Issue 8, 2024

Rapid solidification for green-solvent-processed large-area organic solar modules with >16% efficiency

Abstract

Enabling green-solvent-processed large-area organic solar cells (OSCs) is of great significance to their industrialization. However, precisely controlling the temperature-dependent fluid mechanics and evaporation behavior of green solvents with high-boiling points is challenging. Controlling these parameters is essential to prevent the non-uniform distribution of active layer components and severe molecule aggregation, which collectively degrade the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of large-scale devices. In this study, we revealed that the temperature gradient distribution across a wet film is the root of the notorious Marangoni effect, which leads to the formation of a severely non-uniform active layer on a large scale. Thus, a rapid solidification strategy was proposed to accelerate the evaporation of toluene, a green solvent, at room temperature. This strategy simultaneously inhibits the Marangoni effect and suppresses molecular aggregation in the wet film, allowing the formation of a nano-scale phase separation active layer with uniform morphology. The resultant toluene-processed 15.64-cm2 large-area OSC module achieves an outstanding PCE of 16.03% (certified: 15.69%), which represents the highest reported PCE of green-solvent-processed OSC modules. Notably, this strategy also exhibits a weak scale dependence on the PCE, and we successfully achieved a state-of-the-art PCE of 14.45% for a 72.00-cm2 OSC module.

Graphical abstract: Rapid solidification for green-solvent-processed large-area organic solar modules with >16% efficiency

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Feb 2024
Accepted
18 Mar 2024
First published
26 Mar 2024

Energy Environ. Sci., 2024,17, 2935-2944

Rapid solidification for green-solvent-processed large-area organic solar modules with >16% efficiency

B. Zhang, W. Chen, H. Chen, G. Zeng, R. Zhang, H. Li, Y. Wang, X. Gu, W. Sun, H. Gu, F. Gao, Y. Li and Y. Li, Energy Environ. Sci., 2024, 17, 2935 DOI: 10.1039/D4EE00680A

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