Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime

Andrew J. Clarke; Joel Luke; Rico Meitzner; Jiaying Wu; Yuming Wang; Harrison K.H. Lee; Emily M. Speller; Helen Bristow; Hyojung Cha; Michael J. Newman; Katherine Hooper; Alex Evans; Feng Gao; Harald Hoppe; Iain McCulloch; Ulrich S. Schubert; Trystan M. Watson; James R. Durrant; Wing C. Tsoi; Ji-Seon Kim; Zhe Li

doi:10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498

Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime

Andrew J. Clarke, Joel Luke, Rico Meitzner, Jiaying Wu, Yuming Wang, Harrison K.H. Lee, Emily M. Speller, Helen Bristow, Hyojung Cha, Michael J. Newman, Katherine Hooper, Alex Evans, Feng Gao, Harald Hoppe, Iain McCulloch, Ulrich S. Schubert, Trystan M. Watson, James R. Durrant, Wing C. Tsoi, Ji-Seon KimZhe Li

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) has facilitated the realization of efficient organic solar cells (OSCs) with minimal burn-in losses and excellent long-term stability. However, the role of NFA molecular structures on device stability remains unclear, limiting commercialization of NFA-based OSCs. Herein, the photostability of 10 OSC devices, fabricated with various NFAs (O-IDTBR, EH-IDTBR, ITIC, and ITIC-M) blended with donor polymers (PTB7-Th, PffBT4T-2OD, and PBDB-T), is investigated. O-IDTBR and EH-IDTBR form highly stable devices with all three polymers, whereas ITIC and ITIC-M devices suffer from burn-in losses and long-term degradation. Conformational instability is found to be responsible for the poor photostability of ITIC and ITIC-M, resulting in poor device stability. Twisting and potential breakage of the chemical bond that links the end group to the main backbone of ITIC and ITIC-M molecules causes undesirable conformational changes. Potential strategies to overcome such detrimental photo-induced conformational changes in NFAs are proposed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	100498
Journal	Cell Reports Physical Science
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498
State	Published - Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-07-14
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2018-CRG/CCF-3079, OSR-2018-CRG7-3749, OSR-2019-CRG8-4086
Acknowledgements: The authors thank all sources of funding that made this work possible. A.J.C. and W.C.T. acknowledge funding from the European Social Fund via the Welsh Government and EPSRC project EP/L015099/1. J.L. and J.-S.K. thank UK EPSRC for the Plastic Electronics Centre for Doctoral Training (EP/L016702/1) and ATIP Programme grant (EP/T028513/1) and CSEM Brasil for a CASE studentship. This research was also supported by the Global Research Laboratory Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2017K1A1A2013153). E.M.S. thanks the National Research Network in Advanced Engineering and Materials. J.R.D. and J.W. thank the UKRI Global Challenge Research Fund project, SUNRISE (EP/P032591/1). H.B. and I.M. acknowledge financial support from KAUST, including Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) awards OSR-2018-CRG/CCF-3079, OSR-2019-CRG8-4086, and OSR-2018-CRG7-3749, and funding from European Social Fund, European Union CSEM Brasil, Brazil European Research Council, European Union ERC Synergy Grant SC2 (610115), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 952911, project BOOSTER and grant agreement 862474, project RoLA-FLEX, and EPSRC project EP/T026219/1. Z.L. acknowledges EPSRC project EP/S020748/1.

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10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498

https://repository.kaust.edu.sa/bitstream/10754/670166/1/1-s2.0-S2666386421001983-main%20%281%29.pdf

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Clarke, A. J., Luke, J., Meitzner, R., Wu, J., Wang, Y., Lee, H. K. H., Speller, E. M., Bristow, H., Cha, H., Newman, M. J., Hooper, K., Evans, A., Gao, F., Hoppe, H., McCulloch, I., Schubert, U. S., Watson, T. M., Durrant, J. R., Tsoi, W. C., ... Li, Z. (2021). Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime. Cell Reports Physical Science, 100498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498

@article{64670883ab1249cc9c73545b9265f6e7,

title = "Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime",

abstract = "The development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) has facilitated the realization of efficient organic solar cells (OSCs) with minimal burn-in losses and excellent long-term stability. However, the role of NFA molecular structures on device stability remains unclear, limiting commercialization of NFA-based OSCs. Herein, the photostability of 10 OSC devices, fabricated with various NFAs (O-IDTBR, EH-IDTBR, ITIC, and ITIC-M) blended with donor polymers (PTB7-Th, PffBT4T-2OD, and PBDB-T), is investigated. O-IDTBR and EH-IDTBR form highly stable devices with all three polymers, whereas ITIC and ITIC-M devices suffer from burn-in losses and long-term degradation. Conformational instability is found to be responsible for the poor photostability of ITIC and ITIC-M, resulting in poor device stability. Twisting and potential breakage of the chemical bond that links the end group to the main backbone of ITIC and ITIC-M molecules causes undesirable conformational changes. Potential strategies to overcome such detrimental photo-induced conformational changes in NFAs are proposed.",

author = "Clarke, {Andrew J.} and Joel Luke and Rico Meitzner and Jiaying Wu and Yuming Wang and Lee, {Harrison K.H.} and Speller, {Emily M.} and Helen Bristow and Hyojung Cha and Newman, {Michael J.} and Katherine Hooper and Alex Evans and Feng Gao and Harald Hoppe and Iain McCulloch and Schubert, {Ulrich S.} and Watson, {Trystan M.} and Durrant, {James R.} and Tsoi, {Wing C.} and Ji-Seon Kim and Zhe Li",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-07-14 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2018-CRG/CCF-3079, OSR-2018-CRG7-3749, OSR-2019-CRG8-4086 Acknowledgements: The authors thank all sources of funding that made this work possible. A.J.C. and W.C.T. acknowledge funding from the European Social Fund via the Welsh Government and EPSRC project EP/L015099/1. J.L. and J.-S.K. thank UK EPSRC for the Plastic Electronics Centre for Doctoral Training (EP/L016702/1) and ATIP Programme grant (EP/T028513/1) and CSEM Brasil for a CASE studentship. This research was also supported by the Global Research Laboratory Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2017K1A1A2013153). E.M.S. thanks the National Research Network in Advanced Engineering and Materials. J.R.D. and J.W. thank the UKRI Global Challenge Research Fund project, SUNRISE (EP/P032591/1). H.B. and I.M. acknowledge financial support from KAUST, including Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) awards OSR-2018-CRG/CCF-3079, OSR-2019-CRG8-4086, and OSR-2018-CRG7-3749, and funding from European Social Fund, European Union CSEM Brasil, Brazil European Research Council, European Union ERC Synergy Grant SC2 (610115), the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 952911, project BOOSTER and grant agreement 862474, project RoLA-FLEX, and EPSRC project EP/T026219/1. Z.L. acknowledges EPSRC project EP/S020748/1.",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498",

language = "English (US)",

pages = "100498",

journal = "Cell Reports Physical Science",

issn = "2666-3864",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

Clarke, AJ, Luke, J, Meitzner, R, Wu, J, Wang, Y, Lee, HKH, Speller, EM, Bristow, H, Cha, H, Newman, MJ, Hooper, K, Evans, A, Gao, F, Hoppe, H, McCulloch, I, Schubert, US, Watson, TM, Durrant, JR, Tsoi, WC, Kim, J-S & Li, Z 2021, 'Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime', Cell Reports Physical Science, pp. 100498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498

TY - JOUR

T1 - Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime

AU - Clarke, Andrew J.

AU - Luke, Joel

AU - Meitzner, Rico

AU - Wu, Jiaying

AU - Wang, Yuming

AU - Lee, Harrison K.H.

AU - Speller, Emily M.

AU - Bristow, Helen

AU - Cha, Hyojung

AU - Newman, Michael J.

AU - Hooper, Katherine

AU - Evans, Alex

AU - Gao, Feng

AU - Hoppe, Harald

AU - McCulloch, Iain

AU - Schubert, Ulrich S.

AU - Watson, Trystan M.

AU - Durrant, James R.

AU - Tsoi, Wing C.

AU - Kim, Ji-Seon

AU - Li, Zhe

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-07-14 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2018-CRG/CCF-3079, OSR-2018-CRG7-3749, OSR-2019-CRG8-4086 Acknowledgements: The authors thank all sources of funding that made this work possible. A.J.C. and W.C.T. acknowledge funding from the European Social Fund via the Welsh Government and EPSRC project EP/L015099/1. J.L. and J.-S.K. thank UK EPSRC for the Plastic Electronics Centre for Doctoral Training (EP/L016702/1) and ATIP Programme grant (EP/T028513/1) and CSEM Brasil for a CASE studentship. This research was also supported by the Global Research Laboratory Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2017K1A1A2013153). E.M.S. thanks the National Research Network in Advanced Engineering and Materials. J.R.D. and J.W. thank the UKRI Global Challenge Research Fund project, SUNRISE (EP/P032591/1). H.B. and I.M. acknowledge financial support from KAUST, including Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) awards OSR-2018-CRG/CCF-3079, OSR-2019-CRG8-4086, and OSR-2018-CRG7-3749, and funding from European Social Fund, European Union CSEM Brasil, Brazil European Research Council, European Union ERC Synergy Grant SC2 (610115), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 952911, project BOOSTER and grant agreement 862474, project RoLA-FLEX, and EPSRC project EP/T026219/1. Z.L. acknowledges EPSRC project EP/S020748/1.

PY - 2021/7

Y1 - 2021/7

N2 - The development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) has facilitated the realization of efficient organic solar cells (OSCs) with minimal burn-in losses and excellent long-term stability. However, the role of NFA molecular structures on device stability remains unclear, limiting commercialization of NFA-based OSCs. Herein, the photostability of 10 OSC devices, fabricated with various NFAs (O-IDTBR, EH-IDTBR, ITIC, and ITIC-M) blended with donor polymers (PTB7-Th, PffBT4T-2OD, and PBDB-T), is investigated. O-IDTBR and EH-IDTBR form highly stable devices with all three polymers, whereas ITIC and ITIC-M devices suffer from burn-in losses and long-term degradation. Conformational instability is found to be responsible for the poor photostability of ITIC and ITIC-M, resulting in poor device stability. Twisting and potential breakage of the chemical bond that links the end group to the main backbone of ITIC and ITIC-M molecules causes undesirable conformational changes. Potential strategies to overcome such detrimental photo-induced conformational changes in NFAs are proposed.

AB - The development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) has facilitated the realization of efficient organic solar cells (OSCs) with minimal burn-in losses and excellent long-term stability. However, the role of NFA molecular structures on device stability remains unclear, limiting commercialization of NFA-based OSCs. Herein, the photostability of 10 OSC devices, fabricated with various NFAs (O-IDTBR, EH-IDTBR, ITIC, and ITIC-M) blended with donor polymers (PTB7-Th, PffBT4T-2OD, and PBDB-T), is investigated. O-IDTBR and EH-IDTBR form highly stable devices with all three polymers, whereas ITIC and ITIC-M devices suffer from burn-in losses and long-term degradation. Conformational instability is found to be responsible for the poor photostability of ITIC and ITIC-M, resulting in poor device stability. Twisting and potential breakage of the chemical bond that links the end group to the main backbone of ITIC and ITIC-M molecules causes undesirable conformational changes. Potential strategies to overcome such detrimental photo-induced conformational changes in NFAs are proposed.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/670166

UR - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2666386421001983

U2 - 10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498

DO - 10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100498

M3 - Article

SN - 2666-3864

SP - 100498

JO - Cell Reports Physical Science

JF - Cell Reports Physical Science

ER -

Non-fullerene acceptor photostability and its impact on organic solar cell lifetime

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