Impact of Triplet Excited States on the Open-Circuit Voltage of Organic Solar Cells

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

The best organic solar cells (OSCs) achieve comparable peak external quantum efficiencies and fill factors as conventional photovoltaic devices. However, their voltage losses are much higher, in particular those due to nonradiative recombination. To investigate the possible role of triplet states on the donor or acceptor materials in this process, model systems comprising Zn- and Cu-phthalocyanine (Pc), as well as fluorinated versions of these donors, combined with C60 as acceptor are studied. Fluorination allows tuning the energy level alignment between the lowest energy triplet state (T1) and the charge-transfer (CT) state, while the replacement of Zn by Cu as the central metal in the Pcs leads to a largely enhanced spin–orbit coupling. Only in the latter case, a substantial influence of the triplet state on the nonradiative voltage losses is observed. In contrast, it is found that for a large series of typical OSC materials, the relative energy level alignment between T1 and the CT state does not substantially affect nonradiative voltage losses.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number1800451
JournalAdvanced energy materials
Volume8
Issue number21
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jul 2018
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85050470872
WOS 000445666000006

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • charge-transfer states, nonradiative voltage losses, organic solar cells, triplet excited states