Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/29067
Title: Diffusion-Limited Crystallization: A Rationale for the Thermal Stability of Non-Fullerene Solar Cells
Authors: Yu, Liyang
Qian, Deping
Marina, Sara
Nugroho, Ferry A. A.
Sharma, Anirudh
Hultmark, Sandra
Hofmann, Anna I.
Kroon, Renee
Benduhn, Johannes
Smilgies, Detlef-M.
VANDEWAL, Koen 
Andersson, Mats R.
Langhammer, Christoph
Martin, Jaime
Gao, Feng
Mueller, Christian
Issue Date: 2019
Publisher: AMER CHEMICAL SOC
Source: ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 11(24), p. 21766-21774
Abstract: Organic solar cells are thought to suffer from poor thermal stability of the active layer nanostructure, a common belief that is based on the extensive work that has been carried out on fullerene-based systems. We show that a widely studied non-fullerene acceptor, the indacenodithienothiophene-based acceptor ITIC, crystallizes in a profoundly different way as compared to fullerenes. Although fullerenes are frozen below the glass-transition temperature T-g of the photovoltaic blend, ITIC can undergo a glass-crystal transition considerably below its high T-g of similar to 180 degrees C. Nanoscopic crystallites of a low-temperature polymorph are able to form through a diffusion-limited crystallization process. The resulting fine-grained nanostructure does not evolve further with time and hence is characterized by a high degree of thermal stability. Instead, above T-g, the low temperature polymorph melts, and micrometer-sized crystals of a high-temperature polymorph develop, enabled by more rapid diffusion and hence long-range mass transport. This leads to the same detrimental decrease in photovoltaic performance that is known to occur also in the case of fullerene-based blends. Besides explaining the superior thermal stability of non-fullerene blends at relatively high temperatures, our work introduces a new rationale for the design of bulk heterojunctions that is not based on the selection of high-T-g materials per se but diffusion-limited crystallization. The planar structure of ITIC and potentially other non-fullerene acceptors readily facilitates the desired glass-crystal transition, which constitutes a significant advantage over fullerenes, and may pave the way for truly stable organic solar cells.
Notes: [Yu, Liyang] Sichuan Univ, Coll Chem, Chengdu 610064, Sichuan, Peoples R China. [Yu, Liyang; Hultmark, Sandra; Hofmann, Anna I.; Kroon, Renee; Mueller, Christian] Chalmers Univ Technol, Dept Chem & Chem Engn, S-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden. [Nugroho, Ferry A. A.; Langhammer, Christoph] Chalmers Univ Technol, Dept Phys, S-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden. [Qian, Deping; Gao, Feng] Linkoping Univ, Dept Phys Chem & Biol IFM, SE-58183 Linkoping, Sweden. [Marina, Sara; Martin, Jaime] Univ Basque Country, UPV EHU, POLYMAT, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 3, Donostia San Sebastian 20018, Spain. [Marina, Sara; Martin, Jaime] Univ Basque Country, UPV EHU, Polymer Sci & Technol Dept, Fac Chem, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 3, Donostia San Sebastian 20018, Spain. [Sharma, Anirudh; Andersson, Mats R.] Flinders Univ S Australia, Flinders Inst Nanoscale Sci & Technol, Sturt Rd, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia. [Sharma, Anirudh] Univ Bordeaux, LCPO, UMR 5629, B8 Allee Geoffroy St Hilaire, F-33615 Pessac, France. [Benduhn, Johannes] Tech Univ Dresden, Dresden Integrated Ctr Appl Phys & Photon Mat IAP, Nothnitzer Str 61, D-01187 Dresden, Germany. [Benduhn, Johannes] Tech Univ Dresden, Inst Appl Phys, Nothnitzer Str 61, D-01187 Dresden, Germany. [Smilgies, Detlef-M.] CHESS, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA. [Vandewal, Koen] Hasselt Univ, Inst Mat Res IMO IMOMEC, Wetenschapspk 1, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. [Martin, Jaime] Ikerbasque, Basque Fdn Sci, E-48011 Bilbao, Spain.
Keywords: organic solar cell; thermally stable photovoltaics; glass-transition temperature; diffusion-limited crystallization; non-fullerene acceptor;organic solar cell; thermally stable photovoltaics; glass-transition temperature; diffusion-limited crystallization; non-fullerene acceptor
Document URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/29067
ISSN: 1944-8244
e-ISSN: 1944-8252
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b04554
ISI #: 000472683300055
Rights: This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes. 2019 American Chemical Society
Category: A1
Type: Journal Contribution
Validations: ecoom 2020
Appears in Collections:Research publications

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