Achieving over 10 % Efficiency in Poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based Organic Solar Cells via Solid Additives

The photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells (OSCs) based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) has been steadily improved by developing novel non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) in recent years. Herein, to further improve the performance of P3HT-based OSCs, a solid additive (SA4) and a typical solvent additive [1,8-diiodooctane (DIO)] were employed to process P3HT:ZY-4Cl-based OSCs, respectively. In comparison with the DIO-processed device, the SA4-processed one exhibited a more ordered molecular packing and more favorable phase separation, leading to enhanced charge transport and reduced carrier recombination. As a result, the SA4-processed device delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.24 %, which was much higher than that of the DIO-processed counterpart (6.26 %). This work reported a PCE over 10 % in P3HT-based OSCs for the first time, indicating the promising development of P3HT-based OSCs by morphological modulation.

Automated summary

This study aimed to improve the performance of P3HT-based organic solar cells by using solid and solvent additives. The solid additive (SA4) resulted in a more ordered molecular packing and phase separation, leading to a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 10% for the first time in P3HT-based OSCs.