Ben Zhang, Nuo Xu, Juanyong Wan, Hongxiang Li, Jinfeng Xia, Juan Zhu, Jiacheng Xu, Haiyang Chen, Weijie Chen, Guang Zeng, Yaowen Li, Yongfang Li
{"title":"Induced Oriented Attachment of ZnO Electron Transport Layer Enables Over 20% Efficiency in Solution-Processed Conventional Organic Solar Cells","authors":"Ben Zhang, Nuo Xu, Juanyong Wan, Hongxiang Li, Jinfeng Xia, Juan Zhu, Jiacheng Xu, Haiyang Chen, Weijie Chen, Guang Zeng, Yaowen Li, Yongfang Li","doi":"10.1039/d5ee04137f","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The development of efficient and stable organic solar cells (OSCs) employing solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) electron transport layers (ETLs) is impeded primarily by structural disorder across multiple length scales and a high density of oxygen vacancy defects, particularly in conventional device architectures. Here, simultaneous modulation of macro- and microstructural ordering and surface defect passivation is achieved by meticulously designing dual-functional solid additives within the ZnO system to fine-tune nanoparticle stacking. Systematic analysis reveals that the solid additive (DIB) molecules strongly adsorb onto the surfaces of ZnO nanoparticles during film formation due to robust intermolecular interactions, providing steric hindrance that suppresses aggregation and promotes uniform film coverage. Upon subsequent mild thermal annealing, the moderately volatile DIB gradually sublimes, generating interparticle free volume that facilitates oriented attachment of ZnO nanoparticles guided by dipolar interactions, while concurrently enhancing interparticle Zn-O bonding to effectively passivate oxygen vacancies. This combination of structural regulation and defect passivation leads to ZnO films with improved electron mobility, reduced recombination losses, and favorable energy-level alignment. The resulting OSCs achieve a record power conversion efficiency of 20.1% (certified at 19.8%) among devices using ZnO-based ETLs, along with excellent thickness tolerance and operational stability. Notably, this strategy also demonstrates exceptional compatibility with flexible devices, delivering a record efficiency of 19.1%, and exhibits broad applicability across a range of DIB analogs.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy & Environmental Science","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ee04137f","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The development of efficient and stable organic solar cells (OSCs) employing solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) electron transport layers (ETLs) is impeded primarily by structural disorder across multiple length scales and a high density of oxygen vacancy defects, particularly in conventional device architectures. Here, simultaneous modulation of macro- and microstructural ordering and surface defect passivation is achieved by meticulously designing dual-functional solid additives within the ZnO system to fine-tune nanoparticle stacking. Systematic analysis reveals that the solid additive (DIB) molecules strongly adsorb onto the surfaces of ZnO nanoparticles during film formation due to robust intermolecular interactions, providing steric hindrance that suppresses aggregation and promotes uniform film coverage. Upon subsequent mild thermal annealing, the moderately volatile DIB gradually sublimes, generating interparticle free volume that facilitates oriented attachment of ZnO nanoparticles guided by dipolar interactions, while concurrently enhancing interparticle Zn-O bonding to effectively passivate oxygen vacancies. This combination of structural regulation and defect passivation leads to ZnO films with improved electron mobility, reduced recombination losses, and favorable energy-level alignment. The resulting OSCs achieve a record power conversion efficiency of 20.1% (certified at 19.8%) among devices using ZnO-based ETLs, along with excellent thickness tolerance and operational stability. Notably, this strategy also demonstrates exceptional compatibility with flexible devices, delivering a record efficiency of 19.1%, and exhibits broad applicability across a range of DIB analogs.
期刊介绍:
Energy & Environmental Science, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, publishes original research and review articles covering interdisciplinary topics in the (bio)chemical and (bio)physical sciences, as well as chemical engineering disciplines. Published monthly by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a not-for-profit publisher, Energy & Environmental Science is recognized as a leading journal. It boasts an impressive impact factor of 8.500 as of 2009, ranking 8th among 140 journals in the category "Chemistry, Multidisciplinary," second among 71 journals in "Energy & Fuels," second among 128 journals in "Engineering, Chemical," and first among 181 scientific journals in "Environmental Sciences."
Energy & Environmental Science publishes various types of articles, including Research Papers (original scientific work), Review Articles, Perspectives, and Minireviews (feature review-type articles of broad interest), Communications (original scientific work of an urgent nature), Opinions (personal, often speculative viewpoints or hypotheses on current topics), and Analysis Articles (in-depth examination of energy-related issues).