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Research Article

Investigation of charge transfer between donor and acceptor for small-molecule organic solar cells by scanning tunneling microscopy and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy

Yuchuan Xiao1,4,6,§, Linxiu Cheng1,2,§, Xinyu Sui1,§, Qi Wang1, Jie Chen1, Dan Deng3, Jianqi Zhang3, Xuan Peng1,3, Xiaokang Li5, Xunwen Xiao6, Ke Deng1( ), Xinfeng Liu1( ), Zhixiang Wei3( ), Qingdao Zeng1,4( )
CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), Beijing 100190, China
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Solid Waste Recycling, School of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo 315211, China

§ Yuchuan Xiao, Linxiu Cheng, and Xinyu Sui contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

In this work, the morphologies of BTID-nF (n = 1, 2)/PC71BM donor–acceptor system in active layer of organic solar cell have been studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The nature of the charge transfers in BTID-nF (n = 1, 2)/PC71BM donor–acceptor system has been revealed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy.

Abstract

Small-molecule organic solar cell is a category of clean energy potential device since charge transfers between donor and acceptor. The morphologies, co-assembly behavior, interaction sites, and charge transfer of BTID-nF (n = 1, 2)/PC71BM donor–acceptor system in the active layer of organic solar cell have been studied employing scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. The results show that BTID-1F and BTID-2F form bright strip structures, whereas BTID-nF (n = 1, 2)/PC71BM form ridge-like structures with each complex composed of one BTID-nF (n = 1, 2) molecule and four PC71BM molecules which adsorbed around the BTID-nF (n = 1, 2) molecule by S···π interaction. With the assistance of S···π interaction between BTID-nF (n = 1, 2) and PC71BM, BTID-nF (n = 1, 2)/PC71BM co-assembled ridge-like structures are more stable than the BTID-nF (n = 1, 2) ridge structures. To investigate the charge transfer of BTID-nF (n = 1, 2)/PC71BM system, STS measurements, DFT calculation, and TA spectroscopy are further performed. The results show that charge transfer occurs in BTID-nF (n = 1, 2)/PC71BM system with the electron transferring from BTID-nF (n = 1, 2) molecules to PC71BM.

Keywords

organic solar cellsscanning tunneling microscopytransient absorption spectroscopycharge transferdonor–acceptor system

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Nano Research
Volume 15 Issue 9,
September 2022
Pages 8019-8027
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4408-1
Cite this article:
Xiao Y, Cheng L, Sui X, et al. Investigation of charge transfer between donor and acceptor for small-molecule organic solar cells by scanning tunneling microscopy and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. Nano Research, 2022, 15(9): 8019-8027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4408-1
Topics:
Organic solar cells

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Received: 06 February 2022
Revised: 30 March 2022
Accepted: 07 April 2022
Published: 08 June 2022
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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