Improving photovoltaic parameters of all-polymer solar cells through integrating two polymeric donors

The incorporation of an additional component into the bulk-heterojunction light-harvesting layer of polymer solar cells has been considered as an effective strategy to enhance photovoltaic performance. Here we demonstrated that the photovoltaic parameters of all-polymer solar cells could be enhanced upon replacing a certain ratio of electron-donating polymer PTzBI-oF with a widely used wide-bandgap polymer donor PM6. The photoluminescent characterizations confirmed the Forster resonance energy transfer from incorporated PM6 to PTzBI-oF. Moreover, the combination of Fourier-transform photocurrent spectroscopy and electroluminescence external quantum efficiencies measurements demonstrated reduced non-radiative recombination energy loss upon the incorporation of PM6, resulting in a slightly enhanced open-circuit voltage of 0.88 V of the ternary cell regarding the binary PTzBI-oF:PFA1 device. The optimized ternary blend devices comprising of PTzBI-oF:PM6:PFA1 presented an impressively high power conversion efficiency of 16.3%, and the efficiency remains 15% on a device with an enlarged effective area of 1 cm(2), demonstrating the great potential of these all-PSCs for potential applications.

Automated summary

The incorporation of the wide-bandgap polymer donor PM6 into all-polymer solar cells has been shown to enhance photovoltaic parameters and reduce non-radiative recombination energy loss, leading to improved device efficiency. The optimized ternary blend devices exhibit impressively high power conversion efficiency, indicating the great potential of these all-polymer solar cells for potential applications.