Asymmetric Alkyl Chain Engineering of Non-fullerene Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Chun-Yu Qiao; Qian Xie; Jie Fang; Dong-Dong Xia; Yue-Feng Zhang; Jia-Li Wang; Sheng-Yong You; Lang Jiang; Bin Huang; Wei-Wei Li; Chao-Wei Zhao; Yu Xie

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3342-6

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Asymmetric Alkyl Chain Engineering of Non-fullerene Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-07-14

- Asymmetric Alkyl Chain Engineering of Non-fullerene Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 43, Issue 6, Pages: 994-1000(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.College of Environment and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China
  b.Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Environment and Energy Catalysis, Institute of Applied Chemistry, Jiangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanchang 330096, China
  c.Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  d.Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Materials Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China
  e.Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
- Author bio：
  
  xieqian@jxas.ac.cn (Q.X.)
  ljiang@iccas.ac.cn (L.J.)
  cwzhao114@163.com (C.W.Z.)
  xieyu_121@163.com (Y.X.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3342-6
  CLC：
- Received：09 January 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-03-18，
  
  Accepted：18 March 2025，
  
  Online First：08 May 2025，
  
  Published：20 May 2025
- Accepted：
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Qiao, C. Y.; Xie, Q.; Fang, J.; Xia, D. D.; Zhang, Y. F.; Wang, J. L.; You, S. Y.; Jiang, L.; Huang, B.; Li, W. W.; Zhao, C. W.; Xie, Y. Asymmetric alkyl chain engineering of non-fullerene acceptors for efficient organic solar cells. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 994–1000

Chun-Yu Qiao, Qian Xie, Jie Fang, et al. Asymmetric Alkyl Chain Engineering of Non-fullerene Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(6): 994-1000.
Qiao, C. Y.; Xie, Q.; Fang, J.; Xia, D. D.; Zhang, Y. F.; Wang, J. L.; You, S. Y.; Jiang, L.; Huang, B.; Li, W. W.; Zhao, C. W.; Xie, Y. Asymmetric alkyl chain engineering of non-fullerene acceptors for efficient organic solar cells. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 994–1000 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3342-6.

Chun-Yu Qiao, Qian Xie, Jie Fang, et al. Asymmetric Alkyl Chain Engineering of Non-fullerene Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(6): 994-1000. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3342-6.

摘要

In this study

two asymmetric non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs)

Y-CN-2F and Y-CN-2Cl

were designed and synthesized by replacing one of the two branched alkyl chains in normal Y-type NFAs with a linear alkyl chain terminated with a mesogenic unit

4-cyanobiphneyl

and their physical properties and optoelectronic characteristics were investigated.

Abstract

The asymmetric molecular design strategy

with advantages in modulating the molecular dipole moment and intermolecular interactions and achieving more favorable molecular packing and orientation

has been an effective approach for designing high-performance non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). Herein

two asymmetric NFAs

Y-CN-2F and Y-CN-2Cl

were designed and synthesized by introducing a linear alkyl chain terminated with the 4-cyanobiphenyl group

a well-known mesogenic unit

at one of the inner pyrrole positions instead of the normal 2-butyloctyl branched alkyl chain. The difference between Y-CN-2F and Y-CN-2Cl is the terminated IC-groups

which was modified with F and Cl halogens

respectively. Both NFAs displayed strong absorption in the near-infrared to visible-light range

which is complementary to that of typical medium-bandgap donor polymers. After optimization with D18 donor in organic solar cells (OSCs)

Y-CN-2F and Y-CN-2Cl provided comparable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 15.33% and 15.88%. While the D18:Y-CN-2F based devices displayed higher fill factors (FFs)

those based on D18:Y-CN-2Cl exhibited higher current densities and open-circuit voltages. The Y-CN-2Cl film showed longer light absorption than Y-CN-2F

which is beneficial for more light harvesting. Moreover

D18:Y-CN-2Cl displayed a lower fluorescence lifetime and faster carrier transfer processes

which could be attributed to its higher mobility. For the D18:Y-CN-2F blended film

a more pronounced fiber network structure and balanced carrier mobility were observed

which contributed to the higher FFs values. This work presents new efforts to develop more asymmetric NFAs with specific functional segments for efficient organic electronics.

关键词

Keywords

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