Cathode interlayers (CILs) play a crucial role in improving the photovoltaic efficiency and stability of OSCs. CILs generally consists of two kinds of materials, interfacial dipole-based CILs and SPS-based CILs. With good charge transporting ability, excellent compatibility with large-area processing methods, and highly tunable optoelectronic properties, the SPS-based CILs exhibit remarkable superiorities to their interfacial dipole-based counterparts in practical use, making them promising candidate in developing efficient CILs for OSCs. This mini-review highlights the great potential of SPS-based CILs in OSC applications and elucidates the working mechanism and material design strategy of SPS materials. Afterward, the SPS-based CIL materials are summarized and discussed in four sections, including organic small molecules, conjugated polymers, nonconjugated polymers, and TMOs. The structure-property-performance relationship of SPS-based CIL materials is revealed, which may provide readers new insight into the molecular design of SPS-based CILs. The mechanisms to endow SPS-based CILs with thickness insensitivity, resistance to environmental erosion, and photo-electric conversion ability are also elucidated. Finally, after a brief summary, the remaining issues and the prospects of SPS-based CILs are suggested.
Keywords: cathode modification; device stability; organic solar cells; photovoltaic efficiency; semiconductor materials.
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