Issue 39, 2021

Revealing the photo-degradation mechanism of PM6:Y6 based high-efficiency organic solar cells

Abstract

As organic solar cells (OSCs) work under illumination, the light-induced degradation issue is an inevitable barrier to the commercialization of OSCs. Herein, the photo-degradation mechanism of high-efficiency OSCs based on PM6:Y6 or its derivatives is investigated under different wavelength illumination in a nitrogen atmosphere. The PM6:Y6 aged device after 1 hour burn-in degradation exhibits significant losses in the open-circuit voltage (VOC), fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) with the short-circuit current density (JSC) nearly unaffected. The VOC loss and FF loss are mainly ascribed to the reduced charge carrier mobility, especially the hole mobility, the weakened current extraction capability, and the increased non-radiative recombination in the aged device. The aged devices without a band-pass filter and with an ultraviolet filter show more severe photo-degradation than those with other filters, which shows that the ultraviolet portion contributes the most to the device photo-degradation. Based on the comparison of the donor-exposed devices, the acceptor-exposed ones, and the blend-exposed ones, it is inferred that the photo-degradation of PM6 dominates the photo-degradation process of the PM6:Y6 based devices. This work offers a new avenue for exploring the shortcoming that limits the device photo-stability, and unveils that one facile solution to improving the device photo-stability is enhancing the photo-stability of the donor.

Graphical abstract: Revealing the photo-degradation mechanism of PM6:Y6 based high-efficiency organic solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Aug 2021
Accepted
27 Aug 2021
First published
30 Aug 2021

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2021,9, 13972-13980

Revealing the photo-degradation mechanism of PM6:Y6 based high-efficiency organic solar cells

Y. Zhao, Z. Wu, X. Liu, Z. Zhong, R. Zhu and J. Yu, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2021, 9, 13972 DOI: 10.1039/D1TC03655F

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