Impact of regio-isomeric monochlorinated end groups on packing mode, miscibility, and photovoltaic performance of asymmetric selenophene-fused M-series acceptors

Abstract

Optimal bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) morphology is crucial for efficient charge transport and good photovoltaic performance in organic solar cells (OSCs). Yet, the correlation between chemical structures of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) and molecular interaction in the BHJ blends remains opaque. Herein, we study three isomeric NFAs referred to as MQ1-x (x = β, γ, or δ) that shared an asymmetric selenophene-fused heteroheptacene backbone end-capped by two monochlorinated end groups. Remarkably, miscibility between the polymer donor of PM6 and MQ1-x successively elevates as the chlorine atoms move from β-, to γ-, to δ-position of terminals. Combined with the varied molecular crystallinity of these NFAs, diverse BHJ morphologies are observed in their blend films. As a result, the MQ1-δ-based devices present the highest PCE of 12.08% owing to the efficient charge dissociation and transport induced by the compact molecular packing and optimal BHJ morphology. Our investigation provides a new insight in the material design that has a good balance in molecular packing and film morphology for high-performance OSCs.