Solution-processed tandem organic solar cells

Xiaoyan Du; Ning Li; Liming Ding

doi:10.1088/1674-4926/42/11/110201

J. Semicond. > 2021, Volume 42 > Issue 11 > 110201

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Solution-processed tandem organic solar cells

Xiaoyan Du^1,, Ning Li^{2, 3,} and Liming Ding^4,

+ Author Affiliations

1. School of Physics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
2. Institute of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Martensstraße 7, Erlangen 91058, Germany
3. Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg, Immerwahrstraße 2, Erlangen 91058, Germany
4. Center for Excellence in Nanoscience (CAS), Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication (CAS), National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China

Author Bio:

Xiaoyan Du started her research on OSCs in Liming Ding Group as a MS student in 2010-2013. She received her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Rainer H. Fink and Prof. Christoph J. Brabec in 2017 from Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) in Germany. In 2017-2021, she was a postdoc in FAU, studying photo-degradation and voltage loss. In 2020-2021, she was a research scientist in Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg, studying high-throughput methods. Now she is a professor in Shandong University. Her research focuses on solution-processed solar cells.

Ning Li received his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Christoph J. Brabec from Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) in 2014. He is a group leader at the Institute of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) and a visiting scientist at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen–Nürnberg for Renewable Energy. His research focuses on solution-processed materials and devices for photovoltaic applications.

Liming Ding got his PhD from University of Science and Technology of China (was a joint student at Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, CAS). He started his research on OSCs and PLEDs in Olle Inganäs Lab in 1998. Later on, he worked at National Center for Polymer Research, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Argonne National Lab (USA). He joined Konarka as a Senior Scientist in 2008. In 2010, he joined National Center for Nanoscience and Technology as a full professor. His research focuses on innovative materials and devices. He is RSC Fellow, the nominator for Xplorer Prize, and the Associate Editors for Science Bulletin and Journal of Semiconductors.

Corresponding author: Xiaoyan Du, duxy@sdu.edu.cn; Ning Li, ning.li@fau.de; Liming Ding, ding@nanoctr.cn

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/42/11/110201

References

[1]	Liu Q, Jiang Y, Jin K, et al. 18% efficiency organic solar cells. Sci Bull, 2020, 65, 272 doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.01.001
[2]	Li C, Zhou J, Song J, et al. Non-fullerene acceptors with branched side chains and improved molecular packing to exceed 18% efficiency in organic solar cells. Nat Energy, 2021, 6, 605 doi: 10.1038/s41560-021-00820-x
[3]	Kirchartz T, Taretto K, Rau U. Efficiency limits of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells. J Phys Chem C, 2009, 113, 17958 doi: 10.1021/jp906292h
[4]	Chen C, Chang W, Yoshimura K, et al. An efficient triple-junction polymer solar cell having a power conversion efficiency exceeding 11%. Adv Mater, 2014, 26, 5670 doi: 10.1002/adma.201402072
[5]	Li M, Gao K, Wan X, et al. Solution-processed organic tandem solar cells with power conversion efficiencies > 12%. Nat Photonics, 2017, 11, 85 doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2016.240
[6]	Qin Y, Chen Y, Cui Y, et al. Achieving 12.8% efficiency by simultaneously improving open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density in tandem organic solar cells. Adv Mater, 2017, 29, 1606340 doi: 10.1002/adma.201606340
[7]	Cui Y, Yao H, Gao B, et al. Fine-tuned photoactive and interconnection layers for achieving over 13% efficiency in a fullerene-free tandem organic solar cell. J Am Chem Soc, 2017, 139, 7302 doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b01493
[8]	Xiao Z, Jia X, Li D, et al. 26 mA cm^–2 J_sc from organic solar cells with a low-bandgap nonfullerene acceptor. Sci Bull, 2017, 62, 1494 doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2017.10.017
[9]	Meng L, Zhang Y, Wan X, et al. Organic and solution-processed tandem solar cells with 17.3% efficiency. Science, 2018, 361, 1094 doi: 10.1126/science.aat2612
[10]	Ho C, Kim T, Xiong Y, et al. High-performance tandem organic solar cells using HSolar as the interconnecting layer. Adv Energy Mater, 2020, 10, 2000823 doi: 10.1002/aenm.202000823
[11]	Qin S, Jia Z, Meng L, et al. Non-halogenated-solvent processed and additive-free tandem organic solar cell with efficiency reaching 16.67%. Adv Funct Mater, 2021, 31, 2102361 doi: 10.1002/adfm.202102361
[12]	Jia Z, Qin S, Meng L, et al. High performance tandem organic solar cells via a strongly infrared-absorbing narrow bandgap acceptor. Nat Commun, 2021, 12, 178 doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20431-6
[13]	Firdaus Y, Ho C, Lin Y, et al. Efficient double- and triple-junction nonfullerene organic photovoltaics and design guidelines for optimal cell performance. ACS Energy Lett, 2020, 5, 3692 doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c02077
[14]	Liu G, Xia R, Huang Q, et al. Tandem organic solar cells with 18.7% efficiency enabled by suppressing the charge recombination in front sub-cell. Adv Funct Mater, 2021, 31, 2103283 doi: 10.1002/adfm.202103283

Fig. 1. (Color online) (a) The chemical structures for the active-layer materials. (b) The structure for T-OSCs. (c) J_sc, FF and PCE as a function of the thickness of front cells with different D : A ratios. (d) The simulated J_sc based on transfer-matrix method (left to right, D/A wt ratio: 1 : 1, 1 : 1.2, 1 : 1.4). Reproduced with permission^[14], Copyright 2021, Wiley-VCH GmbH.

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Fig. 2. (Color online) (a) T-OSCs with PBDB-T:F-M blend as the front cell and PTB7-Th:O6T-4F:PC₇₁BM blend as the rear cell. Reproduced with permission^[9], Copyright 2017, AAAS. (b) T-OSCs with PM6:m-DTC-2F blend as the front cell and PTB7-Th:BTPV-4F:PC₇₁BM as the rear cell. Reproduced with permission^[12], Copyright 2021, Springer Nature. (c) T-OSCs with PTQ10:m-DTC-2Cl blend as the front cell and PTB7-Th:BTPV-4F-eC9 blend as the rear cell. Reproduced with permission^[11], Copyright 2021, Wiley-VCH GmbH.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

[1]	Liu Q, Jiang Y, Jin K, et al. 18% efficiency organic solar cells. Sci Bull, 2020, 65, 272 doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.01.001
[2]	Li C, Zhou J, Song J, et al. Non-fullerene acceptors with branched side chains and improved molecular packing to exceed 18% efficiency in organic solar cells. Nat Energy, 2021, 6, 605 doi: 10.1038/s41560-021-00820-x
[3]	Kirchartz T, Taretto K, Rau U. Efficiency limits of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells. J Phys Chem C, 2009, 113, 17958 doi: 10.1021/jp906292h
[4]	Chen C, Chang W, Yoshimura K, et al. An efficient triple-junction polymer solar cell having a power conversion efficiency exceeding 11%. Adv Mater, 2014, 26, 5670 doi: 10.1002/adma.201402072
[5]	Li M, Gao K, Wan X, et al. Solution-processed organic tandem solar cells with power conversion efficiencies > 12%. Nat Photonics, 2017, 11, 85 doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2016.240
[6]	Qin Y, Chen Y, Cui Y, et al. Achieving 12.8% efficiency by simultaneously improving open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density in tandem organic solar cells. Adv Mater, 2017, 29, 1606340 doi: 10.1002/adma.201606340
[7]	Cui Y, Yao H, Gao B, et al. Fine-tuned photoactive and interconnection layers for achieving over 13% efficiency in a fullerene-free tandem organic solar cell. J Am Chem Soc, 2017, 139, 7302 doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b01493
[8]	Xiao Z, Jia X, Li D, et al. 26 mA cm^–2 J_sc from organic solar cells with a low-bandgap nonfullerene acceptor. Sci Bull, 2017, 62, 1494 doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2017.10.017
[9]	Meng L, Zhang Y, Wan X, et al. Organic and solution-processed tandem solar cells with 17.3% efficiency. Science, 2018, 361, 1094 doi: 10.1126/science.aat2612
[10]	Ho C, Kim T, Xiong Y, et al. High-performance tandem organic solar cells using HSolar as the interconnecting layer. Adv Energy Mater, 2020, 10, 2000823 doi: 10.1002/aenm.202000823
[11]	Qin S, Jia Z, Meng L, et al. Non-halogenated-solvent processed and additive-free tandem organic solar cell with efficiency reaching 16.67%. Adv Funct Mater, 2021, 31, 2102361 doi: 10.1002/adfm.202102361
[12]	Jia Z, Qin S, Meng L, et al. High performance tandem organic solar cells via a strongly infrared-absorbing narrow bandgap acceptor. Nat Commun, 2021, 12, 178 doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20431-6
[13]	Firdaus Y, Ho C, Lin Y, et al. Efficient double- and triple-junction nonfullerene organic photovoltaics and design guidelines for optimal cell performance. ACS Energy Lett, 2020, 5, 3692 doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c02077
[14]	Liu G, Xia R, Huang Q, et al. Tandem organic solar cells with 18.7% efficiency enabled by suppressing the charge recombination in front sub-cell. Adv Funct Mater, 2021, 31, 2103283 doi: 10.1002/adfm.202103283