Breaking 10% Efficiency in Semitransparent Solar Cells with Fused-Undecacyclic Electron Acceptor

A fused-undecacyclic electron acceptor IUIC has been designed, synthesized and applied in organic solar cells (OSCs) and semitransparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs). In comparison with its counterpart, fused-heptacyclic ITIC4, IUIC with a larger π-conjugation and a stronger electron-donating core exhibits a higher LUMO level (IUIC: −3. 87 eV vs ITIC4: −3.97 eV), 82 nm red-shifted absorption with larger extinction coefficient and smaller optical bandgap, and higher electron mobility. Thus, IUIC-based OSCs show higher values in open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, and thereby much higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) than those of the ITIC4-based counterpart. The as-cast OSCs based on PTB7-Th: IUIC without any extra treatment yield PCEs of up to 11.2%, higher than that of the control devices based on PTB7-Th: ITIC4 (8.18%). The as-cast ST-OSCs based on PTB7-Th: IUIC without any extra treatment afford PCEs of up to 10.2% with an average visible transmittance (AVT) of 31%, higher than those of the control devices based on PTB7-Th: ITIC4 (PCE = 6.42%, AVT = 28%).