Reducing non-radiative voltage losses in organic solar cells using molecular encapsulation

Anirudh Sharma; Lisa Sharma; Jules Bertrandie; Diego R. Villalva; Yajun Gao; Catherine S.P. De Castro; Joel Troughton; Julien Gorenflot; Frederic Laquai; Hugo Bronstein; Derya Baran

doi:10.1039/d2qm01044e

Reducing non-radiative voltage losses in organic solar cells using molecular encapsulation

Anirudh Sharma, Lisa Sharma, Jules Bertrandie, Diego R. Villalva, Yajun Gao, Catherine S.P. De Castro, Joel Troughton, Julien Gorenflot, Frederic Laquai, Hugo Bronstein^*, Derya Baran^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Non-radiative voltage loss is one of the significant bottlenecks limiting the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). This work presents a material design approach for conjugated polymers isolating the polymer chains with molecular encapsulation, enabling better control over the donor-acceptor spacing. Bulk-heterojunction OSCs based on encapsulated polymers as electron donors show a remarkable increase of ∼50 mV in the V_oc. Significant improvement in the V_oc is attributed to reduced non-radiative voltage losses as evidenced by enhanced electroluminescence as a result of suppressed intermolecular aggregation and an increase in structural disorder. Importantly, molecular encapsulation resulted in notable improvement in the operational stability of OSCs with no burn-in loss in V_oc, presenting a promising strategy to simultaneously enhance the performance and operational stability of OSCs.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	735-744
Number of pages	10
Journal	Materials Chemistry Frontiers
Volume	7
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/d2qm01044e
State	Published - Jan 3 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research under award no. OSR-CARF/CCF-3079, OSR-CRG2018-3737, OSR-CRG2018-3746, and OSR-CRG2019-4025. HB acknowledges the support from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under award no. EP/S003126/1.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science
Materials Chemistry

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10.1039/d2qm01044e

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title = "Reducing non-radiative voltage losses in organic solar cells using molecular encapsulation",

abstract = "Non-radiative voltage loss is one of the significant bottlenecks limiting the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). This work presents a material design approach for conjugated polymers isolating the polymer chains with molecular encapsulation, enabling better control over the donor-acceptor spacing. Bulk-heterojunction OSCs based on encapsulated polymers as electron donors show a remarkable increase of ∼50 mV in the Voc. Significant improvement in the Voc is attributed to reduced non-radiative voltage losses as evidenced by enhanced electroluminescence as a result of suppressed intermolecular aggregation and an increase in structural disorder. Importantly, molecular encapsulation resulted in notable improvement in the operational stability of OSCs with no burn-in loss in Voc, presenting a promising strategy to simultaneously enhance the performance and operational stability of OSCs.",

author = "Anirudh Sharma and Lisa Sharma and Jules Bertrandie and Villalva, {Diego R.} and Yajun Gao and {De Castro}, {Catherine S.P.} and Joel Troughton and Julien Gorenflot and Frederic Laquai and Hugo Bronstein and Derya Baran",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research under award no. OSR-CARF/CCF-3079, OSR-CRG2018-3737, OSR-CRG2018-3746, and OSR-CRG2019-4025. HB acknowledges the support from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under award no. EP/S003126/1. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.",

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doi = "10.1039/d2qm01044e",

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T1 - Reducing non-radiative voltage losses in organic solar cells using molecular encapsulation

AU - Sharma, Anirudh

AU - Sharma, Lisa

AU - Bertrandie, Jules

AU - Villalva, Diego R.

AU - Gao, Yajun

AU - De Castro, Catherine S.P.

AU - Troughton, Joel

AU - Gorenflot, Julien

AU - Laquai, Frederic

AU - Bronstein, Hugo

AU - Baran, Derya

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research under award no. OSR-CARF/CCF-3079, OSR-CRG2018-3737, OSR-CRG2018-3746, and OSR-CRG2019-4025. HB acknowledges the support from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under award no. EP/S003126/1. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

PY - 2023/1/3

Y1 - 2023/1/3

N2 - Non-radiative voltage loss is one of the significant bottlenecks limiting the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). This work presents a material design approach for conjugated polymers isolating the polymer chains with molecular encapsulation, enabling better control over the donor-acceptor spacing. Bulk-heterojunction OSCs based on encapsulated polymers as electron donors show a remarkable increase of ∼50 mV in the Voc. Significant improvement in the Voc is attributed to reduced non-radiative voltage losses as evidenced by enhanced electroluminescence as a result of suppressed intermolecular aggregation and an increase in structural disorder. Importantly, molecular encapsulation resulted in notable improvement in the operational stability of OSCs with no burn-in loss in Voc, presenting a promising strategy to simultaneously enhance the performance and operational stability of OSCs.

AB - Non-radiative voltage loss is one of the significant bottlenecks limiting the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). This work presents a material design approach for conjugated polymers isolating the polymer chains with molecular encapsulation, enabling better control over the donor-acceptor spacing. Bulk-heterojunction OSCs based on encapsulated polymers as electron donors show a remarkable increase of ∼50 mV in the Voc. Significant improvement in the Voc is attributed to reduced non-radiative voltage losses as evidenced by enhanced electroluminescence as a result of suppressed intermolecular aggregation and an increase in structural disorder. Importantly, molecular encapsulation resulted in notable improvement in the operational stability of OSCs with no burn-in loss in Voc, presenting a promising strategy to simultaneously enhance the performance and operational stability of OSCs.

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JO - Materials Chemistry Frontiers

JF - Materials Chemistry Frontiers

IS - 4

ER -

Reducing non-radiative voltage losses in organic solar cells using molecular encapsulation

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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