Organic Photovoltaic Materials—Design, Synthesis and Scale‐Up

Abstract

This account describes the work of our group in the area of organic photovoltaics in the past six years. The emphasis is on our experiences in the development of the organic materials, their characterization, scale-up and application in devices. We share our insight into the relationship between synthetic methods, molecular properties, bulk material properties and device performance.

Inter‐Fullerene Electronic Coupling Controls the Efficiency of Photoinduced Charge Generation in Organic Bulk Heterojunctions

“…The former relies on appropriate choice of donor and acceptor materials that balance minimal reorganization energy with optimally aligned energy levels, while the latter principally relies on high hole and electron mobilities in their respective phases. [2][3][4][5][6] In the case of polymer:fullerene OPVs, the polymer acts as the dominant light absorber and also directs film morphology, which are two crucial tasks for an OPV material. [2][3][4][5][6] In the case of polymer:fullerene OPVs, the polymer acts as the dominant light absorber and also directs film morphology, which are two crucial tasks for an OPV material.…”

“…The former relies on appropriate choice of donor and acceptor materials that balance minimal reorganization energy with optimally aligned energy levels, while the latter principally relies on high hole and electron mobilities in their respective phases . Over the past decade, significant research efforts have been devoted to gaining a better fundamental understanding of the relationship between molecular properties and the photophysics of interfacial and bulk free charge generation and transport in OPV material systems, which has directly led to increases in the performance of these materials by rational design . In the case of polymer:fullerene OPVs, the polymer acts as the dominant light absorber and also directs film morphology, which are two crucial tasks for an OPV material.…”

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energy and (ii) equally efficient collection of those charges. [2][3][4][5][6] In the case of polymer:fullerene OPVs, the polymer acts as the dominant light absorber and also directs film morphology, which are two crucial tasks for an OPV material. [1] Over the past decade, significant research efforts have been devoted to gaining a better fundamental understanding of the relationship between molecular properties and the photophysics of interfacial and bulk free charge generation and transport in OPV material systems, which has directly led to increases in the performance of these materials by rational design.

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Development of a High-Performance Donor–Acceptor Conjugated Polymer: Synergy in Materials and Device Optimization

“…However, that system has limited performance in devices. To quickly develop in-house higher-performance materials, the reported literature was used extensively to guide the design of materials . In particular, benzodithiophene (BDT)-based donor–acceptor-conjugated polymers were proving very popular, with numerous examples showing impressive performance. − Structural variations were made to tune the photophysical properties, such as spectral coverage and absorptivity, as well as solution processability, crystallinity, and charge transport properties.…”

Toward Real Setting Applications of Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells: A Comparative Review

“…Moreover, materials with excellent properties at the laboratory scale or in the fabrication of prototypes can result completely inadequate for large‐scale production of solar cell modules in terms of fabrication cost, efficiency, availability of raw materials, stability, toxicity, and several other aspects. [ 96,97 ] The connection between materials properties and their potential in the development of OSCs and PSCs must carefully be assessed to improve the technologies beyond trial‐and‐error approaches. The development and engineering of novel materials for PVs applications, together with device engineering, are, therefore, considered as the most crucial aspects for the advancement in solar cell technologies.…”