Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells

Safakath Karuthedath; Julien Gorenflot; Yuliar Firdaus; Neha Chaturvedi; Catherine S. P. De Castro; George T. Harrison; Jafar Iqbal Khan; Anastasia Markina; Ahmed Albalawi; Top Archie Dela Peña; Wenlan Liu; Ru-Ze Liang; Anirudh Sharma; Sri Harish Kumar Paleti; Weimin Zhang; Yuanbao Lin; Erkki Alarousu; Dalaver H. Anjum; Pierre Beaujuge; Stefaan De Wolf; Iain McCulloch; Thomas D. Anthopoulos; Derya Baran; Denis Andrienko; Frédéric Laquai

doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00835-x

Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells

Safakath Karuthedath, Julien Gorenflot, Yuliar Firdaus, Neha Chaturvedi, Catherine S. P. De Castro, George T. Harrison, Jafar Iqbal Khan, Anastasia Markina, Ahmed Albalawi, Top Archie Dela Peña, Wenlan Liu, Ru-Ze Liang, Anirudh Sharma, Sri Harish Kumar Paleti, Weimin Zhang, Yuanbao Lin, Erkki Alarousu, Dalaver H. Anjum, Pierre Beaujuge, Stefaan De WolfIain McCulloch, Thomas D. Anthopoulos, Derya Baran, Denis Andrienko, Frédéric Laquai

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Abstract

In bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) both the electron affinity (EA) and ionization energy (IE) offsets at the donor–acceptor interface should equally control exciton dissociation. Here, we demonstrate that in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) BHJs ultrafast donor-to-acceptor energy transfer precedes hole transfer from the acceptor to the donor and thus renders the EA offset virtually unimportant. Moreover, sizeable bulk IE offsets of about 0.5 eV are needed for efficient charge transfer and high internal quantum efficiencies, since energy level bending at the donor–NFA interface caused by the acceptors’ quadrupole moments prevents efficient exciton-to-charge-transfer state conversion at low IE offsets. The same bending, however, is the origin of the barrier-less charge transfer state to free charge conversion. Our results provide a comprehensive picture of the photophysics of NFA-based blends, and show that sizeable bulk IE offsets are essential to design efficient BHJ OSCs based on low-bandgap NFAs.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Nature Materials
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00835-x
State	Published - Oct 26 2020

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-29
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): CRG, OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079
Acknowledgements: This publication is based on work supported by the KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award nos. OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079 and OSR-CRG2018-3746. D.A. acknowledges funding from the BMBF grant InterPhase and MESOMERIE (grant nos. FKZ 13N13661, FKZ 13N13656) and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program ‘Widening materials models’ under grant agreement no. 646259 (MOSTOPHOS). D.A. also acknowledges the KAUST PSE Division for hosting his sabbatical in the framework of the Division’s Visiting Faculty program. A.M. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 844655 (SMOLAC). We thank L. Sinatra of KAUST and Quantum Solutions LLC for assisting with the PLQY measurements. G.T.H acknowledges K. Graham and A. Amassian (and previous group members including M. Tietze and G.O.N. Ndjawa) for having designed and installed and worked on the IPES setup. In particular, G.T.H. acknowledges K. Graham’s kind assistance during the reconfiguration and optimization of the IPES setup, as well as U. Sharif for technical assistance.

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Karuthedath, S., Gorenflot, J., Firdaus, Y., Chaturvedi, N., De Castro, C. S. P., Harrison, G. T., Khan, J. I., Markina, A., Albalawi, A., Peña, T. A. D., Liu, W., Liang, R-Z., Sharma, A., Paleti, S. H. K., Zhang, W., Lin, Y., Alarousu, E., Anjum, D. H., Beaujuge, P., ... Laquai, F. (2020). Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells. Nature Materials. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00835-x

@article{3f333675bdc9477f8fc6842a9eebf383,

title = "Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells",

abstract = "In bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) both the electron affinity (EA) and ionization energy (IE) offsets at the donor–acceptor interface should equally control exciton dissociation. Here, we demonstrate that in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) BHJs ultrafast donor-to-acceptor energy transfer precedes hole transfer from the acceptor to the donor and thus renders the EA offset virtually unimportant. Moreover, sizeable bulk IE offsets of about 0.5 eV are needed for efficient charge transfer and high internal quantum efficiencies, since energy level bending at the donor–NFA interface caused by the acceptors{\textquoteright} quadrupole moments prevents efficient exciton-to-charge-transfer state conversion at low IE offsets. The same bending, however, is the origin of the barrier-less charge transfer state to free charge conversion. Our results provide a comprehensive picture of the photophysics of NFA-based blends, and show that sizeable bulk IE offsets are essential to design efficient BHJ OSCs based on low-bandgap NFAs.",

author = "Safakath Karuthedath and Julien Gorenflot and Yuliar Firdaus and Neha Chaturvedi and {De Castro}, {Catherine S. P.} and Harrison, {George T.} and Khan, {Jafar Iqbal} and Anastasia Markina and Ahmed Albalawi and Pe{\~n}a, {Top Archie Dela} and Wenlan Liu and Ru-Ze Liang and Anirudh Sharma and Paleti, {Sri Harish Kumar} and Weimin Zhang and Yuanbao Lin and Erkki Alarousu and Anjum, {Dalaver H.} and Pierre Beaujuge and {De Wolf}, Stefaan and Iain McCulloch and Anthopoulos, {Thomas D.} and Derya Baran and Denis Andrienko and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Laquai",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-29 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): CRG, OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079 Acknowledgements: This publication is based on work supported by the KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award nos. OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079 and OSR-CRG2018-3746. D.A. acknowledges funding from the BMBF grant InterPhase and MESOMERIE (grant nos. FKZ 13N13661, FKZ 13N13656) and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program {\textquoteleft}Widening materials models{\textquoteright} under grant agreement no. 646259 (MOSTOPHOS). D.A. also acknowledges the KAUST PSE Division for hosting his sabbatical in the framework of the Division{\textquoteright}s Visiting Faculty program. A.M. acknowledges funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sk{\l}odowska-Curie grant agreement no. 844655 (SMOLAC). We thank L. Sinatra of KAUST and Quantum Solutions LLC for assisting with the PLQY measurements. G.T.H acknowledges K. Graham and A. Amassian (and previous group members including M. Tietze and G.O.N. Ndjawa) for having designed and installed and worked on the IPES setup. In particular, G.T.H. acknowledges K. Graham{\textquoteright}s kind assistance during the reconfiguration and optimization of the IPES setup, as well as U. Sharif for technical assistance.",

year = "2020",

month = oct,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1038/s41563-020-00835-x",

language = "English (US)",

journal = "Nature Materials",

issn = "1476-1122",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

Karuthedath, S, Gorenflot, J, Firdaus, Y, Chaturvedi, N, De Castro, CSP, Harrison, GT, Khan, JI, Markina, A, Albalawi, A, Peña, TAD, Liu, W, Liang, R-Z, Sharma, A , Paleti, SHK , Zhang, W , Lin, Y, Alarousu, E, Anjum, DH, Beaujuge, P, De Wolf, S, McCulloch, I, Anthopoulos, TD , Baran, D, Andrienko, D & Laquai, F 2020, 'Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells', Nature Materials. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00835-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells

AU - Karuthedath, Safakath

AU - Gorenflot, Julien

AU - Firdaus, Yuliar

AU - Chaturvedi, Neha

AU - De Castro, Catherine S. P.

AU - Harrison, George T.

AU - Khan, Jafar Iqbal

AU - Markina, Anastasia

AU - Albalawi, Ahmed

AU - Peña, Top Archie Dela

AU - Liu, Wenlan

AU - Liang, Ru-Ze

AU - Sharma, Anirudh

AU - Paleti, Sri Harish Kumar

AU - Zhang, Weimin

AU - Lin, Yuanbao

AU - Alarousu, Erkki

AU - Anjum, Dalaver H.

AU - Beaujuge, Pierre

AU - De Wolf, Stefaan

AU - McCulloch, Iain

AU - Anthopoulos, Thomas D.

AU - Baran, Derya

AU - Andrienko, Denis

AU - Laquai, Frédéric

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-29 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): CRG, OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079 Acknowledgements: This publication is based on work supported by the KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award nos. OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079 and OSR-CRG2018-3746. D.A. acknowledges funding from the BMBF grant InterPhase and MESOMERIE (grant nos. FKZ 13N13661, FKZ 13N13656) and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program ‘Widening materials models’ under grant agreement no. 646259 (MOSTOPHOS). D.A. also acknowledges the KAUST PSE Division for hosting his sabbatical in the framework of the Division’s Visiting Faculty program. A.M. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 844655 (SMOLAC). We thank L. Sinatra of KAUST and Quantum Solutions LLC for assisting with the PLQY measurements. G.T.H acknowledges K. Graham and A. Amassian (and previous group members including M. Tietze and G.O.N. Ndjawa) for having designed and installed and worked on the IPES setup. In particular, G.T.H. acknowledges K. Graham’s kind assistance during the reconfiguration and optimization of the IPES setup, as well as U. Sharif for technical assistance.

PY - 2020/10/26

Y1 - 2020/10/26

N2 - In bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) both the electron affinity (EA) and ionization energy (IE) offsets at the donor–acceptor interface should equally control exciton dissociation. Here, we demonstrate that in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) BHJs ultrafast donor-to-acceptor energy transfer precedes hole transfer from the acceptor to the donor and thus renders the EA offset virtually unimportant. Moreover, sizeable bulk IE offsets of about 0.5 eV are needed for efficient charge transfer and high internal quantum efficiencies, since energy level bending at the donor–NFA interface caused by the acceptors’ quadrupole moments prevents efficient exciton-to-charge-transfer state conversion at low IE offsets. The same bending, however, is the origin of the barrier-less charge transfer state to free charge conversion. Our results provide a comprehensive picture of the photophysics of NFA-based blends, and show that sizeable bulk IE offsets are essential to design efficient BHJ OSCs based on low-bandgap NFAs.

AB - In bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) both the electron affinity (EA) and ionization energy (IE) offsets at the donor–acceptor interface should equally control exciton dissociation. Here, we demonstrate that in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) BHJs ultrafast donor-to-acceptor energy transfer precedes hole transfer from the acceptor to the donor and thus renders the EA offset virtually unimportant. Moreover, sizeable bulk IE offsets of about 0.5 eV are needed for efficient charge transfer and high internal quantum efficiencies, since energy level bending at the donor–NFA interface caused by the acceptors’ quadrupole moments prevents efficient exciton-to-charge-transfer state conversion at low IE offsets. The same bending, however, is the origin of the barrier-less charge transfer state to free charge conversion. Our results provide a comprehensive picture of the photophysics of NFA-based blends, and show that sizeable bulk IE offsets are essential to design efficient BHJ OSCs based on low-bandgap NFAs.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/665682

UR - http://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-020-00835-x

U2 - 10.1038/s41563-020-00835-x

DO - 10.1038/s41563-020-00835-x

M3 - Article

C2 - 33106652

SN - 1476-1122

JO - Nature Materials

JF - Nature Materials

ER -

Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells

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