Designing Nonfullerene Acceptors with Oligo(Ethylene Glycol) Side Chains: Unraveling the Origin of Increased Open-Circuit Voltage and Balanced Charge Carrier Mobilities

Despite the recent rapid development of organic solar cells (OSCs), the low dielectric constant (epsilon(r)=3-4) of organic semiconducting materials limits their performance lower than inorganic and perovskite solar cells. In this work, we introduce oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) side chains into the dicyanodistyrylbenzene-based non-fullerene acceptors (NIDCS) to increase its epsilon(r) up to 5.4. In particular, a NIDCS acceptor bearing two triethylene glycol chains (NIDCS-EO3) shows V-OC as high as 1.12 V in an OSC device with a polymer donor PTB7, which is attributed to reduced exciton binding energy of the blend film. Also, the larger size grain formation with well-ordered stacking structure of the NIDCS-EO3 blend film leads to the increased charge mobility and thus to the improved charge mobility balance, resulting in higher J(SC), FF, and PCE in the OSC device compared to those of a device using the hexyl chain-based NIDCS acceptor (NIDCS-HO). Finally, we fabricate NIDCS-EO3 devices with various commercial donors including P3HT, DTS-F, and PCE11 to show higher photovoltaic performance than the NIDCS-HO devices, suggesting versatility of NIDCS-EO3.

Automated summary

This study introduces oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) side chains into non-fullerene acceptors to increase their dielectric constant, resulting in improved photovoltaic performance and higher charge mobility balance. The fabricated NIDCS-EO3 devices exhibit higher efficiency and versatility compared to NIDCS-HO devices, showcasing potential for enhanced organic solar cell technology.