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Stable Organic Solar Cells Enabled by Interlayer Engineering
  • +12
  • Wisnu Hadmojo,
  • Furkan Isikgor,
  • Yuanbao Lin,
  • Zhaoheng Ling,
  • Qiao He,
  • Hendrik Faber,
  • Emre Yengel,
  • Roshan Ali,
  • Abdus Samad,
  • Ryanda Enggar Anugrah Ardhi,
  • Sang Jeong,
  • Han Young Woo,
  • Udo Schwingenschlögl,
  • Martin Heeney,
  • Thomas Anthopoulos
Wisnu Hadmojo
KAUST
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Furkan Isikgor
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Yuanbao Lin
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Zhaoheng Ling
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Qiao He
Imperial College London
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Hendrik Faber
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Emre Yengel
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Roshan Ali
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Abdus Samad
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Ryanda Enggar Anugrah Ardhi
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Sang Jeong
Korea University
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Han Young Woo
Korea University
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Udo Schwingenschlögl
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Martin Heeney
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST Solar Research Center
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Thomas Anthopoulos
KAUST

Corresponding Author:thomas.anthopoulos@kaust.edu.sa

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Abstract

The development of high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs) with high operational stability is essential to accelerate their commercialization. Unfortunately, there is currently a lack of detailed understanding of the origin of instabilities in state-of-the-art OSCs based on bulk heterojunction (BHJ) featuring non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). Herein, we developed NFA-based OSCs using different charge extraction interlayer materials and studied their storage, thermal, and operational stabilities. Despite the high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the OSCs (17.54%), we found that cells featuring self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as hole-extraction interlayers exhibited poor stability. The time required for these OSCs to reach 80% of their initial performance (T80) was only 6 h under continuous thermal stress at 85 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere and 1 h under maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in a vacuum. Inserting MoOx between ITO and SAM enhanced the T80 to 50 h and ~15 h after the thermal and operational stability tests, respectively, while maintaining a PCE of 16.9%. Replacing the organic PDINN electron transport layer with ZnO NPs further enhances the cells’ thermal and operational stability, boosting the T80 to 1000 and 170 h, respectively. Our work reveals the synergistic role of charge interlayers and device architecture in developing efficient and stable OSCs.
30 Aug 2023Submitted to Energy & Environmental Materials
11 Sep 2023Submission Checks Completed
11 Sep 2023Assigned to Editor
12 Sep 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
18 Sep 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
15 Oct 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Major
16 Nov 20231st Revision Received
17 Nov 2023Submission Checks Completed
17 Nov 2023Assigned to Editor
17 Nov 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
17 Nov 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned