Recent advances in high-performance organic solar cells enabled by acceptor–donor–acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–DA′D–A) type acceptors

Jiajun Zhao, Chao Yao, Muhammad Umair Ali, Jingsheng Miao and Hong Meng

Mater. Chem. Front., 2020, 4, 3487
DOI: 10.1039/D0QM00305K

Organic photovoltaic cells with high efficiencies for both indoor and outdoor applications

Ye Xu, Huifeng Yao, Lijiao Ma, Ziang Wu, Yong Cui, Ling Hong, Yunfei Zu, Jingwen Wang, Han Young Woo and Jianhui Hou

Mater. Chem. Front., 2021, 5, 893
DOI: 10.1039/D0QM00633E

Fine-tuning the energy levels and morphology via fluorination and thermal annealing enable high efficiency non-fullerene organic solar cells

Yingying Zhao, Honggang Chen, Can Zhu, Jun Yuan, Yungui Li, Jiefeng Hai, Yunbin Hu, Lihui Jiang, Guohui Chen and Yingping Zou

Mater. Chem. Front., 2020, 4, 3310
DOI: 10.1039/D0QM00034E

Material perceptions and advances in molecular heteroacenes for organic solar cells

Amaresh Mishra

Energy Environ. Sci., 2020, 13, 4738
DOI: 10.1039/D0EE02461A

Synergy strategy to the flexible alkyl and chloride side-chain engineered quinoxaline-based D–A conjugated polymers for efficient non-fullerene polymer solar cells

Liang Zeng, Ruijie Ma, Qiang Zhang, Tao Liu, Yiqun Xiao, Kai Zhang, Suqing Cui, Weiguo Zhu, Xinhui Lu, He Yan and Yu Liu

Mater. Chem. Front., 2021, 5, 1906
DOI: 10.1039/D0QM00826E

Fused ring A–DA′D–A (Y-series) non-fullerene acceptors: recent developments and design strategies for organic photovoltaics

Pachaiyappan Murugan, Ting Hu, Xiaotian Hu and Yiwang Chen

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 17968
DOI: 10.1039/D2TA04501J

Binary non-fullerene-based polymer solar cells with a 430 nm thick active layer showing 15.39% efficiency and 73.38% fill factor

Feilong Pan, Mei Luo, Xuncheng Liu, Haiying Jiang, Zhen Wang, Dong Yuan, Qian Wang, Lechi Qing, Zesheng Zhang, Lianjie Zhang, Yingping Zou and Junwu Chen

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021, 9, 7129
DOI: 10.1039/D1TA00287B

Trifluoro alkyl side chains in the non-fullerene acceptors to optimize the phase miscibility and vertical distribution of organic solar cells

Tian Zhang, Haopeng Chen, Chuanfu Li, Kun Lu, Liting Zhang, Ahmad Shokrieh, Jianqi Zhang, Guanghao Lu, Shengbin Lei and Zhixiang Wei

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 8837
DOI: 10.1039/D2TA00174H

Recent progress in Y-series small molecule acceptors in polymer solar cells

Min Deng, Lei Tan, Hao Tang and Qiang Peng

Chem. Commun., 2025, 61, 9569
DOI: 10.1039/D5CC02352A

Semitransparent organic solar cells: from molecular design to structure–performance relationships

Kanupriya Khandelwal, Subhayan Biswas, Amaresh Mishra and Ganesh D. Sharma

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 13
DOI: 10.1039/D1TC04569E

Semi-transparent photovoltaics

Chunyu Xu, Yifan Chen, Zijin Zhao, Bowen Yang, Jiajia Suo, Kun Ba, Alexey Tarasov, Yulun Wu, Xinxin Lian, Ming Luo, Yiqiang Zhan, Yifeng Chen, Jifan Gao, Xiaoliang Mo, Wallace C. H. Choy, Jianlu Wang, Hong Zhang and Junhao Chu

Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, 18, 2095
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE04209C

Indole-based A–DA′D–A type acceptor-based organic solar cells achieve efficiency over 15 % with low energy loss

Yu Chen, Rui Cao, Hui Liu, M. L. Keshtov, Emmanuel N. Koukaras, Hemraj Dahiya, Yingping Zou and Ganesh D. Sharma

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020, 4, 6203
DOI: 10.1039/D0SE01343A

High-performance bifacial semitransparent organic photovoltaics featuring a decently transparent TeO2/Ag electrode

Xin Liu, Yunsen Zhao, Jiangsheng Yu and Rihong Zhu

Mater. Chem. Front., 2021, 5, 8197
DOI: 10.1039/D1QM01142A

Theoretical exploration of diverse electron-deficient core and terminal groups in A–DA′D–A type non-fullerene acceptors for organic solar cells

Yueyue Shao, Tian Lu, Minjie Li and Wencong Lu

New J. Chem., 2022, 46, 3370
DOI: 10.1039/D1NJ04571G

A near-infrared polymer enables over 50% transmittance in semi-transparent organic solar cells

Qingyun Wei, Yi Zhang, Tong Shan and Hongliang Zhong

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 5887
DOI: 10.1039/D2TC00025C

2-Dimensional cross-shaped tetrathienonaphthalene-based ladder-type acceptor for high-efficiency organic solar cells

Shao-Ling Chang, Fong-Yi Cao, Kuo-Hsiu Huang, Wei-Liang Lee, Meng-Hsun Lee, Chain-Shu Hsu and Yen-Ju Cheng

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 12141
DOI: 10.1039/D0TA04240D

High-Performance Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics Featuring a Surface Phase-Matched Transmission-Enhancing Ag/ITO Electrode

Bing-Huang Jiang, He-En Lee, Jong-Hong Lu, Tsung-Han Tsai, Tien-Shou Shieh, Ru-Jong Jeng and Chih-Ping Chen

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2020, 12, 39496
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c10906

Organic and Inorganic Photoactive Absorbers for Wavelength‐Selective Transparent Photovoltaic Devices: Focus Review

Terence K. S. Wong

Energy Tech, 2025, 13
DOI: 10.1002/ente.202400961

High-performance multifunctional semitransparent organic solar cells enabled by aperiodic band-pass filters

Mengan Zhao, Jiang Wu, Zekun Liu, Yingying Fu, Jian Liu, Mukhamed L. Keshtov, Dmitri Godovsky and Zhiyuan Xie

Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2025, 110, 760
DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2025.07.024

Semitransparent organic solar cells based on all-low-bandgap donor and acceptor materials and their performance potential

T. Jiang, G. Zhang, R. Xia, J. Huang, X. Li, M. Wang, H.-L. Yip and Y. Cao

Materials Today Energy, 2021, 21, 100807
DOI: 10.1016/j.mtener.2021.100807

Recent progress in semitransparent organic solar cells

Zonghao Wu, Hang Yin, Gang Li and Ziwu Ji

Organic Electronics, 2024, 129, 107060
DOI: 10.1016/j.orgel.2024.107060

Triplet Acceptors with a D‐A Structure and Twisted Conformation for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Linqing Qin, Xingzheng Liu, Xin Zhang, Jianwei Yu, Lei Yang, Fenggui Zhao, Miaofei Huang, Kangwei Wang, Xiaoxi Wu, Yuhao Li, Hao Chen, Kai Wang, Jianlong Xia, Xinhui Lu, Feng Gao, Yuanping Yi and Hui Huang

Angew Chem Int Ed, 2020, 59, 15043
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202006081

Nonfullerene acceptor isomer with mono-fluorine end-substitution enables oligothiophene-based terpolymer donor with 17.82% efficiency

Mei Luo, Lingchen Kong, Jiahao Liang, Zesheng Zhang, Suinan Deng, Lianjie Zhang, Xianfeng Qiao, Dongge Ma and Junwu Chen

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 457, 141281
DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.141281

Recent progress in device engineering for semitransparent organic photovoltaics

Chenyujie Zhu, Haolin Zheng, Longtang Zhao and Xiaozhang Zhu

Sci. China Mater., 2025, 68, 1314
DOI: 10.1007/s40843-024-3210-y

Optimizing the Charge Carrier and Light Management of Nonfullerene Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells with Small Nonradiative Energy Losses

Yanan Shi, Junxiu Pan, Jianwei Yu, Jianqi Zhang, Feng Gao, Kun Lu and Zhixiang Wei

Solar RRL, 2021, 5
DOI: 10.1002/solr.202100008

Research Advances on Benzotriazole-based Organic Photovoltaic Materials

Yang Bai, Ling-Wei Xue, Hai-Qiao Wang and Zhi-Guo Zhang

Acta Chimica Sinica, 2021, 79, 820
DOI: 10.6023/A21050193

Semitransparent organic solar cells based on low temperature processed PEIE as electron transport layer with enhanced charge transfer ability

Lubna Khanam and Samarendra Pratap Singh

Phys. Scr., 2023, 98, 065931
DOI: 10.1088/1402-4896/acd0de

Latest Progress on Photoabsorbent Materials for Multifunctional Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells

Gururaj P. Kini, Sung Jae Jeon and Doo Kyung Moon

Adv Funct Materials, 2021, 31
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202007931

High‐Performance Semi‐Transparent Organic Photovoltaic Devices via Improving Absorbing Selectivity

Yaokai Li, Chengliang He, Lijian Zuo, Feng Zhao, Lingling Zhan, Xin Li, Ruoxi Xia, Hin‐Lap Yip, Chang‐Zhi Li, Xu Liu and Hongzheng Chen

Advanced Energy Materials, 2021, 11
DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202003408

High‐Efficiency Organic Solar Cells with Reduced Nonradiative Voltage Loss Enabled by a Highly Emissive Narrow Bandgap Fused Ring Acceptor

Hao Lu, Wenxu Liu, Hui Jin, Hao Huang, Zheng Tang and Zhishan Bo

Adv Funct Materials, 2022, 32
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202107756

A critical review on semitransparent organic solar cells

Zhenghao Hu, Jian Wang, Xiaoling Ma, Jinhua Gao, Chunyu Xu, Kaixuan Yang, Zhi Wang, Jian Zhang and Fujun Zhang

Nano Energy, 2020, 78, 105376
DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105376

High‐Efficiency Organic Solar Cells Based on Asymmetric Acceptors Bearing One 3D Shape‐Persistent Terminal Group

Hao Lu, Hui Jin, Hao Huang, Wenxu Liu, Zheng Tang, Jianqi Zhang and Zhishan Bo

Adv Funct Materials, 2021, 31
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202103445

Solution Processed Semi‐Transparent Organic Solar Cells Over 50% Visible Transmittance Enabled by Silver Nanowire Electrode with Sandwich Structure

Shaoming Sun, Wusong Zha, Chenyang Tian, Zhixiang Wei, Qun Luo, Chang‐Qi Ma, Wuyue Liu and Xiaozhang Zhu

Advanced Materials, 2023, 35
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202305092

Combining chlorination and sulfuration strategies for high-performance all-small-molecule organic solar cells

Ruimin Zhou, Chen Yang, Wenjun Zou, Muhammad Abdullah Adil, Huan Li, Min Lv, Ziyun Huang, Menglan Lv, Jianqi Zhang, Kun Lu and Zhixiang Wei

Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2021, 52, 228
DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2020.04.041

Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells with Efficiency Surpassing 15%

Jianhua Jing, Sheng Dong, Kai Zhang, Zhisheng Zhou, Qifan Xue, Yu Song, Zurong Du, Minrun Ren and Fei Huang

Advanced Energy Materials, 2022, 12
DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202200453

Recent Progress in the Design of Fused-Ring Non-Fullerene Acceptors─Relations between Molecular Structure and Optical, Electronic, and Photovoltaic Properties

Bettina Schweda, Matiss Reinfelds, Petra Hofstadler, Gregor Trimmel and Thomas Rath

ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 2021, 4, 11899
DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.1c01737

Delicately Controlled Polymer Orientation for High-Performance Non-Fullerene Solar Cells with Halogen-Free Solvent Processing

Dong Yuan, Guoming Qin, Lianjie Zhang, Feilong Pan, Rihang Qiu, Shuyi Lei, Suinan Deng and Junwu Chen

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2021, 13, 57654
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c13245

Triplet Acceptors with a D‐A Structure and Twisted Conformation for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Linqing Qin, Xingzheng Liu, Xin Zhang, Jianwei Yu, Lei Yang, Fenggui Zhao, Miaofei Huang, Kangwei Wang, Xiaoxi Wu, Yuhao Li, Hao Chen, Kai Wang, Jianlong Xia, Xinhui Lu, Feng Gao, Yuanping Yi and Hui Huang

Angewandte Chemie, 2020, 132, 15153
DOI: 10.1002/ange.202006081

Semi-transparent organic photovoltaics for agrivoltaic applications

Wei Song, Jinfeng Ge, Lin Xie, Zhenyu Chen, Qinrui Ye, Dinghong Sun, Jingyu Shi, Xinyu Tong, Xiaoli Zhang and Ziyi Ge

Nano Energy, 2023, 116, 108805
DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2023.108805

Fine-tuning HOMO energy levels between PM6 and PBDB-T polymer donors via ternary copolymerization

Xiaojun Li, Ruijie Ma, Tao Liu, Yiqun Xiao, Gaoda Chai, Xinhui Lu, He Yan and Yongfang Li

Sci. China Chem., 2020, 63, 1256
DOI: 10.1007/s11426-020-9805-7

Recent Progress in Semitransparent Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells

Yiman Dong, Huaizhi Gao, Runnan Yu, Yongshuai Gong, Zongwen Ma and Zhan'ao Tan

Physica Status Solidi (a), 2022, 219
DOI: 10.1002/pssa.202100731

1,1-Dicyanomethylene-3-Indanone End-Cap Engineering for Fused-Ring Electron Acceptor-Based High-Performance Organic Photovoltaics

Jiaming Huang, Hua Tang, Cenqi Yan and Gang Li

Cell Reports Physical Science, 2021, 2, 100292
DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2020.100292

Foldable Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells for Photovoltaic and Photosynthesis

Wei Song, Billy Fanady, Ruixiang Peng, Ling Hong, Lirong Wu, Wenxia Zhang, Tingting Yan, Tao Wu, Sanhui Chen and Ziyi Ge

Advanced Energy Materials, 2020, 10
DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202000136

Enhanced hindrance from phenyl outer side chains on nonfullerene acceptor enables unprecedented simultaneous enhancement in organic solar cell performances with 16.7% efficiency

Gaoda Chai, Yuan Chang, Zhengxing Peng, Yanyan Jia, Xinhui Zou, Dian Yu, Han Yu, Yuzhong Chen, Philip C.Y. Chow, Kam Sing Wong, Jianquan Zhang, Harald Ade, Liwei Yang and Chuanlang Zhan

Nano Energy, 2020, 76, 105087
DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105087

Recent Progress on Advanced Optical Structures for Emerging Photovoltaics and Photodetectors

Chien-Yu Chen, Guang-Hsun Tan, Hsiang-Lin Hsu, Chih-Ping Chen and Hao-Wu Lin

Adv Energy and Sustain Res, 2020, 1
DOI: 10.1002/aesr.202000035

Renewed Prospects for Organic Photovoltaics

Guichuan Zhang, Francis R. Lin, Feng Qi, Thomas Heumüller, Andreas Distler, Hans-Joachim Egelhaaf, Ning Li, Philip C. Y. Chow, Christoph J. Brabec, Alex K.-Y. Jen and Hin-Lap Yip

Chem. Rev., 2022, 122, 14180
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00955

Agrivoltaics—The Perfect Fit for the Future of Organic Photovoltaics

Rico Meitzner, Ulrich S. Schubert and Harald Hoppe

Advanced Energy Materials, 2021, 11
DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202002551

Toward High‐Performance Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics with Narrow‐Bandgap Donors and Non‐Fullerene Acceptors

Hao‐Wen Cheng, Yepin Zhao and Yang Yang

Advanced Energy Materials, 2022, 12
DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202102908

Transparent Hole‐Transporting Frameworks: A Unique Strategy to Design High‐Performance Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics

Pei Cheng, Hao‐Cheng Wang, Yuan Zhu, Ran Zheng, Tengfei Li, Chung‐Hao Chen, Tianyi Huang, Yepin Zhao, Rui Wang, Dong Meng, Yaowen Li, Chenhui Zhu, Kung‐Hwa Wei, Xiaowei Zhan and Yang Yang

Advanced Materials, 2020, 32
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202003891

The charge dynamics of PBDB-TF:IT-4F based non-fullerene organic solar cells with 1,8-diiodooctane additive

Ling Zhao, Hongzhu Ji, Shuhong Li, Qiang Shi, Changqing Zhu, Wenjun Wang and Di Huang

Applied Surface Science, 2021, 569, 151120
DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.151120

Optimization of translucent perovskite solar cells based on MoO3/metal/MoO3 multilayer transparent electrodes

Jun Wu, Yajun Xu, Jun Zhao, Haoran Ma, Jinjie Zheng and Wei Zhang

Solar Energy, 2025, 299, 113675
DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113675

New Phase for Organic Solar Cell Research: Emergence of Y-Series Electron Acceptors and Their Perspectives

Shuixing Li, Chang-Zhi Li, Minmin Shi and Hongzheng Chen

ACS Energy Lett., 2020, 5, 1554
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c00537

High‐Efficiency Organic Solar Cells Enabled by Non‐Fullerene Acceptors with Benzimidazole as the Central Core

Jing Wang, Junwei Zhu, Chenxi Li, Yi Lin, Yang Yang, Zaifei Ma and Yan Lu

Adv Funct Materials, 2023, 33
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202304449

Recent progress in organic solar cells (Part II device engineering)

Yahui Liu, Bowen Liu, Chang-Qi Ma, Fei Huang, Guitao Feng, Hongzheng Chen, Jianhui Hou, Lingpeng Yan, Qingya Wei, Qun Luo, Qinye Bao, Wei Ma, Wei Liu, Weiwei Li, Xiangjian Wan, Xiaotian Hu, Yanchun Han, Yaowen Li, Yinhua Zhou, Yingping Zou, Yiwang Chen, Yuqiang Liu, Lei Meng, Yongfang Li, Yongsheng Chen, Zheng Tang, Zhicheng Hu, Zhi-Guo Zhang and Zhishan Bo

Sci. China Chem., 2022, 65, 1457
DOI: 10.1007/s11426-022-1256-8

Efficient Non-Fullerene Solar Cells Enabled by a Temperature-Dependent Terpolymer with Controlled Aggregation and Orientation

Jiahao Liang, Shuyi Lei, Lianjie Zhang, Feilong Pan, Mei Luo, Haizhen Liu, Zesheng Zhang, Dong Yuan and Junwu Chen

ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 2022, 5, 11866
DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.2c02453

Hydrogen‐Bond‐Induced High Performance Semitransparent Ternary Organic Solar Cells with 14% Efficiency and Enhanced Stability

Xi Lu, Luye Cao, Xiaoyang Du, Hui Lin, Caijun Zheng, Zhenhua Chen, Bo Sun and Silu Tao

Advanced Optical Materials, 2021, 9
DOI: 10.1002/adom.202100064

Fibril Network Strategy Enables High‐Performance Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells

Yuanpeng Xie, Yunhao Cai, Lei Zhu, Ruoxi Xia, Linglong Ye, Xiang Feng, Hin‐Lap Yip, Feng Liu, Guanghao Lu, Songting Tan and Yanming Sun

Adv Funct Materials, 2020, 30
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202002181

Recent Progress in Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells: Photoabsorbent Materials and Design Strategies

Shabaz Alam, Suhui Sim, Meng Qiang Li, Bong-Jun Chang and Jaewon Lee

Micromachines, 2024, 15, 493
DOI: 10.3390/mi15040493

Compatibility between Solubility and Enhanced Crystallinity of Benzotriazole-Based Small Molecular Acceptors with Less Bulky Alkyl Chains for Organic Solar Cells

Honggang Chen, Xinxin Xia, Jun Yuan, Qingya Wei, Wei Liu, Zhe Li, Can Zhu, Xiaosha Wang, Huilan Guan, Xinhui Lu, Yongfang Li and Yingping Zou

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2021, 13, 36053
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c07254

Three Isomeric Non-Fullerene Acceptors Comprising a Mono-Brominated End-Group for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Mei Luo, Yinchu Chen, Jiahao Liang, Jiadong Zhou, Dong Yuan, Zesheng Zhang, Xuanchen Liu, Lianjie Zhang, Zengqi Xie and Junwu Chen

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2022, 14, 35985
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c09323

Regioregular narrow bandgap copolymer with strong aggregation ability for high-performance semitransparent photovoltaics

Yilin Chang, Xiangwei Zhu, Lingyun Zhu, Yuheng Wang, Chen Yang, Xianrong Gu, Yixiao Zhang, Jianqi Zhang, Kun Lu, Xiangnan Sun and Zhixiang Wei

Nano Energy, 2021, 86, 106098
DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106098

Performance optimization of non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cell by incorporating carbon nanotubes as flexible transparent electrode

Bharti Sharma, A.S. Mathur, Ishan K Singh and B.P. Singh

Results in Optics, 2022, 9, 100315
DOI: 10.1016/j.rio.2022.100315

Trifluorophenyl Side Chain Engineering in Benzotriazole‐Core Acceptors for High‐Performance Organic Photovoltaics

Sabeen Zahra, Du Hyeon Ryu, Jong‐Woon Ha, Seungjin Lee, Muhammad Haris, Chang Eun Song, Hang Ken Lee, Sang Kyu Lee and Won Suk Shin

Energy & Environ Materials, 2025, 8
DOI: 10.1002/eem2.12875