Zhu Jinge, Zeng Rui, Zhou Erjun, Li Chao, Deng Jiawei, Du Mengzhen, Guo Qing, Ji Mengwei, Wang Zongtao, Lin Yi, Han Fei, Zhuang Jiaxin, Tan Senke, Kan Lixuan, Zhu Lei, Zhang Ming, Liu Feng
College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314001, China.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Key Lab of Electrical Insulation & Thermal Aging, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2025 Jul 16;147(28):24491-24501. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c04656. Epub 2025 Jun 30.
All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have shown good potential for achieving balanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) and operational stability. However, precise control of the morphology remains challenging. Here, we constructed a bulk p-i-n structure with a regulated i-region by incorporating a shamrock-shaped nonfullerene acceptor, AQI4. This ternary formulation resulted in optimized energy-level stairing, enhanced exciton dissociation, and reduced energy loss. In blended thin film fabrication, a binary solvent of chlorobenzene (CB):o-xylene (OXY) was used, which enhanced the crystallization of the polymers and formed a high-density fibril network. The i-region width was reduced to less than 2 nm. This structural refinement enabled efficient charge transport through tie-chains between polymer crystallizations, thereby suppressing charge recombination. As a result, the organic solar cell (OSC) devices achieved a PCE of 20.1% (certified as 19.5%) and retained good stability. The lifetime of over 1800 h in the OSC structure was recorded. Notably, the binary solvent CB:OXY also contributed to a feasible printing fabrication; the 18.4 cm OSC mini-modules achieved a PCE of 16.5%. Our results suggest that the shape of the guest molecule may be a key point to modulate the bulk p-i-n structure and improve the performance of all-PSCs.