polymer donors with high crystallinity to achieve efficient polymer solar cells. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2020, 41, e2000454.
Cui, Y.; Zhu, P.; Xia, X.; Lu, X.; Liao, X.; Chen, Y. Carbazolebis(thiadiazole)-core based non-fused ring electron acceptors for efficient organic solar cells. Chin. Chem. Lett. 2023, 34, 107902.
Xu, G.; Hu, X.; Liao, X.; Chen, Y. Bending-stability interfacial layer as dual electron transport layer for flexible organic photovoltaics. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2021, 39, 1441–1447.
Wu, M.; Shi, L.; Hu, Y.; Chen, L.; Hu, T.; Zhang, Y.; Yuan, Z.; Chen, Y. Additive-free non-fullerene organic solar cells with random copolymers as donors over 9% power conversion efficiency. Chin. Chem. Lett. 2019, 30, 1161–1167.
Yuan, J.; Zhang, Y.; Zhou, L.; Zhang, G.; Yip, H. L.; Lau, T. K.; Lu, X.; Zhu, C.; Peng, H.; Johnson, P. A.; Leclerc, M.; Cao, Y.; Ulanski, J.; Li, Y.; Zou, Y. Single-junction organic solar cell with over 15% efficiency using fused-ring acceptor with electron-deficient core. Joule 2019, 3, 1140–1151.
Jiang, K.; Wei, Q.; Lai, J.; Peng, Z.; Kim, H.; Yuan, J.; Ye, L.; Ade, H.; Zou, Y.; Yan, H. Alkyl chain tuning of small molecule acceptors for efficient organic solar cells. Joule 2019, 3, 3020–3033.
Wang, J. L.; Wang, L.; An, Q.; Yan, L.; Bai, H. R.; Jiang, M.; Mahmood, A.; Yang, C.; Zhi, H. Non-fullerene acceptors with hetero-dihalogenated terminals induce significant difference in single crystallography and enable binary organic solar cells with 17.5% efficiency. Energy Environ. Sci. 2022, 15, 320–333.
Luo, Z.; Ma, R.; Chen, Z.; Xiao, Y.; Zhang, G.; Liu, T.; Sun, R.; Zhan, Q.; Zou, Y.; Zhong, C.; Chen, Y.; Sun, H.; Chai, G.; Chen, K.; Guo, X.; Min, J.; Lu, X.; Yang, C.; Yan, H. Altering the positions of chlorine and bromine substitution on the end group enables high-performance acceptor and efficient organic solar cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 2020, 10, 2002649.
Cheng, F.; Cui, Y.; Ding, F.; Chen, Z.; Xie, Q.; Xia, X.; Zhu, P.; Lu, X.; Zhu, H.; Liao, X.; Chen, Y. Terpolymerization and regioisomerization strategy to construct efficient terpolymer donors enabling high-performance organic solar cells. Adv. Mater. 2023, e2300820.
Liu, Y.; Liu, B.; Ma, C. Q.; Huang, F.; Feng, G.; Chen, H.; Hou, J.; Yan, L.; Wei, Q.; Luo, Q.; Bao, Q.; Ma, W.; Liu, W.; Li, W.; Wan, X.; Hu, X.; Han, Y.; Li, Y.; Zhou, Y.; Zou, Y.; Chen, Y.; Li, Y.; Chen, Y.; Tang, Z.; Hu, Z.; Zhang, Z. G.; Bo, Z. Recent progress in organic solar cells (Part I material science). Sci. China Chem. 2021, 65, 224–268.
Xu, X.; Zhang, G.; Yu, L.; Li, R.; Peng, Q. P3HT-based polymer solar cells with 8.25% efficiency enabled by a matched molecular acceptor and smart green-solvent processing technology. Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, e1906045.
Xu, X.; Li, Y.; Peng, Q. Ternary blend organic solar cells: understanding the morphology from recent progress. Adv. Mater. 2022, 34, e2107476.
Zhu, L.; Zhang, M.; Xu, J.; Li, C.; Yan, J.; Zhou, G.; Zhong, W.; Hao, T.; Song, J.; Xue, X.; Zhou, Z.; Zeng, R.; Zhu, H.; Chen, C. C.; MacKenzie, R. C. I.; Zou, Y.; Nelson, J.; Zhang, Y.; Sun, Y.; Liu, F. Single-junction organic solar cells with over 19% efficiency enabled by a refined double-fibril network morphology. Nat. Mater. 2022, 21, 656–663.
Zheng, Z.; Wang, J.; Bi, P.; Ren, J.; Wang, Y.; Yang, Y.; Liu, X.; Zhang, S.; Hou, J. Tandem organic solar cell with 20.2% efficiency. Joule 2022, 6, 171–184.
Xu, X.; Yu, L.; Meng, H.; Dai, L.; Yan, H.; Li, R.; Peng, Q. Polymer solar cells with 18.74% efficiency: from bulk heterojunction to interdigitated bulk heterojunction. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 32, 2108797.
Pang, B.; Liao, C.; Xu, X.; Peng, S.; Xia, J.; Guo, Y.; Xie, Y.; Chen, Y.; Duan, C.; Wu, H.; Li, R.; Peng, Q. B-N bond embedded triplet terpolymers with small singlet-triplet energy gaps for suppressing non-radiative recombination and improving blend morphology in organic solar cells. Adv. Mater. 2023, e2211871.
Lu, H.; Liu, W.; Jin, H.; Huang, H.; Tang, Z.; Bo, Z. High-efficiency organic solar cells with reduced nonradiative voltage loss enabled by a highly emissive narrow bandgap fused ring acceptor. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 32, 2107756.
Chong, K.; Xu, X.; Meng, H.; Xue, J.; Yu, L.; Ma, W.; Peng, Q. Realizing 19.05% efficiency polymer solar cells by progressively improving charge extraction and suppressing charge recombination. Adv. Mater. 2022, 34, e2109516.
Zhang, Z. G.; Bai, Y.; Li, Y. Benzotriazole based 2D-conjugated polymer donors for high performance polymer solar cells. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2021, 39, 1–13.
Chen, S.; Yao, H.; Li, Z.; Awartani, O. M.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Z.; Yang, G.; Zhang, J.; Ade, H.; Yan, H. Surprising effects upon inserting benzene units into a quaterthiophene-based D-A polymer-improving non-fullerene organic solar cells via donor polymer design. Adv. Energy Mater. 2017, 7, 1602304.
Li, S.; Ye, L.; Zhao, W.; Yan, H.; Yang, B.; Liu, D.; Li, W.; Ade, H.; Hou, J. A wide band gap polymer with a deep highest occupied molecular orbital level enables 14.2% efficiency in polymer solar cells. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 7159–7167.
Zhang, M.; Guo, X.; Ma, W.; Ade, H.; Hou, J. A large-bandgap conjugated polymer for versatile photovoltaic applications with high performance. Adv. Mater. 2015, 27, 4655–4660.
Zheng, Z.; Yao, H.; Ye, L.; Xu, Y.; Zhang, S.; Hou, J. PBDB-T and its derivatives: a family of polymer donors enables over 17% efficiency in organic photovoltaics. Mater. Today 2020, 35, 115–130.
Liu, D.; Wang, J.; Gu, C.; Li, Y.; Bao, X.; Yang, R. Stirring up acceptor phase and controlling morphology via choosing appropriate rigid aryl rings as lever arms in symmetry-breaking benzodithiophene for high-performance fullerene and fullerene-free polymer solar cells. Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1705870.
Jin, K.; Xiao, Z.; Ding, L. D18, an eximious solar polymer! J. Semicond. 2021, 42, 010502.
Jiang, H.; Qin, G.; Zhang, L.; Pan, F.; Wu, Z.; Wang, Q.; Wen, G.; Zhang, W.; Cao, Y.; Chen, J. Dithienobenzoxadiazole-based wide bandgap donor polymers with strong aggregation properties for the preparation of efficient as-cast non-fullerene polymer solar cells processed using a non-halogenated solvent. J. Mater. Chem. C 2021, 9, 249–259.
Xie, R.; Ying, L.; An, K.; Zhong, W.; Yin, Q.; Liao, S.; Huang, F.; Cao, Y. Efficient non-fullerene organic solar cells based on a wide-bandgap polymer donor containing an alkylthiophenyl-substituted benzodithiophene moiety. ChemPhysChem 2019, 20, 2668–2673.
Guo, H.; Huang, B.; Zhang, L.; Chen, L.; Xie, Q.; Liao, Z.; Huang, S.; Chen, Y. Double acceptor block-containing copolymers with deep HOMO levels for organic solar cells: adjusting carboxylate substituent position for planarity. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 15853–15860.
Cho, H. W.; An, N. G.; Park, S. Y.; Shin, Y. S.; Lee, W.; Kim, J. Y.; Song, S. Thermally durable nonfullerene acceptor with nonplanar conjugated backbone for high-performance organic solar cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 2020, 10, 1903585.
Chao, P.; Chen, H.; Zhu, Y.; Lai, H.; Mo, D.; Zheng, N.; Chang, X.; Meng, H.; He, F. A benzo[1,2-b:4,5-c′]dithiophene-4,8-dione-based polymer donor achieving an efficiency over 16. Adv. Mater. 2020, 32, e1907059.
Zeng, A.; Ma, X.; Pan, M.; Chen, Y.; Ma, R.; Zhao, H.; Zhang, J.; Kim, H. K.; Shang, A.; Luo, S.; Angunawela, I. C.; Chang, Y.; Qi, Z.; Sun, H.; Lai, J. Y. L.; Ade, H.; Ma, W.; Zhang, F.; Yan, H. A chlorinated donor polymer achieving high-performance organic solar cells with a wide range of polymer molecular weight. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 31, 2102413.
Fan, Q.; Zhu, Q.; Xu, Z.; Su, W.; Chen, J.; Wu, J.; Guo, X.; Ma, W.; Zhang, M.; Li, Y. Chlorine substituted 2D-conjugated polymer for high-performance polymer solar cells with 13.1% efficiency via toluene processing. Nano Energy 2018, 48, 413–420.
Wu, J.; Guo, X.; Xiong, M.; Xia, X.; Li, Q.; Fang, J.; Yan, X.; Liu, Q.; Lu, X.; Wang, E.; Yu, D.; Zhang, M. Modulating the nanoscale morphology on carboxylate-pyrazine containing terpolymer toward 17.8% efficiency organic solar cells with enhanced thermal stability. Chem. Eng. J. 2022, 446, 137424.
Qiu, J.; Liu, M.; Wang, Y.; Xia, X.; Liu, Q.; Guo, X.; Lu, X.; Zhang, M. Linear regulating of polymer acceptor aggregation with short alkyl chain units enhances all-polymer solar cells’ efficiency. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2022, 44, 2200753.
Wu, J.; Li, G.; Fang, J.; Guo, X.; Zhu, L.; Guo, B.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, G.; Arunagiri, L.; Liu, F.; Yan, H.; Zhang, M.; Li, Y. Random terpolymer based on thiophene-thiazolothiazole unit enabling efficient non-fullerene organic solar cells. Nat. Commun. 2020, 11, 4612.
Mei, J.; Kim, D. H.; Ayzner, A. L.; Toney, M. F.; Bao, Z. Siloxane-terminated solubilizing side chains: bringing conjugated polymer backbones closer and boosting hole mobilities in thin-film transistors. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 20130–20133.
Wang, Q.; Hu, Z.; Wu, Z.; Lin, Y.; Zhang, L.; Liu, L.; Ma, Y.; Cao, Y.; Chen, J. Introduction of siloxane-terminated side chains into semiconducting polymers to tune phase separation with nonfullerene acceptor for polymer solar cells. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 4659–4672.
Feng, S.; Liu, C.; Xu, X.; Liu, X.; Zhang, L.; Nian, Y.; Cao, Y.; Chen, J. Siloxane-terminated side chain engineering of acceptor polymers leading to over 7% power conversion efficiencies in all-polymer solar cells. ACS Macro Lett. 2017, 6, 1310–1314.
Yin, Z.; Guo, X.; Wang, Y.; Zhu, L.; Chen, Y.; Fan, Q.; Wang, J.; Su, W.; Liu, F.; Zhang, M.; Li, Y. Siloanne-functional small molecule acceptor for high-performance organic solar cells with 16.6% efficiency. Chem. Eng. J. 2022, 442, 136018.
Jiang, H.; Pan, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhou, X.; Wang, Z.; Nian, Y.; Liu, C.; Tang, W.; Ma, Q.; Ni, Z.; Chen, M.; Ma, W.; Cao, Y.; Chen, J. Impact of the siloxane-terminated side chain on photovoltaic performances of the dithienylbenzodithiophene-difluorobenzotriazole-based wide band gap polymer donor in non-fullerene polymer solar cells. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 29094–29104.
Fan, B.; Zhong, W.; Ying, L.; Zhang, D.; Li, M.; Lin, Y.; Xia, R.; Liu, F.; Yip, H. L.; Li, N.; Ma, Y.; Brabec, C. J.; Huang, F.; Cao, Y. Surpassing the 10% efficiency milestone for 1-cm2 all-polymer solar cells. Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 4100.
Fan, B.; Zhu, P.; Xin, J.; Li, N.; Ying, L.; Zhong, W.; Li, Z.; Ma, W.; Huang, F.; Cao, Y. High-performance thick-film all-polymer solar cells created via ternary blending of a novel wide-bandgap electron-donating copolymer. Adv. Energy Mater. 2018, 8, 1703085.
Zhao, F.; Yuan, Y.; Ding, Y.; Wang, Y.; Wang, X.; Zhang, G.; Gu, X.; Qiu, L. Taming charge transport and mechanical properties of conjugated polymers with linear siloxane side chains. Macromolecules 2021, 34, 5440–5450.
Jing, J.; Dou, Y.; Chen, S.; Zhang, K.; Huang, F. Solution sequential deposited organic photovoltaics: from morphology control to large-area modules. eScience 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esci.2023.100142.
Chen, X.; Liu, B.; Zou, Y.; Xiao, L.; Guo, X.; He, Y.; Li, Y. A new benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]difuran-based copolymer for efficient polymer solar cells. J. Mater. Chem. 2012, 22, 17724–17731.
Kyaw, A. K. K.; Wang, D. H.; Gupta, V.; Leong, W. L.; Ke, L.; Bazan, G. C.; Heeger, A. J. Intensity dependence of current-voltage characteristics and recombination in high-efficiency solution-processed small-molecule solar cells. ACS Nano 2013, 7, 4569–4577.
Riedel, I.; Parisi, J.; Dyakonov, V.; Lutsen, L.; Vanderzande, D.; Hummelen, J. C. Effect of temperature and illumination on the electrical characteristics of polymer-fullerene bulk-heterojunction solar cells. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2004, 14, 38–44.
Gao, W.; Liu, T.; Zhong, C.; Zhang, G.; Zhang, Y.; Ming, R.; Zhang, L.; Xin, J.; Wu, K.; Guo, Y.; Ma, W.; Yan, H.; Liu, Y.; Yang, C. Asymmetrical small molecule acceptor enabling nonfullerene polymer solar cell with fill factor approaching 79%. ACS Energy Lett. 2018, 3, 1760–1768.
Liao, X.; Xie, Q.; Guo, Y.; He, Q.; Chen, Z.; Yu, N.; Zhu, P.; Cui, Y.; Ma, Z.; Xu, X.; Zhu, H.; Chen, Y. Inhibiting excessive molecular aggregation to achieve highly efficient and stabilized organic solar cells by introducing a star-shaped nitrogen heterocyclic-ring acceptor. Energy Environ. Sci. 2022, 15, 384–394.
Xu, G.; Rao, H.; Liao, X.; Zhang, Y.; Wang, Y.; Xing, Z.; Hu, T.; Tan, L.; Chen, L.; Chen, Y. Reducing energy loss and morphology optimization Manipulated by molecular geometry engineering for hetero-junction organic solar cells. Chin. J. Chem. 2020, 38, 1553–1559.
Liao, X.; He, Q.; Zhou, G.; Xia, X.; Zhu, P.; Xing, Z.; Zhu, H.; Yao, Z.; Lu, X.; Chen, Y. Regulating favorable morphology evolution by a simple liquid-crystalline small molecule enables organic solar cells with over 17% efficiency and a remarkable Jsc of 26.56 mA/cm2. Chem. Mater. 2021, 33, 430–440.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 51973032, 21905043, 51833004 and 52333006), the Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 20212ACB203005, 20224ACB214002, 20212BAB213018 and 20224BAB203015), the Thousand Talents Plan of Jiangxi Province (No. jxsq2019101051), and the Innovation Foundation for graduate students of Jiangxi Normal University (No. YJS2021018). X.X. and X.L. acknowledge the financial support from Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong (General Research Fund No. 14303519).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
The authors declare no interest conflict.
Electronic Supplementary Information
10118_2023_3051_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
Random Terpolymer Based on Simple Siloxane-functionalized Thiophene Unit Enabling High-performance Non-fullerene Organic Solar Cells
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cheng, F., Lai, S., Zhang, Y. et al. Random Terpolymer Based on Simple Siloxane-functionalized Thiophene Unit Enabling High-performance Non-fullerene Organic Solar Cells. Chin J Polym Sci 42, 311–321 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-023-3051-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-023-3051-y