Chalcogen Atoms Regulate the Organic Solar Cell Performance of B-N-Based Polymer Donors

Shuting Pang; Xinyuan Liu; Langheng Pan; Jiyeon Oh; Changduk Yang; Chunhui Duan

doi:10.1021/acsami.4c01987

Chalcogen Atoms Regulate the Organic Solar Cell Performance of B-N-Based Polymer Donors

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 May 1;16(17):22265-22273. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c01987. Epub 2024 Apr 18.

Authors

Shuting Pang^{1

2}, Xinyuan Liu¹, Langheng Pan¹, Jiyeon Oh³, Changduk Yang³, Chunhui Duan¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² Institute of Carbon Neutrality and New Energy, School of Electronics and Information, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
³ Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Perovtronics Research Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, South Korea.

PMID: 38637913
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c01987

Abstract

Donor polymers play a key role in the development of organic solar cells (OSCs). B-N-based polymer donors, as new types of materials, have attracted a lot of attention due to their special characteristics, such as high E(T₁), small ΔE_ST, and easy synthesis, and they can be processed with real green solvents. However, the relationship between the chemical structure and device performance has not been systematically studied. Herein, chalcogen atoms that regulate the OSCs performance of B-N-based polymer donors were systematically studied. Fortunately, the substitution of a halogen atom did not affect the high E(T₁) and small ΔE_ST character of the B-N-based polymer. The absorption and energy levels of the polymer were systematically regulated by O, S, and Se atom substitution. The PBNT-TAZ:Y6-BO-based OSCs device demonstrated a high power conversion efficiency of 15.36%. Moreover, the layer-by-layer method was applied to further optimize the device performance, and the PBNT-TAZ/Y6-BO-based OSCs device yielded a PCE of 16.34%. Consequently, we have systematically demonstrated how chalcogen atoms modulated the electronic properties of B-N-based polymers. Detailed and systematic structure-performance relationships are important for the development of next-generation B-N-based materials.

Keywords: B−N bond; chalcogen atom; high E(T1); organic solar cells; polymer donor.