Precise Control of Selenium Functionalization in Non-Fullerene Acceptors Enabling High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells

Jianquan Zhang; Siwei Luo; Heng Zhao; Xiaoyun Xu; Xinhui Zou; Ao Shang; Jiaen Liang; Fujin Bai; Yuzhong Chen; Kam Sing Wong; Zaifei Ma; Wei Ma; Huawei Hu; Yiwang Chen; He Yan

doi:10.1002/anie.202206930

Precise Control of Selenium Functionalization in Non-Fullerene Acceptors Enabling High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2022 Nov 14;61(46):e202206930. doi: 10.1002/anie.202206930. Epub 2022 Oct 17.

Authors

Jianquan Zhang^{1

2}, Siwei Luo², Heng Zhao³, Xiaoyun Xu⁴, Xinhui Zou^{2

5}, Ao Shang², Jiaen Liang², Fujin Bai², Yuzhong Chen², Kam Sing Wong⁵, Zaifei Ma⁴, Wei Ma³, Huawei Hu^{1

6}, Yiwang Chen^{1

6

7}, He Yan^{2

8}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China.
² Department of Chemistry, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Optoelectronic and Magnetic Functional Materials, Energy Institute and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National, Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
³ State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, Shannxi Province, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China.
⁵ Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
⁶ Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education/National Engineering Research Center for Carbohydrate Synthesis, Jiangxi Normal University, 99 Ziyang Avenue, Nanchang, 330022, China.
⁷ College of Chemistry/Institute of Polymers and Energy Chemistry (IPEC), Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang, 330031, Jiangxi Province, China.
⁸ Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, Guangdong Province, China.

PMID: 36125387
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202206930

Abstract

Central π-core engineering of non-fullerene small molecule acceptors (NF-SMAs) is effective in boosting the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). Especially, selenium (Se) functionalization of NF-SMAs is considered a promising strategy but the structure-performance relationship remains unclear. Here, we synthesize two isomeric alkylphenyl-substituted selenopheno[3,2-b]thiophene-based NF-SMAs named mPh4F-TS and mPh4F-ST with different substitution positions, and contrast them with the thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-based analogue, mPh4F-TT. When placing Se atoms at the outer positions of the π-core, mPh4F-TS shows the most red-shifted absorption and compact molecular stacking. The PM6 : mPh4F-TS devices exhibit excellent absorption, high charge carrier mobility, and reduced energy loss. Consequently, PM6 : mPh4F-TS achieves more balanced photovoltaic parameters and yields an efficiency of 18.05 %, which highlights that precisely manipulating selenium functionalization is a practicable way toward high-efficiency OSCs.

Keywords: Acceptor; Core Engineering; Non-Fullerene; Selenium functionalization; Solar Cell.

Grants and funding

52103202/National Natural Science Foundation of China