Realizing an Unprecedented Fill Factor of 82.2% in Ternary Organic Solar Cells via Co-Crystallization of Non-Fullerene Acceptors

Ternary strategy is demonstrated as an efficient approach to achieve high short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage to boost the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs), however, the realization of high fill-factor (FF) in ternary OSCs has been rare. In this study, three thiophene terminated non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) with methyl or chlorine substitutions on their end-groups are designed and synthesized, and further incorporated into the state-of-the-art PM6:L8-BO system to construct ternary OSCs. Subtle changes in their chemical structures significantly modify the molecular packings of these thiophene terminated NFAs. While BTP-ThMe and BTP-ThCl have limited forms of dimer, versatile molecular dimers, including Z shaped D-D, S shaped A-A, and F shaped A-D packings exist in BTP-ThMeCl, which lead to the formation of compact 3D honey-comb network and this is analogous to the host acceptor L8-BO. This synergetic molecular packing between BTP-ThMeCl and L8-BO contributes to maintain the 3D charge transport network in the ternary system via the formation of NFA co-crystals at the molecular level, and consequently realizing a maximum power conversion efficiency of 19.1% with a superior FF of 82.2%, which is the highest FF reported so far for OSCs.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the successful construction of ternary organic solar cells (OSCs) with high fill-factor (FF) by incorporating three thiophene terminated non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) into the state-of-the-art PM6:L8-BO system. The formation of a compact 3D honey-comb network between one of the NFAs and L8-BO contributes to the high FF and maximum power conversion efficiency of 19.1%.