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Towards efficient thick active PTB7 photovoltaic layers using diphenyl ether as a solvent additive Yifan Zheng, Tenghooi Goh, Pu Fan, Wei Shi, Junsheng Yu, and Andre D. Taylor ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b03453 • Publication Date (Web): 02 Jun 2016 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on June 3, 2016

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Towards efficient thick active PTB7 photovoltaic 5 6

layers using diphenyl ether as a solvent additive 8

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Yifan Zheng†, Tenghooi Goh‡, Pu Fan†, Wei Shi†, Junsheng Yu*†, and AndréD. 10

9

Taylor*‡ 12

1



13 15

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State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic

Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu 610054, P. R.

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China.

19

18



21

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Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut,

06511, United States

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Abstract: 26 28

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The development of thick organic photovoltaics (OPV) could increase absorption in the 30

29

active layer and ease manufacturing constraints in large-scale solar panel production. 32

31

However, the efficiencies of most low-bandgap OPVs decrease substantially when the 34

3

active layers exceed ~ 100 nm (due to low crystallinity and short exciton diffusion 36

35

length). Herein, we report the use of solvent additive diphenyl ether (DPE) that 38

37

facilitates the fabrication of thick (180 nm) active layers and triples the power 40

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conversion efficiency (PCE) of conventional thienothiophene-co-benzodithiophene 42

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polymer (PTB7)-based OPVs from 1.75% to 6.19%. These results demonstrate a 20% 4

43

higher PCE than conventional (PTB7)-based OPV devices using 1,8-diiodooctane 46

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(DIO). Morphology studies reveal that DPE promotes the formation of nano-fibrilla 48

47

networks and ordered packing of PTB7 in the active layer that facilitate charge transport 50

49

over longer distances. We further demonstrate that DPE improves the fill factor and 52

51

photocurrent collection by enhancing the overall optical absorption, reducing the series 54

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resistance, and suppressing bimolecular recombination. 5 56 57 58 59 60

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Keywords:Diphenyl ether (DPE), Solvent additive, Organic photovoltaic (OPV), 4 5

Thick active layer, Low-bandgap polymer 6 7 9

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*† E-mail: [email protected]. Tel.: +86-28-83207157, Fax: +86-28-83206123. 10 1

*‡ E-mail: [email protected]. Tel.: (203) 432-2217, Fax: (203) 432-4387. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 4 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 5 56 57 58 59 60

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1. Introduction 4 6

5

Photovoltaic technology offers an environmentally friendly and sustainable 7 8

electricity 9

source

to

surmount

the

global

energy

crisis.1-2

In

particular,

1

10

solution-processed bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are scalable, 12 14

13

lightweight, and mechanically flexible, which are all attractive features for the 15 16

proliferation of solar panels.3-4 Recent notable OPV breakthroughs include the synthesis 17 19

18

of high carrier mobility small-bandgap polymers,5 the development of new device 20 2

21

architectures that enlarge the donors/accepters (D/A) interface,6 and active layer 23 25

24

nano-scale

morphology

improvements

by

post-treatment

methods.7

These

27

26

improvements have allowed researchers to demonstrate single junction OPVs with 28 30

29

power conversion efficiencies (PCE) as high as 11.7%.8 31 3

32

In both polymer and small-molecule based BHJ OPVs, the morphology of D/A 35

34

blends plays a vital role in dictating the device PCE.9 In order to operate efficiently, the 36 38

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photo-generated excitons in OPVs must diffuse promptly to the D/A interface where 39 41

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they can separate into holes and electrons before they recombine and dissipate as 43

42

heat.10-12 In addition, high OPV photocurrents can only be obtained when the 4 46

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dissociated free charge carriers are able to arrive at the corresponding electrodes 47 49

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through interconnected D and A phase networks that span several tens to hundreds of 51

50

nanometers.13-14 One option to suppress electron-hole recombination and promote high 52 54

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carrier mobility is to use highly-ordered and purified D and A organics. Through 5 57

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introducing these kind of D and A materials, we can facilitate the formation of purified 60

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domain area that deduce the trap density.

15-16

But this route may incur high

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manufacturing costs. On the other hand, control and enhancement of the D/A 5 6

morphology can also be achieved by employing cheaper processing techniques such as 7 9

8

thermal treatment, solvent annealing, or solvent addition.17-19 10 12

1

Among these techniques, solvent addition is particularly interesting as it is 13 14

compatible with extensive polymer systems and does not require extra processing steps. 15 17

16

Previously 18

solvent

addition

was

reported

to

be

effective

in

20

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Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT)/ (6,6)-phenyl-C61/C71-butyric acid methyl 21 23

2

ester (PCBM)-based devices and more recently has been extended to low-bandgap 25

24

polymer based cells.20-21 Some of the most common additives are 1,8-octanedithiol, 26 28

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1,8-diiodooctane (DIO), 1-chloronaphthalene, and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone.19, 29

21-23

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Among these, DIO yields the best results for thin BHJ devices consisting of 3

32

benchmarked low-bandgap polymers such as thieno [3,4-b] thiophene/benzodithiophene 34 36

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(PTB7).24-25 The addition of DIO into chlorobenzene (CB) effectively dissolves the 37 39

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PCBM aggregation and promotes the formation of smaller acceptor domains (e.g. 41

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greater D/A interface) within the active layer, resulting in a significant improvement in 42 4

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the device fill factor (FF) and short-current density (JSC).26 Unfortunately, DIO is an 45 47

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acceptor-selective additive that does not enhance the crystallinity of the low-bandgap 49

48

polymer. This drawback leads to a decreased PCE in thicker DIO-added BHJ devices.2 50 52

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In fact, residual DIO in the active layer could form trap centers that inhibit charge 53 54

transport.27-28 Moreover, it has been suggested that excess DIO above 3% can lead to the 57

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reaggregation of PCBM and poor device reproducibility, which can impede further 58 60

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material system designs and device physics studies.28-29 Despite these challenges, the 4

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development of thicker active layer devices could overcome many of the issues that 5 6

prevent scalable nanomanufacturing (i.e. roll-to-roll or spray coating processing).30 7 9

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Recent work by Hwang groups and Heeger groups have opened a new route for 10 12

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realizing high PCEs with the thick (300 nm) active layers based on different low 13 14

bandgap polymers by using diphenyl ether (DPE).30-31 However, to date, only a few 15 17

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studies have been performed to characterize the origin of the structure improvements 18 20

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resulting from the use of DPE.30 In addition, the impact of DPE in PTB7-based devices, 21 23

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arguably the epitome of low-bandgap polymer OPVs, is yet unknown. 25

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In this contribution, we demonstrate that the incorporation of DPE in the low-band 26 28

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gap PTB7 : PC71BM BHJ system is a facile and effective strategy towards enhancing 29 31

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photovoltaic PCE. We correlate the device performance to a charge extraction model as 3

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characterized by impedance spectroscopy. We reveal using optical microscopy, 34 36

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grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) 37 39

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imaging tools that the DPE molecule enhances the organic crystallinity and induces 41

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nano-fibrillar morphology. As a scalable demonstration, we show we can double the 42 4

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thickness of the active layer and retain 90% of the PCE (compared to conventional thin 45 47

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films) due to the high hole mobility measured using the space-charge-limited current 49

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(SCLC) method. 50 51 52 54

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2. Experimental 56

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We show the architecture of the device and chemical structure of materials used in 57

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the active layer (Figure 1). For the inverted OPV structure, the device configuration is indium tin oxide/ zinc oxide (ITO/ZnO) (40 nm)/PTB7 : PC71BM (80~180 nm)/MoO3 5

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(15 nm)/Ag (100 nm). ITO-coated glass substrates with a sheet resistance of 10 /sq 5 6

were consecutively cleaned in ultrasonic bath containing detergent, acetone, deionized 7 9

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water and ethanol for 10 min each step, then dried by nitrogen. Prior to film deposition, 10 12

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the substrate was treated by UV light for 10 min. The ZnO precursor was prepared by 13 14

dissolving zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O, Aldrich, 99.9%, 1 g) and 15 17

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ethanolamine (NH2CH2CH2OH, Aldrich 99.5%, 0.28 g in 2-methoxyethanol 18 20

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(CH3OCH2CH2OH, Aldrich, 99.8%, 10 ml) under vigorous stirring for 12 hr for the 21 23

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hydrolysis reaction in air. 40 nm ZnO ETL was spin-casted from the precursor solution 25

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on top of the clean ITO-glass substrate, and annealed at 200 °C for 1 hr in air. For the 26 28

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active layer, the mixture of PTB7 : PC71BM at a weight ratio of 1 : 1.5 with a 29 31

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concentration of 25 mg/ml was dissolved in a mixed solvent of CB/DPE. DPE was 3

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added to the CB at various concentrations of 1~5 vol. %. The solution was then spin 34 36

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coated at a rate of 1000 rpm for 60 s in a nitrogen glove box. Subsequently, 15 nm 37 38

MoO3 and 100 nm Ag were finally deposited at a pressure of 310-3 Pa in vacuum. The 39 41

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anode area is 0.02 cm2 for all devices in this work. 42 4

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The morphology of active layer was characterized by AFM (MFP-3D-BIO, Asylum 45 47

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Research) and GI-XRD (RIGAKU, D/MAX-RC). Current density-voltage (J-V) curves 49

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under illumination were measured with a Keithley 4200 programmable voltage-current 50 52

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source. A light source integrated with a Xe lamp (CHF-XM35, Beijing Trusttech Co. 53 54

Ltd.) with a power illumination of 100 mW/cm2 was used as a solar simulator. An 57

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Agilent 4294A Precision Impedance Analyzer was employed for Impedance 58 60

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Spectroscopy (IS) measurements. The range of measured frequency was 40 Hz to 1 6

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MHz. 50 mV of modulation voltage without DC bias was used to extract DC bias 5 6

dependent AC signal. The thicknesses of films obtained from solution process were 7 9

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measured with a Dektak 150 stylus profiler. All the measurements were carried out 10 12

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under ambient conditions without any encapsulation from air. 13 14 16

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3. Results and discussion 17 19

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3.1 Performance of OPVs with DPE as solvent additive 20 21 2

To elucidate the effects of DPE on standard PTB7:PC71BM BHJ devices,32-33 we 23 25

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first limit the film thickness to about 110 nm (110 nm is optimal thickness of 26 28

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PTB7:PC71BM BHJ with 3% DIO, which has been widely proved) and use the plain, 29 31

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additive-free sample as the control. The DPE concentration varies from 1 to 5 vol. % 3

32

relative to the CB solvent. We show the J-V characteristics of these OPVs under 1 sun 34 36

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irradiation (Figure 2 (a), Table 1, and Figure S1). The device without DPE exhibits not 37 38

only a low JSC of 8.0 mA/cm2 but also a poor FF of 33.7%, resulting in a PCE of 1.75%. 39 41

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The low performance of the control cells are attributed to the unsuitable packing of the 42 4

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polymer blend and large aggregation of the PC71BM.33 With the addition of DPE, we 45 46

observe a significant improvement in JSC from 8.0 to 13.8 mA/cm2, yielding an 49

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enhancement of PCE from 1.75 to 3.45%.33 Compared to the control, both the JSC and 50 52

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the FF are enhanced as DPE increases from 1 to 4 vol. %. We obtain the best device 53 5

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PCE of 5.92% at the optimal DPE loading (4 vol. %), with an open circuit voltage (VOC) 57

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of 0.69V, JSC of 14.5 mA/cm2 and FF of 47.6%. An enhancement of about 300% in 58 60

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device performance is enough to demonstrate the efficacy of DPE in PTB7 : PC71BM 7

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BHJ.2, 33 We note that at an active layer thickness of 110 nm (Figure S1), the best OPV 5 6

PCE with 4% DPE (5.92%) is still 4% lower than the devices with DIO additives 7 9

8

(6.19%) with latter measurement being consistent with the known literature. As far as 10 12

1

we know, PCE will get a dramatically drop when increase the thickness of active layer, 13 14

especially in low bandgap polymer BHJ system with only DIO additive, e.g. 15 17

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PTB7:PCBM. However, DPE has been reported to be more efficient in the thick active 18 20

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layer rather than in thin film. In this point, we want to investigate the effect of DPE in 21 23

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thick active layer through detailed characterization of electric and optical parameters, 25

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which will be discussed in Section 3.4. Before that, the mechanism of DPE in general 26 28

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thickness of PTB7:PC71BM film should be figured out at first. 29 31

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To understand the low series resistance (RS), we fit the data using the single diode 3

32

lumped circuit model.34 We show that the addition of DPE to the active layer (1-4%), 34 36

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decreases the RS from 3.48 to 1.26 Ωcm2 and corresponds to an increase in both the FF 37 39

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and the JSC (Table 1). We note that raising the concentration of DPE to 5% results in an 41

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increased in the RS which lowers the JSC and FF, corresponding to a PCE of 4.62%. This 42 4

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may due to the poor phase separation in the D/A interface that reduces the percolation 45 46

pathways for transport charge carriers to the relative electrode.2, 35 We show a decrease 49

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in the device photocurrent density (Jph) when the DPE amount increases to 5 vol. % 50 52

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(Table 1 and Supporting Information). Reduction of the Jph signifies a decrease in the 53 5

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charge collection efficiency and leads to the dominance of bimolecular recombination, 57

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corresponding to a lower FF.36-37 58 60

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We illustrate UV-Vis absorption spectra of the PTB7 : PC71BM blend added with 8

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DPE (Figure 2 (b)). A domain absorption peak with a shoulder for PTB7 is observed 5 6

between the wavelength range of 600 nm and 750 nm while the absorption from 7 9

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350-500 nm is mainly attributed to the presence of PC71BM.33, 35, 38 The intensity peak 10 12

1

around 600 nm corresponds to S0-S3 π-π* transition and suggests ordered packing of the 13 14

PTB7 (Figure S2(a)).35 In addition, the stronger absorption intensity at 478 nm indicates 15 17

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the aggregation of PC71BM, which is different from the conventional DIO, modified 18 20

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active layer (Figure S2(b)).19, 38 The effect of DPE on light harvesting sheds light on 21 23

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results obtained from external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements (Figure 2(c) 25

24

and Figure S3). As expected, the control device without DPE exhibits a low EQE across 26 28

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the entire visible spectrum. For 1 vol. % addition of DPE, the average EQE enhances 29 31

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dramatically from 18.2% to 56.8%. OPVs with 4% DPE show the highest average EQE 3

32

of 66.4% around 500-750 nm, resulting in the best JSC of 16.7 mA/cm2 and is consistent 34 36

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with the results of Jph. 37 39

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3.2 Morphology characterization of the active layer 40 41 43

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In general, solvent addition impacts the device performance by altering the morphology 45

4

of active layer. To understand the influence of DPE on the microstructure of the 46 48

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PTB7:PC71BM films, we characterize the films optical microscopy. We reveal that 50

49

without DPE, large numbers of PC71BM aggregates (about 1 m) are formed in the 53

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devices (Figure S4) . These high density, large PC71BM aggregates not only reduce the 54 56

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D/A interface area but also lead to the recommendation of charge carriers. 8 With 1% 57

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DPE addition, we observe that the density of PC71BM aggregate domain decrease and also the decreased domain size to about 500 nm. As the DPE concentration increases 9

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from 2 to 4%, small aggregations of PC71BM reappear again as indicated by the 5 6

emergence of darker color spots (Figure S4 (c) to (e)). This implies that the DPE 7 9

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facilitates the formation of ordered packing of the PTB7 rather than just dispersing the 10 12

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PC71BM aggregates into smaller units as with DIO.29 This is also consistent with the 13 14

increased absorption peak at 450 nm (Figure 2(b)). However, those dots seems 15 17

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disappear at high concentration of DPE at 5% loading (Figure S4 (f)). This may due to 18 20

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the formation of ordered packing of PTB7 on the surface that “press” the PCBM 21 23

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towards the bottom, so that these PCBM dots is hard to detect in this situation. 25

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To probe the nanostructure features of the BHJ films, we employ AFM (Figure 3). The 26 28

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active layer without DPE exhibits a more coarse and spiky appearance, with root mean 29 31

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square (RMS) roughness of 2.72 nm (Figure 3 (a) and (c)). However, when loaded with 3

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1% DPE, the roughness of the active layer significantly decreases to 0.94 nm (Figure 34 36

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S5). With the addition of DPE, the morphology changes from rough, spiky features to a 37 39

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substantially smoother surface. The changes in morphology are less drastic between the 41

40

films with 1 to 5 vol. % DPE concentration; the RMS roughness values are 0.94, 1.00, 42 4

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1.09, 1.09 and 1.18 nm, respectively, (Figure S5). We speculate that in comparison to 45 47

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DIO, the DPE blended films present a nano-fibrilla like pattern, indicative of PTB7 49

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lamellar formation (Figure 3 (b) and (d)). In general, DPE induces planar and 50 52

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intermixed polymer-fullerene network that has been associated to efficient charge 53 54

transport, enabling the high PCEs.39-41 57

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To investigate the orientation changes in the bulk, we utilize GI-XRD to further 58 60

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characterize the packing condition in PTB7:PC71BM BHJ (Figure 4). The BHJ of 10

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PTB7:PC71BM with or without DIO shares the same peak in 2=22o, with an intensity 5 6

of 350. This result agrees with conclusions in earlier investigations, that DIO does not 7 9

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change the crystallinity of PTB7.22, 24, 42 However, the BHJ of PTB7:PC71BM with 4% 10 12

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DPE shows a peak intensity increase of about 450 in the 2=19.8o, implying that the 13 14

DPE indeed facilitates ordered packing of the PTB7. These results correlate well with 15 17

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the formation of a cross-link D/A network, resulting in the improvement of Jsc and 18 20

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FF.43-44 To further confirm the formation of cross-link D/A network, we use CB to wash 21 23

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the film. The blended films with 1 to 2 vol. % of DPE can be easily washed out, 25

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indicating a weak interaction between the donor and acceptor (Figure S6 (a) to (c)). 26 28

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However, as the DPE concentration goes above 2%, the blended film develops into and 29 31

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becomes darker in color and more difficult to wash (Figure S6 (d) to (f)). This 3

32

observation suggests that the formation of a cross-link D/A network can provide a good 34 36

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pathway for charge transport and suppresses large PC71BM aggregation.7 37 39

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3.3. Equivalent circuit model and impedance analysis 40 41 43

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In order to examine the carrier dynamics in our devices, we show the impedance 45

4

spectroscopy results with equivalent circuit modeled (Figure 5 (a)). We illustrate 46 48

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Cole-Cole plots, or the characteristic retarded AC electrical response through the device 49 51

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in the frequency range of 40 Hz to 1 MHz (Figure 5 (b)). We show two distinct regions: 53

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a large semicircle at low frequencies associated to the carrier recombination process, 54 56

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and a quasi straight line in the high frequency region containing information about the 57

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diffusion mechanism.45 Real impedances Z′ of OPVs decrease significantly with the addition of DPE, which is related to the increased JSC.46 In this circuit model, the 11

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constant phase element (CPE) suggests a non-ideal behavior of the capacitor. CPE is 5 6

often used to represent a capacitance-like element to compensate for inhomogeneity in 7 9

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the interface. CPE is defined by two values, CPE-T and CPE-P. CPE-T is capacitance 10 12

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and CPE-P is a nonhomogeneity constant. If CPE-P equals 1, then the CPE is identical 13 14

to an ideal capacitor without defects and/or grain boundary.47 With the increase of DPE 15 17

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concentration from 2% to 4%, CPE1-P increases from 0.87 to 0.99 (Table S1), which 18 20

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indicates the interface capacitance between PTB7 and PCBM is electrically ideal and in 21 2

a more homogeneous manner. Simultaneously, CPE1-T increases from 2.110-9 to 23 25

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2.410-8, which indicates that the large active layer surface provides more potential 26 28

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pathways for charge transportation. However, as the DPE concentration increases to 5 29 31

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vol. %, both the CPE1-T and CPE1-P begin to decrease, which means there is an 3

32

increase in the formation of grain boundary defects that lead to charge recombination. 34 36

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R1 in Figure 5 (a) corresponds to the active layer resistance, and the shunt pair R2 and C2 37 39

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in Figure 5 (a) is associated to the two electrical contacts of the interfaces between the 41

40

active layer and electrodes.41 A high device R2 with DPE 1% suggests that the interface 42 4

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between the active layer and the buffer layer is not efficient for charge transport due to 45 47

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the amorphous polymer ordering. For devices with 4% DPE, we observe that the R2 49

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decreases to 3.0105 cm2, revealing that the loss due to interfacial resistance between 50 52

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the active layer and the MoO3 is minimized at optimal DPE loading and thus contributes 54

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to better charge transport performance. The average of the carrier transition time (avg), 57

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in the active layer is defined by Equation (Eq.) 1: 58 60

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avg = R1∙CPE-T 12

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The avg are estimated to be 4.5, 13.5, 37.1, and 27.2 s respectively for devices with 0, 6

5

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2, 4, and 5% vol. DPE (Table S1). Longer avg is associated to a lower recombination 7 9

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rate and hence higher possibility for carriers to reach the electrode.46 Our results suggest 10 12

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that the addition of DPE suppresses the charge recombination significantly in the bulk 14

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film and prolong the carrier lifetime by about nine-fold, from 4.5 s (devices without 15 17

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DPE) to 37.1 s (DPE 4%). 18 19 21

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3.4 Potential of DPE in industrial fabrication of thick OPVs 2 24

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In the following section, we study the efficacy of DPE in thick OPVs (greater than 100 25 27

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nm). Since there is ample evidence showing that 4% DPE is the optimal loading, we 29

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fixate this additive concentration and measure the photovoltaic performance of thick 30 32

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films under 1sun illumination (Figure 6 (a) and Table 2). To showcase the DPE potency 3 35

34

in this scenario, we vary the thickness of active layer from 80 nm to 180 nm every 20 37

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nm. We demonstrate that DPE outperforms the conventional DIO as an effective 38 40

39

additive for devices with an active layer thickness of 180 nm. Even though the BHJ 41 43

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thickness is doubled, the addition of 4% DPE allows devices to maintain 90% of the 45

4

PCE. In comparison, the PCE of DIO modified OPVs drops considerably by 66% with 46 48

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respect to the 100 nm thick control. Overall, the DPE-modified OPVs possess a similar 49 51

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VOC and JSC when the thickness of the active layer increases from 80 to 180 nm. 53

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However, the best FF of the device is obtained at 120~140 nm, which can be ascribed to 54 56

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the improved ordering of PTB7. Further increases of the BHJ film thickness over 160 57

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nm compromises the FF to 47%. Although thicker BHJ films can absorb more light for photocurrent generation, adverse effects such as an increase in bimolecular 13

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recombination induced by low charge-carrier mobility of the BHJ components reduces 5 6

the FF.40 Hence, we deduce that the recombination loss starts outweighing the benefits 7 9

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in devices with thickness above 200 nm. 10 12

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In order to substantiate our notion that DPE assists long distance charge transfer in a 13 14

thick BHJ, we measure the hole mobility using a space-charge limited current (SCLC) 15 17

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model with a configuration of ITO/MoO3 (15 nm)/PTB7 : PC71BM (80~180 nm)/MoO3 18 20

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(15 nm)/Ag (100 nm) based on Mott-Gurney law as Eq. (2) 21 2

9 V2 J   0  3 8 d 25

24

23

(2)

26

where μ is the charge carrier mobility, and ε ≈ 3 is the relative dielectric constant of 27 29

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organic film. ε0 is the vacuum dielectric constant of 8.85 × 10-12 F/m, and d is the film 30 32

31

thickness.48 The detailed J-V characteristics of the hole-only devices are presented in 3 35

34

Figure S7. The hole mobilities of OPVs based on 4% DPE with the BHJ film thickness 37

36

from 80 to 180 nm (every 20 nm) are 1.2810-5, 1.7210-5, 2.8810-5, 7.1410-5, 38 40

39

4.2710-5 and 3.6810-5 cm2V-1s-1, respectively, (Figure 6 (b)). These results indicate 41 43

42

that the hole mobility increase leads to a more balanced charge transport, resulting in 45

4

the enhancement of the FF at 120 nm. Although 140 nm owes the highest hole 46 48

47

mobilities, the increased Rs limits the PCE. We calculate the extraction time (Tex) is 49 51

50

quantified to represent the average time carriers are extracted at d/2 and by using the 53

52

relationship Tex=d/2E, in which E is electric field and d is the thickness of the active 54 56

5

layer (Table 3).46 . We observe that the short Tex of 4.9 s in the thick films (180 nm) 57

60

59

58

reassures that charge carriers in the DPE-enhanced films overcome interfacial recombination and can thus be efficiently extracted by the electrodes.49 14

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4. Conclusion. 5 6

In summary, we demonstrate donor-selective solvent additive DPE is effectively to 7 9

8

increase the active layer thickness in low-bandgap polymer based OPVs, and a 3-fold 10 12

1

PCE enhancement is obtained (from 2% to 6%). Through detailed characterization of 13 14

the morphology and electric parameters, we reveal that DPE (i) promotes the formation 15 17

16

of nano-fibrilla structure in the active layer, (ii) induces efficient charge transport 18 20

19

pathways, and (iii) suppresses bimolecular recombination. Our results highlight the 21 23

2

tremendous potential of DPE to shift the paradigm of research and industrial focus 25

24

towards thick OPVs, and pave the way for the realization of scalable commercialization. 26 27 28 29 30

Supporting Information 3

32

31

Parameters employed for the fitting of the impedance spectra by use of an 34 36

35

equivalent circuit model; figures of J-V curves, EQE, UV-Vis absorption 37 38

for devices based on variety DPE ratio; morphology images of devices, 41

40

39

including AFM, metallurgical microscope, and optical images; J-V curves 42 4

43

of hole only devices by using SCLC method; and calculation method for 45 47

46

photogeneration current density in this work. 48 49 50 52

51

Acknowledgement 53 5

54

This research was funded by the Foundation of the National Natural Science Foundation 57

56

of China (NSFC) (Grant No. 61177032), and the Foundation for Innovation Research 58 60

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Groups of the NSFC (Grant No. 61421002). The authors gratefully acknowledge the 15

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National 5

Science

Foundation

(DMR-1410171)

and

NSF-PECASE

award

6

(CBET-0954985), for partial support of this work. The Yale Institute for Nanoscience 7 9

8

and Quantum Engineering (YINQE) and NSF MRSEC DMR 1119826 (CRISP) 10 12

1

provided facility support. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 4 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 5 56 57 58 59 60

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65-74. 44. Park, S.-J.; Lee, K.-Y.; Kim, D.-H.; Shin, M.-H.; Kim, Y.-J., Improvement Of Electrical Conductivity For High-Performance Organic Solar Cells By Multi-Temperature Solvent Annealing. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 2015, 54 (4S), 04DK07. 45. Arredondo, B.; Romero, B.; Del Pozo, G.; Sessler, M.; Veit, C.; Würfel, U., Impedance Spectroscopy Analysis Of Small Molecule Solution Processed Organic Solar Cell. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 2014, 128, 351-356. 46. Yao, E.-P.; Chen, C.-C.; Gao, J.; Liu, Y.; Chen, Q.; Cai, M.; Hsu, W.-C.; Hong, Z.; Li, G.; Yang, Y., The Study Of Solvent Additive Effects In Efficient Polymer Photovoltaics Via Impedance Spectroscopy. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 2014, 130, 20-26. 47. Hess, K., Advanced Theory Of Semiconductor Devices. Wiley-IEEE Press: 2000. 48. Mihailetchi, V.; Wildeman, J.; Blom, P., Space-Charge Limited Photocurrent. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2005, 94 (12), 126602. 49. Gasparini, N.; Righi, S.; Tinti, F.; Savoini, A.; Cominetti, A.; Po, R.; Camaioni, N., Neat C70-Based Bulk-Heterojunction Polymer Solar Cells With Excellent Acceptor Dispersion. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2014, 6 (23), 21416-21425. 25

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Figure 1. Device architecture and active layer materials. 27 28 29 30 31 32 3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 45

4

Figure 2. (a)J-V characteristic curves of OPVs under AM 1.5 simulated 1 sun illumination, (b) UV-Vis absorption spectra of PTB7:PC71BM BHJ film and (c) EQE spectra of devices with different ratios of solvent additives. 49

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Figure 3. AFM 3D exhibition (a) and (b), and AFM phase image (c) and (d) of PTB7:PC71BM BHJ blend films without and with DPE. 31

30 32 3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 4 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 5 56 58

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Figure 4. GIXRD image of active layer with or without solvent additive 59 60

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Figure 5. (a) The equivalent circuit model of the devices (b) Cole–Cole plots of the devices with different concentrations of DPE. 25

24 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 42

41

Figure 6. (a) Photovoltaics parameters and (b) extraction time and hole mobility of OPVs based on 4% DPE with variety BHJ thickness. 4

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Tables 5 6 7 8 10

9

Table 1 Summary of photovoltaic performance based on PTB7 : PC71BM BHJ with 12

1

different concentrations of DPE. 13 14 15 16 17

b,c

w/o DPE DPE 1%c DPE 2%c DPE 3%c DPE 4%c DPE 5%c DIO 3%b,c 26

25

24

23

2

21

20

19

18

VOCa (V)

JSCa (mA/cm2)

FFa (%)

PCEa (%)

0.650.02 0.660.01 0.650.02 0.690.02 0.690.02 0.690.01 0.680.02

8.00.5 13.80.5 15.00.6 16.00.5 16.70.5 14.50.6 15.80.3

33.71.5 38.01.0 43.81.6 49.92.0 51.62.1 47.61.3 57.33.0

1.750.30 3.450.28 4.300.44 5.570.51 5.920.64 4.620.55 6.190.61

RS

RP 2

(cm ) 3.48 3.02 2.65 2.11 1.26 1.88 1.77

a All

2

(cm ) 111.60 90.66 93.79 125.55 127.96 107.73 178.19

JPh (mA/cm2) 7.83 12.97 14.28 15.40 16.04 14.08 15.21

the photovoltaic parameters are the average of a batch of six devices. The related low PCE compared with reference [33] is because of the quality of this batch PTB7 polymer and without the use of filter to eliminate the large PC71BM aggregation. c All the active layer were spin coated follow the same recipe, resulting in the similar thickness of ~110 nm. 27

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b

3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 4 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 5 56 57 58 59 60

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Table 2 Summary of best photovoltaic performance with a variety of active layer 7

6

thickness. 8

Thicknessa (nm)

VOC (V)

JSC (mA/cm2)

FF (%)

PCE (%)

12

805

0.71

15.79

48.2

5.30

(cm ) 6.35

(cm ) 165.02

13

1005

0.72

16.64

48.3

5.65

1.72

173.62

15.20

1205

0.72

15.69

53.2

6.05

0.65

205.48

14.48

1405

0.72

15.48

52.7

5.83

1.83

213.59

14.24

16010

0.72

16.32

49.2

5.76

1.47

159.78

15.07

9

Solvent additive 1

10

15

14 16

DPE 4% 18

17

RS

RP 2

2

JPh (mA/cm2) 14.33

0.71 15.79 49.0 5.46 3.71 168.17 14.64 18010 0.65 13.11 54.0 4.60 9.85 285.62 13.49 18010 a The thickness was characterized by step profiler, which exists an error of about 5 to 10 nm.

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21

DIO 3% 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 4 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 5 56 57 58 59 60

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Table 3 Hole mobility and charge extraction time in PTB7 : PC71BM BHJ blend film 7

6

with 4% DPE at different thickness

1

10

9

8

Thickness of BHJ film (nm)

Hole mobility

80 100 120 140 160 180

1.2810-5

12 13 14 15 16 17 19

18

-1 -1

(cm2V s ) 1.7210-5 2.8810-5 7.1410-5 4.2710-5 3.6810-5

Texa (s) 6.3 5.8 4.2 1.9 3.7 4.9

values of E is approximated to be 5 × 104 V-cm−1 obtained at forward bias 0.5 V across 100 nm thick film which is close to the net potential at the maximum power point of the cells. a The

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27 Graphical Abstrate 280x174mm (150 x 150 DPI)

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