15.6% Efficiency Polythiophene-based All-polymer Solar Cells

Wan-Ting Deng; Xi-Yue Yuan; Lang-Heng Pan; Jiang-Long Li; Chao Li; Dong-Sheng Xie; Kang-Zhe Liu; Yu-Chuan Tian; Jun-Yu Li; Yong Zhang; He Yan; Chun-Hui Duan

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3768-5

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15.6% Efficiency Polythiophene-based All-polymer Solar Cells

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-08-19

- 15.6% Efficiency Polythiophene-based All-polymer Solar Cells
- 15.6% Efficiency Polythiophene-based All-polymer Solar Cells
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 2026年44卷页码：1-8
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Energy & Information Polymer Materials, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
  b.School of Electronic Science and Engineering (School of Microelectronics), South China Normal University, Foshan 528225, China
  c.Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou 311115, China
  d.Department of Chemistry and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China
  e.Sinopec Shanghai Res Inst Petrochem Technol Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201208, China
- Author bio：
  
  duanchunhui@scut.edu.cn
- Funds：
  
  This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China: (No. 22275058) (C.H.D.), (No. 52403225) (X.Y.Y.), National Key Research and Development Program of China: (No. 2024YFB3211500) (C.H.D), Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Plan Project: (No. 2023A0505010003) (C.H.D.), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation: (No. 2026A1515011867) (X.Y.Y.), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation: (No. 2024M750945) (X.Y.Y.), and State Key Lab of Luminescent Materials and Devices: (No. Skllmd-2024-15) (X.Y.Y.).;The authors declare no interest conflict.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) is available free of charge in the online version of this article at http://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3768-5.The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3768-5
  中图分类号： [M
- 收稿：2026-04-17，
  
  录用：2026-06-02，
  
  网络首发：2026-08-18，
  
  纸质出版：2026-07
- Accepted：
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Deng, W. T.; Yuan, X. Y.; Pan, L. H.; Li, J. L.; Li, C.; Xie, D. S.; Liu, K. Z.; Tian, Y. C.; Li, J. Y.; Zhang, Y.; Yan, H.; Duan, C. H. 15.6% Efficiency polythiophene-based all-polymer solar cells. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3768-5

Wan-Ting Deng, Xi-Yue Yuan, Lang-Heng Pan, et al. 15.6% Efficiency Polythiophene-based All-polymer Solar Cells[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-8.
Deng, W. T.; Yuan, X. Y.; Pan, L. H.; Li, J. L.; Li, C.; Xie, D. S.; Liu, K. Z.; Tian, Y. C.; Li, J. Y.; Zhang, Y.; Yan, H.; Duan, C. H. 15.6% Efficiency polythiophene-based all-polymer solar cells. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3768-5 DOI：

Wan-Ting Deng, Xi-Yue Yuan, Lang-Heng Pan, et al. 15.6% Efficiency Polythiophene-based All-polymer Solar Cells[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-8. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3768-5.

摘要

Abstract

All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have attracted increasing attention owing to their unique advantages

including excellent operational stability and mechanical flexibility. However

the development of high-performance all-PSCs remains constrained because commonly used polymer donors usually suffer from lengthy synthesis and high production costs. Polythiophenes (PTs)

which have simple structures and low-cost synthesis

are promising donor candidates for all-PSCs. Nevertheless

the application of PTs in all-PSCs has been hindered by their mismatched energy levels and unfavorable active layer morphology. Herein

two new PTs with a fluorinated polymer backbone and branched alkyl chains

namely P3T2F-DT and P3T2F-DP

were designed and synthesized for high-performance all-PSCs. Fluorination downshifted the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels

whereas the delicate design of the alkyl chain branching point further modulated the aggregation characteristics and donor-acceptor miscibility. When blended with the polymer acceptor PY-DT-X

P3T2F-DT exhibited improved polymer crystallinity and formed a well-developed fibrillar network in the blend film. Consequently

the all-PSC based on P3T2F-DT achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.64% with a fill factor (FF) of 76.02%

both of which represent the highest reported values for PT-based all-PSCs to date. This work provides a feasible molecular design strategy for PT donors for all-PSCs and demonstrates the great potential of PTs for high-performance

low-cost solar cell modules on an industrial scale.

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