Aromatic‐Diimide‐Based n‐Type Conjugated Polymers for All‐Polymer Solar Cell Applications

Abstract

All‐polymer solar cells (all‐PSCs) have attracted immense attention in recent years due to their advantages of tunable absorption spectra and electronic energy levels for both donor and acceptor polymers, as well as their superior thermal and mechanical stability. The exploration of the novel n‐type conjugated polymers (CPs), especially based on aromatic diimide (ADI), plays a vital role in the further improvement of power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all‐PSCs. Here, recent progress in structure modification of ADIs including naphthalene diimide (NDI), perylene diimide (PDI), and corresponding derivatives is reviewed, and the structure–property relationships of ADI‐based CPs are revealed.

Triimide‐Functionalized n‐Type Polymer Semiconductors Enabling All‐Polymer Solar Cells with Power Conversion Efficiencies Approaching 9%

“…Among various n‐type organic semiconductors, imide‐functionalized polymers show superior performance in various organic electronic devices, exemplified by the state‐of‐the‐art naphthalene diimide (NDI)‐ alt ‐bithiophene copolymer, a.k.a. N2200 .…”

“…[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Despite the distinctive advantages including superior mechanical flexibility and improved device stability, [18][19][20][21][22] all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs), which contain polymers as both donor (p-type) and acceptor (n-type) materials, show lower PCEs than other type OSCs, due to the scarcity of high-performance n-type acceptor polymers, limiting the optimization of materials optoelectronic property and blend film morphology. [11,[23][24][25][26] Therefore, it is in urgent needs to develop high-performance acceptor polymers to improve all-PSC performance and leverage their advantages. [11,18,23] Among various n-type organic semiconductors, imidefunctionalized polymers show superior performance in various organic electronic devices, [24][25][26][27][28] exemplified by the state-of-the-art naphthalene diimide (NDI)-alt-bithiophene copolymer, a.k.a.…”

“…[11,[23][24][25][26] Therefore, it is in urgent needs to develop high-performance acceptor polymers to improve all-PSC performance and leverage their advantages. [11,18,23] Among various n-type organic semiconductors, imidefunctionalized polymers show superior performance in various organic electronic devices, [24][25][26][27][28] exemplified by the state-of-the-art naphthalene diimide (NDI)-alt-bithiophene copolymer, a.k.a. N2200.…”

Challenges to the Stability of Active Layer Materials in Organic Solar Cells

“…Polymer‐based acceptor materials also attracted tremendous attention due to the advantages of their superior morphology and mechanical stability . The efficiency of all polymer solar cells (all‐PSCs) has increased from 1% to over 11% nowadays .…”

“…Polymer-based acceptor materials also attracted tremendous attention due to the advantages of their superior morphology and mechanical stability. [93][94][95] The efficiency of all polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) has increased from 1% to over 11% nowadays. [96][97][98][99][100] Moreover, all-PSCs possess some unique characteristics like superior thermal stability, mechanical stability, and photostability compared to the devices employing fullerene and small-molecule acceptor materials.…”