DOE OSTI · 2588531
Optimizing the impacts of solid additives on the operational stability and processing reliability of organic solar cells
Abstract
Previous reports have revealed that by leveraging solid additives, organic solar cells (OSCs) can surpass the device’s performance beyond the intrinsic limitations of host photoactive molecules, a remarkable advancement. However, the impacts of more complex interactions introduced by solid additives are not yet well understood. Herein, optimizing the fabrication process based on the traditional efficiency-guided approach fails to represent the ideal and most practical devices. In particular, achieving superior operational stability while minimizing the device performance scattering was found to require processing solvent evaporation to be synchronized with the volatility of the chosen solid additive. However, this may be challenging since most organic photoactive materials display excellent efficiencies only with selected solvents. Accordingly, this work also demonstrates the potential of dual and complementary solvents selection, consisting of low boiling point (primary) and high boiling point (secondary). This strategy allows for the suppression of any potential trade-offs in efficiency. Meanwhile, the operational stability and precision of device performance are substantially enhanced. Additionally, solid additives have demonstrated that the singlet exciton dissociation rate does not limit the free charge generation yield. Finally, these findings are expected to reformulate OSC device fabrication strategies towards more practical devices.
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Tarique, Walia Binte [Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia)], Garcia, Sheena Anne [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Kowloon (Hong Kong)] (ORCID:0000000267356357), Dela Peña, Top Archie [Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia); Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore); Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong)] (ORCID:0000000200234793), Ma, Ruijie [Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ. (Hong Kong)], Wei, Qi [Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ. (Hong Kong)], Li, Ruipeng [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)] (ORCID:0000000181763138), Howlader, Ashraful Hossain [Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia)], Pasciolco, Mark Joseph [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Kowloon (Hong Kong)], Dipta, Shahriyar Safat [Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia)] (ORCID:0000000337832284), Luo, Yongmin [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong)], Hai, Yulong [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong)], Li, Yao [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong)], Chan, Yi, Yeung, King Lun [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Kowloon (Hong Kong)], Yu, Han [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong); Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ. (Hong Kong)], Yu, Liyang [Southwest Jiaotong Univ. (China)], Li, Mingjie [Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ. (Hong Kong)], Yan, He [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong)], Ming, Lam Yeng [Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore)], Jia, Tao [Guangdong Polytechnic Normal Univ. (China)], Uddin, Ashraf [Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia)], Wu, Jiaying [Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong)]. 2025-08-15. Optimizing the impacts of solid additives on the operational stability and processing reliability of organic solar cells. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2025.113584
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