Reducing Trap-Assisted Recombination in Small Organic Molecule-Based Photovoltaics by the Addition of a Conjugated Block Copolymer

The performance of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) based on the small-molecule organic semiconductor p-DTS(FBTTh₂)₂ is greatly improved by the addition of a conjugated block copolymer composed of difluoroquinoxaline and thienopyrrolodione blocks (D130). The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the p-DTS(FBTTh₂)₂-based OPV is improved from 5.08% to 6.75% by the addition of 5 wt% D130 to the photoactive layer, which is composed of p-DTS(FBTTh₂)₂ and a fullerene derivative. Current–voltage and grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering analyses revealed that the addition of D130 significantly reduces the trap density of the device and changes the packing orientation of p-DTS(FBTTh₂)₂ from mostly edge-on to partially face-on. These changes greatly improve the charge carrier mobility of the OPV, indicating that D130 is highly compatible with p-DTS(FBTTh₂)₂. Furthermore, the addition of D130 improve the photostability of the OPV by reducing the burn-in loss under a light soaking intensity of 1 sun. The D130-based OPV maintained 34% of its initial PCE after a light soaking test for 858 h. In contrast, the PCE of the OPV without D130 reduced to 14% of its initial efficiency in the same time period.