Volume 64, Issue 28 e202507616
Research Article

Construction of Shamrock-Shaped Giant Molecule Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Shengjie Xu

Corresponding Author

Shengjie Xu

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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Qixin He

Qixin He

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

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Xiaonan Xue

Xiaonan Xue

Shanghai OPV Solar New Energy Technology Co., Ltd, Shanghai, 201210 China

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Jiawei Deng

Jiawei Deng

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

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Fei Han

Fei Han

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

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Fei Xie

Fei Xie

National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230000 China

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Xuechen Jiao

Xuechen Jiao

National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230000 China

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Libo Zhou

Libo Zhou

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

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Rui Zeng

Rui Zeng

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

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Zaiyu Wang

Zaiyu Wang

Suzhou Laboratory, Suzhou, 215100 China

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Ming Zhang

Corresponding Author

Ming Zhang

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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Lei Zhu

Corresponding Author

Lei Zhu

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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Hao Jing

Hao Jing

Shanghai OPV Solar New Energy Technology Co., Ltd, Shanghai, 201210 China

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Yongming Zhang

Yongming Zhang

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

State Key Laboratory of Fluorinated Functional Membrane Materials and Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy Materials Company, Zibo City, Shandong, 256401 China

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Feng Liu

Corresponding Author

Feng Liu

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China

Suzhou Laboratory, Suzhou, 215100 China

State Key Laboratory of Fluorinated Functional Membrane Materials and Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy Materials Company, Zibo City, Shandong, 256401 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 02 May 2025

Graphical Abstract

Based on the highly efficient Qx series of small molecules, we have synthesized T-Qxs, which are shamrock-shaped giant molecules with high glass transition temperature. The miscibility with the polymer donor PM6 was fine-tuned by modulation of the central and terminal atoms, thereby altering the molecular distortion angle. Organic solar cells (OSCs) based on the fully chlorine-substituted T-Qx-15Cl achieve both high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and high thermal stability.

Abstract

The discovery of non-fullerene small molecule acceptor materials has breathed new development into organic solar cells (OSCs). However, it has also introduced the issue of insufficient device stability. Enhancing the glass transition temperature (Tg) of materials by connecting small molecules into giant molecules, thereby improving morphological stability, represents an effective material design strategy to address this issue. In this work, we have synthesized the shamrock-shaped giant molecule materials T-Qx based on high efficiency Qx-series small molecule materials. Through systematically modulating the terminal and the central halogen atoms, precise control of the molecular conformation can be achieved. Notably, the fully chlorine-substituted giant molecule T-Qx-15Cl exhibits the largest torsion angle of approximately 40° and achieves the highest Tg (up to 188 °C) among these new materials. Photovoltaic devices based on these giant molecules demonstrate a low non-radiative energy loss of approximately 0.21 eV, which results in a high open-circuit voltage (Voc) above 0.93 V. T-Qx-15Cl presents the strongest interaction with the polymer donor PM6, achieving a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of more than 20%. This remarkable performance is attributed to the large twisting angle that effectively prevents the excessive aggregation of large π-conjugated planar molecules.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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