Building Supramolecular Chirality in Organic Solar Cells Enables High-Performing Circularly Polarized Light Detection

Abstract High-performing direct circularly polarized light (CPL) detectors are urgently needed for the development of chiral optoelectronics. We herein report the direct CPL detectors based on chiral organic small-molecule donor–fullerene acceptor bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs). By building supramolecular chirality in active layer of OSCs, the chiral OSC demonstrates its highest short-circuit current dissymmetry factor of 0.17 among state-of-the-art direct CPL detectors possessing intrinsic chirality. It demonstrates a significant difference in responsivity of 40 mA W− 1 upon opposite CPL illumination, four times higher than that of the best reported chiral perovskite CPL detectors to date. The association between the device metrics crucially relating to CPL detection and the anisotropic factor (g-factor) of the active layers revealed that supramolecular chirality is vital to the CPL detectability of OSCs. Given unique but ubiquitous observed supramolecular chirality induction and transfer in organic conjugated systems, highly sensitive CPL detectors based on chiral OSCs show great potential for promoting the development of practical direct CPL detection.

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Determining the exciton diffusion length of copper phthalocyanine in operating planar-heterojunction organic solar cells

The European Physical Journal Applied Physics ◽

10.1051/epjap/2020190322 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 89 (3) ◽

pp. 30201 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Xi Guan ◽

Shiyu Wang ◽

Wenxing Liu ◽

Dashan Qin ◽

Dayan Ban

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Diffusion Length ◽

Copper Phthalocyanine ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Thick Layer ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Exciton Diffusion ◽

Exciton Diffusion Length

Organic solar cells based on planar copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/C60 heterojunction have been characterized, in which a 2 nm-thick layer of bathocuproine (BCP) is inserted into the CuPc layer. The thin layer of BCP allows hole current to tunnel it through but blocks the exciton diffusion, thereby altering the steady-state exciton profile in the CuPc zone (zone 1) sandwiched between BCP and C60. The short-circuit current density (JSC) of device is limited by the hole-exciton scattering effect at the BCP/CuPc (zone 1) interface. Based on the variation of JSC with the width of zone 1, the exciton diffusion length of CuPc is deduced to be 12.5–15 nm. The current research provides an easy and helpful method to determine the exciton diffusion lengths of organic electron donors.

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SCAPS Simulation on P3HT:Graphene Nanocomposites Based Bulk-Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells

International Journal of Electrical & Electronic Systems Research (IEESR) ◽

10.24191/ieesr.v9i1.950 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 28

Author(s):

Nur Shakina Mohd Shariff ◽

Puteri Sarah Mohamad Saad ◽

Mohamad Rusop Mahmood

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Fill Factor ◽

Bulk Heterojunction ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Simulation Software ◽

Capacitance Voltage

There has been an increasing interest towards organic solar cells after the discovery of conjugated polymer and bulk-heterojunction concept. Eventhough organic solar cells are less expensive than inorganic solar cells but the power conversion energy is still considered low. The main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of the P3HT’s thickness and concentration towards the efficiency of the P3HT:Graphene solar cells. A simulation software that is specialize for photovoltaic called SCAPS is used in this research to simulate the effect on the solar cells. The solar cell’s structure will be drawn inside the simulation and the parameters for each layers is inserted. The result such as the open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current density (Jsc), fill factor (FF), efficiency (η), capacitance-voltage (C-V) and capacitance-frequency (C-f) characteristic will be calculated by the software and all the results will be put into one graph.

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An asymmetric small molecule acceptor for organic solar cells with a short circuit current density over 24 mA cm−2

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/d0ta01636e ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (31) ◽

pp. 15984-15991 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Fangfang Cai ◽

Hongjian Peng ◽

Honggang Chen ◽

Jun Yuan ◽

Jiefeng Hai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Small Molecule ◽

Current Density ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density

Acceptor Y22 with an asymmetric hexacyclic A–DA′D–A structure achieved a high PCE of 15.4% and a high Jsc of 24.37 mA cm−2, which are among the best values reported for asymmetric acceptor based binary organic solar cells.

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Tail state limited photocurrent collection of thick photoactive layers in organic solar cells

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-019-12951-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Jiaying Wu ◽

Joel Luke ◽

Harrison Ka Hin Lee ◽

Pabitra Shakya Tuladhar ◽

Hyojung Cha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Kelvin Probe ◽

Doping Density ◽

Efficient Operation ◽

Tail State ◽

Active Layers ◽

Efficient Charge

AbstractWe analyse organic solar cells with four different photoactive blends exhibiting differing dependencies of short-circuit current upon photoactive layer thickness. These blends and devices are analysed by transient optoelectronic techniques of carrier kinetics and densities, air photoemission spectroscopy of material energetics, Kelvin probe measurements of work function, Mott-Schottky analyses of apparent doping density and by device modelling. We conclude that, for the device series studied, the photocurrent loss with thick active layers is primarily associated with the accumulation of photo-generated charge carriers in intra-bandgap tail states. This charge accumulation screens the device internal electrical field, preventing efficient charge collection. Purification of one studied donor polymer is observed to reduce tail state distribution and density and increase the maximal photoactive thickness for efficient operation. Our work suggests that selecting organic photoactive layers with a narrow distribution of tail states is a key requirement for the fabrication of efficient, high photocurrent, thick organic solar cells.

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With PBDB-T as the Donor, the PCE of Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells Based on Small Molecule INTIC Increased by 52.4%

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma13061324 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 1324 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Weifang Zhang ◽

Zicha Li ◽

Suling Zhao ◽

Zheng Xu ◽

Bo Qiao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Small Molecule ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

High Performance ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Production Costs ◽

Higher Carrier Mobility ◽

Carrier Transportation

At present, most high-performance non-fullerene materials are centered on fused rings. With the increase in the number of fused rings, production costs and production difficulties increase. Compared with other non-fullerenes, small molecule INTIC has the advantages of easy synthesis and strong and wide infrared absorption. According to our previous report, the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of an organic solar cell using PTB7-Th:INTIC as the active layer was 7.27%. In this work, other polymers, PTB7, PBDB-T and PBDB-T-2F, as the donor materials, with INTIC as the acceptor, are selected to fabricate cells with the same structure to optimize their photovoltaic performance. The experimental results show that the optimal PCE of PBDB-T:INTIC based organic solar cells is 11.08%, which, thanks to the open voltage (VOC) increases from 0.80 V to 0.84 V, the short circuit current (JSC) increases from 15.32 mA/cm2 to 19.42 mA/cm2 and the fill factor (FF) increases from 60.08% to 67.89%, then a 52.4% improvement in PCE is the result, compared with the devices based on PTB7-Th:INTIC. This is because the PBDB-T:INTIC system has better carrier dissociation and extraction, carrier transportation and higher carrier mobility.

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Benzothiadiazole Based Cascade Material to Boost the Performance of Inverted Ternary Organic Solar Cells

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13020450 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 450 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Miron Krassas ◽

Christos Polyzoidis ◽

Pavlos Tzourmpakis ◽

Dimitriοs M. Kosmidis ◽

George Viskadouros ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Fused Ring ◽

Electron Cascade ◽

First Time

A conjugated, ladder-type multi-fused ring 4,7-dithienbenzothiadiazole:thiophene derivative, named as compound ‘T’, was for the first time incorporated, within the PTB7:PC71BM photoactive layer for inverted ternary organic solar cells (TOSCs) realization. The effective energy level offset caused by compound T between the polymeric donor and fullerene acceptor materials, as well as its resulting potential as electron cascade material contribute to an enhanced exciton dissociation, electron transfer facilitator and thus improved overall photovoltaic performance. The engineering optimization of the inverted TOSC, ITO/PFN/PTB7:Compound T(5% v/v):PC71BM/MoO3/Al, resulted in an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.34%, with a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 16.75 mA cm−2, open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.74 V and a fill factor (FF) of 68.1%, under AM1.5G illumination. This photovoltaic performance was improved by approximately 12% with respect to the control binary device.

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Short circuit current improvement in planar heterojunction organic solar cells by multijunction charge transfer

Applied Physics Letters ◽

10.1063/1.3680253 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 100 (5) ◽

pp. 053301 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

J. C. Wang ◽

S. Q. Shi ◽

C. W. Leung ◽

S. P. Lau ◽

K. Y. Wong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Charge Transfer ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Planar Heterojunction

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Numerical study on the short-circuit current in single layer organic solar cells with Schottkey contacts

Optoelectronics Letters ◽

10.1007/s11801-010-9204-6 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 103-107

Author(s):

Chao-zhu Ma ◽

Wei-min Meng ◽

Ying-quan Peng ◽

Run-sheng Wang ◽

Rong-hua Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Numerical Study ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Single Layer ◽

Short Circuit Current

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RELIABILITY STUDIES OF P3HT: PCBM ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS FABRICATED WITH CALCIUM–ALUMINUM AND LITHIUM FLUORIDE–ALUMINIUM CATHODES

International Journal of Nanoscience ◽

10.1142/s0219581x11008976 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 10 (04n05) ◽

pp. 803-807

Author(s):

T. S. KRISHNAN ◽

S. SUNDAR KUMAR IYER

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Continuous Illumination ◽

Stress Tests ◽

Ambient Conditions ◽

Over Time

This work addresses the shelf life characteristics of P3HT: PCBM blend based organic solar cells (OSC) fabricated with Ca–Al and LiF–Al cathodes. Some of these devices are encapsulated in nitrogen ambient and some in room ambient. Device electrical characteristics are studied under both dark and light. In the analysis under dark ambient conditions, the degradation in peak dark current is monitored over time (in days) and an empirical model is postulated for the degradation based on statistical curve fitting techniques. In the analysis under light, degradation of parameters such as fill factor (FF), open circuit voltage (V oc ) and short circuit current density (J sc ) is monitored over time in these devices (for different cathodes and different ambients) and the results are analyzed and compared. Also, accelerated stress tests are conducted wherein the devices are subjected to continuous illumination for a period of 1.5 h under two different intensities (0.76 sun and 1 sun) and again, the results are analyzed and compared. A model is fitted to the observed degradation in normalized J sc and the degradation constants (k deg ) are obtained. It is seen that the devices fabricated with cathode as LiF–Al and being encapsulated in nitrogen ambient provide the best performance over time.

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HYBRID ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS BLENDED WITH CNTs

Surface Review and Letters ◽

10.1142/s0218625x15500729 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 22 (06) ◽

pp. 1550072

Author(s):

SUDIP ADHIKARI ◽

HIDEO UCHIDA ◽

MASAYOSHI UMENO

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Device ◽

Device Fabrication ◽

Walled Cnts

In this paper, composite carbon nanotubes (C-CNTs); single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) and multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) are synthesized using an ultrasonic nebulizer in a large quartz tube for photovoltaic device fabrication in poly-3-octyl-thiophene (P3OT)/ n - Si heterojunction solar cells. We found that the device fabricated with C-CNTs shows much better photovoltaic performance than that of a device without C-CNTs. The device with C-CNTs shows open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.454 V, a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 12.792 mA/cm2, fill factor (FF) of 0.361 and power conversion efficiency of 2.098 %. Here, we proposed that SWCNTs and MWCNTs provide efficient percolation paths for both electron and hole transportation to opposite electrodes and leading to the suppression of charge carrier recombination, thereby increasing the photovoltaic device performance.

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