Modulation of Alkyl Chain Length on the Thiazole Side Group Enables Over 17% Efficiency in All‐Small‐Molecule Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

AbstractMolecular innovation is highly desirable to achieve efficient all‐small‐molecule organic solar cells (SM‐OSCs). Herein, three small‐molecule donors (SMDs) with alkylated thiazole side groups (namely BO‐1, HD‐1, and OD‐1), which differ only in the alkyl side chain are reported. Although these SMDs possess similar absorption profiles and molecular energy levels, their crystallinity and miscibility with BTP‐eC9 slightly decrease along with the elongation of the alkyl side chain. After blending with BTP‐eC9, different miscibility leads to different degrees of phase separation. Among these SM‐OSCs, the HD‐1‐based device shows a decent bulk‐heterojunction (BHJ) morphology with proper phase separation and more dynamic carrier behavior. Thus, compared to the BO‐1 and OD‐1‐based devices, the HD‐1‐based device achieves a higher short‐circuit current of 26.04 mA cm−2 and a fill factor of 78.46%, leading to an outstanding PCE of 17.19%, which is one of the highest values among SM‐OSCs. This work provides a rational design strategy of SMDs for highly efficient SM‐OSCs.