Review on smart strategies for achieving highly efficient ternary polymer solar cells

Abstract

Ternary polymer solar cells (PSCs) have been widely demonstrated as an effective method to improve device performance. Meanwhile, the simple fabrication technology can be well kept with a single bulk heterojunction active layer, which is beneficial to the potential industrialization of PSCs. The photovoltaic parameters, such as short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor, of ternary PSCs can be simultaneously improved by appropriately incorporating the third component, resulting in the increased power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared with the corresponding binary PSCs. To date, the PCE of ternary PSCs has exceeded 17% with the development of effective donors and non-fullerene acceptors. The fundamental designing rules of ternary PSCs are summarized to give some available guidelines for material selection. Next, the recent progress of efficient ternary PSCs based on various types is investigated. Then, some methods are introduced to investigate the working mechanisms of ternary PSCs. At length, the perspective toward the future development of ternary PSCs is discussed.

Wide Bandgap Perylene Diimide Derivatives as an Effective Third Component for Parallel Connected Ternary Blend Polymer Solar Cells

“…The three materials in the ternary blend unprecedentedly separately covered the solar spectrum from the wide bandgap to ultranarrow bandgap range with a high extinction coefficient. 13 C NMR spectra of the materials and intermediates presented in this work were obtained using a Bruker Avance-400 spectrometer with dchloroform as the solvent against an internal tetramethylsilane (TMS) standard. UV−vis absorption and PL spectra were recorded using a Shimadzu UV-2700 spectrophotometer and Horiba Fluorolog-3 fluorescence spectrophotometer, respectively.…”

“…21 This is because of the high optoelectronic properties of the NF-SMAs and the numerous molecular engineering tactics available. 13,22,23 Working mechanisms adopted for ternary blend PSCs were also summarized in Scheme 1a. For example, adopting two molecularly similar NF-SMAs is expected to form an acceptor alloy.…”

Current Status of Emerging PV Technologies: A Comparative Study of Dye-Sensitized, Organic, and Perovskite Solar Cells

“…Good energy level alignment between the components of the ternary cells leads to increased charge transport and collection and thus improved device efficiency. Currently, research efforts are focused primarily on the synthesis and optimization of new donor and acceptor materials with synergetic properties that are suitable for ternary OPVs, in terms of their absorption, energy levels, and compatibility [117]. Ternary OPVs are ideally applicable in NFA cells, achieving efficiencies in excess of 14% [118].…”

New wide-bandgap D–A polymer based on pyrrolo[3,4-b] dithieno[2,3-f:3′,2′-h]quinoxalindione and thiazole functionalized benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene units for high-performance ternary organic solar cells with over 16% efficiency

“…49 The concept of a ternary active layer consisting of either two donors and one acceptor or one donor and two acceptors has been demonstrated to be an effective approach to improve the PCE of PSCs, retaining the simplicity of the fabrication process in PSCs. [50][51][52][53] In fact, the concept of the ternary approach plays an important role in boosting the PCE of PSCs and small molecular solar cells, whether in bulk heterojunction or planar heterojunction devices by optimizing the phase separation and photon harvesting efficiency of active layers, as well as reducing energy loss and improving the stability of the devices. 54,55 Recently, the PCE of the ternary PSCs has been attained in the range of 18-19%.…”