Issue 14, 2025

Heteroaromatic ring-modified naphthalimide interlayer materials for efficient polymer solar cells

Abstract

We designed and synthesized four naphthalimide (NI)-based organic cathode interlayer materials (CIMs) end-capped with electron-withdrawing heteroaromatic rings, namely, NTDC, NTR, NTRIC and NTTC. Compared with NTN (bis(N-dimethylaminopropyl)-4-thiophene-1,8-naphthalimide), which is a previously reported CIM, these four CIMs exhibited red-shifted absorption spectra, slightly elevated energy levels, enhanced π–π stacking, and increased surface wettability and roughness. In particular, NTR terminated with a rhodanine unit exhibited increased electron mobility and conductivity, uniformly distributed rod-like surface morphology, superior thermal stability, and stabilized NTR/electron acceptor contact. Moreover, binary PSCs based on the NTR interlayer achieved a power conversion efficiency of up to 18.9% and exhibited enhanced device thermal stabilities. This study provides an effective approach to design efficient and thermally stable NI-based CIMs through heteroaromatic terminal-group strategy for application in high-efficiency non-fullerene PSCs.

Graphical abstract: Heteroaromatic ring-modified naphthalimide interlayer materials for efficient polymer solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Nov 2024
Accepted
26 Feb 2025
First published
28 Feb 2025

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025,13, 10088-10096

Heteroaromatic ring-modified naphthalimide interlayer materials for efficient polymer solar cells

S. Dai, J. Jiang, L. Yu, L. Cui, X. Zhang, C. Zhang, K. Gao, H. Jiang and M. Huang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, 13, 10088 DOI: 10.1039/D4TA08002E

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