Asymmetric molecular engineering in recent nonfullerene acceptors for efficient organic solar cells

Nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs), which usually possess symmetric skeletons, have drawn great attention in recent years due to their pronounced advantages over the fullerene counterparts. Moreover, breaking the symmetry of NFAs could fine tune the molecular dipole, solubility, energy level, intermolecular interac-tion, molecular packing, crystallinity, etc., and give rise to improved photovoltaic performance. Currently, there are three main strategies for the design of asymmetric NFAs. This review highlights the recent advances of high-performance asymmetric NFAs and briefly outlooks the materials exploration for the future. & COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Automated summary

Nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) with symmetric skeletons have gained great attention recently. Breaking the symmetry of NFAs can adjust many properties and improve photovoltaic performance. This review summarizes the recent advances in high-performance asymmetric NFAs and provides an outlook on future materials exploration.