Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have a promising future in reliable energy harvesting to drive low power consumption devices for indoor applications.

A new organic small-molecule family comprising tetracyanoquinodimethane-substituted quinoidal dithioalky­(SR)­terthiophenes (DSTQs) (DSTQ-6 (1); SR = SC6H13, DSTQ-10 (2); SR = SC10H21, DSTQ-14 (3); SR = SC10H21) was synthesized and contrasted with a nonthioalkylated analogue (DRTQ-14 (4); R = C14H29). The physical, electrochemical, and electrical properties of these new compounds are thoroughly investigated. Optimized geometries obtained from density functional theory calculations and single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveal the planarity of the SR-containing DSTQ core. DSTQs pack in a slipped π–π stacked two-dimensional arrangement, with a short intermolecular stacking distance of 3.55 Å and short intermolecular S···N contacts of 3.56 Å. Thin-film morphological analysis by grazing incident X-ray diffraction reveals that all DSTQ molecules are packed in an edge-on fashion on the substrate. The favorable molecular packing, the high core planarity, and very low lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level (−4.2 eV) suggest that DSTQs could be electron-transporting semiconductors. Organic field-effect transistors based on solution-sheared DSTQ-14 exhibit the highest electron mobility of 0.77 cm2 V–1 s–1 with good ambient stability, which is the highest value reported to date for such a solution process terthiophene-based small molecular semiconductor. These results demonstrate that the device performance of solution-sheared DSTQs can be improved by side chain engineering.

Fine tuning of blend morphology is a key factor that limits the performance of the bulk‐heterojunction organic photovoltaics (BHJ‐OPVs). Herein, the morphological control of the binary (PM6:Y7) and ternary (PM6:Y7:PC70BM) blends is conducted through 1‐chloronaphthalene (CN) solvent additive and thermal annealing (TA) treatment with respect to their influence on the photovoltaic performance. Moreover, a distinct study is accomplished on the optical and electronic properties of the treated and nontreated binary and ternary devices by external quantum efficiency measurements and impedance spectroscopy. The results indicate that these treatments affect the performance of the binary and ternary OPVs differently. Regarding the 2% CN addition, the current density of the binary devices is improved by ≈27%, whereas the fill factor of the ternary devices shows a pronounced increment of ≈22%. A contradictory behavior is exhibited by TA for the binary and ternary OPVs. The PCEs for binary devices (with/without CN) and 2% CN‐treated ternary ones are improved, while diminishing the PCEs of the ternary ones with 0% CN. Accordingly, the highest efficiencies of the binary and ternary OPVs are obtained due to the dual effect of 2% CN solvent additive along with the TA treatments.

Fluorinated zinc and copper metallophthalocyanines MPcF 48 are synthesized and incorporated as third component small molecules in ternary organic solar cells (TOSCs). To enable the high performance of TOSCs, maximizing short-circuit current density (J SC ) is crucial. Ternary bulk heterojunction blends, consisting of a polymer donor PTB7-Th, fullerene acceptors PC 70 BM, and a third component MPcF 48 , are formulated to fabricate TOSCs with a device architecture of ITO/PFN/active layer/V 2 O 5 /Ag. Employing copper as metal atom substitution in the third component of TOSCs enhances J SC as a result of complementary absorption spectra in the near-infrared region. In combination with J SC enhancement, suppressed charge recombination, improved exciton dissociation and charge carrier collection efficiency, and better morphology lead to a slightly improved fill factor (FF), resulting in a 7% enhancement of PCE than those of binary OSCs. In addition to the increased PCE, the photostability of TOSCs has also been improved by the appropriate addition of CuPcF 48 . Detailed studies imply that metal atom substitution in phthalocyanines is an effective way to improve J SC , FF, and thus the performance and photostability of TOSCs.

Combined impedance spectroscopy and photovoltage/photocurrent transient techniques with dark J–V modelling was employed to study the shelf ISOS-D1 stability of organic solar cells.