Breakthrough in Organic Solar Cells: Researchers Achieve Record-high Efficiency

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have made a significant breakthrough in organic solar cells, achieving a remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.2%. The team, led by Xiaojun Li, incorporated a new type of medium-bandgap small molecule acceptor (SMA) into ternary organic solar cells, resulting in improved exciton dissociation, balanced charge transport, and suppressed carrier recombination. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize the field of photovoltaic technologies.

Key Takeaways:

• The researchers introduced medium-bandgap SMAs as secondary acceptors into ternary OSCs to improve their PCE.
• A series of SMAs, including Cl24-F, Cl24-H, and Cl24-I, were synthesized using multiple synergistic modification strategies to expand the molecular bandgap.
• Cl24-H was found to have the highest lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy level (ELUMO) and the widest bandgap, resulting in a high open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.01 V.
• The PM6:BTA-E3:Cl24-H based ternary OSCs exhibited increased Voc and short-circuit current density (Jsc), demonstrating the potential of Cl24-H as a third component for boosting OSCs' performance.
• This study underscores the importance of synthesizing efficient medium-bandgap acceptors and demonstrates their feasibility as third components for enhancing the performance of organic solar cells.

Statistics:

• The PCE of the PM6:BTA-E3:Cl24-H based ternary OSCs reached 20.2%.
• The Voc of Cl24-H-based OSCs was 1.01 V.
• The ELUMO of Cl24-H was the highest among the synthesized SMAs.
• The molecular bandgap of Cl24-H was the widest among the synthesized SMAs.