PTB7-Th is considered one of the most classic donor
polymers for organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. However, the power
conversion efficiency (PCE) of PTB7-Th-based OPV is lagging
behind that of other promising polymers mainly because of the relatively
low open-circuit voltage (V
OC). To increase
the V
OC and PCE of PTB7-Th-based OPV, the development of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) and
studies of structure–property–performance relationship
are vital. Here, three A2-A1-D-A1-A2-type acceptors, namely BTA45, F-BTA45, and F-BTA5, were developed by fluorination on the
benzotriazole (BTA) unit and regulating alkoxy or alkyl phenyl side
chains. Compared with BTA45, light absorption and π–π
packing can be simultaneously improved for the two fluorinated BTA
acceptors, resulting in an increased J
SC and FF. Moreover, the F-BTA5-based blend film exhibits
better phase separation morphology and electron transport than those
of BTA45 and F-BTA45, which contribute to
a device efficiency of 10.36% with a V
OC of 1.03 V. In addition, the ΔE
2 values of the three blends are less than 0.15 eV, together with
their moderate ΔE
3, efficiently
decreasing their energy loss. These results highlight the importance
of fluorination and side chain engineering for NFAs to boost the V
OC and PCE for low-band gap photovoltaic polymers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.