N-type electron-accepting materials for organic solar cells (OSC)
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2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland. All rights reserved. Electron-accepting materials play a key role in the photovoltaic process in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. In order to achieve high-power conversion efficiency (PCE), it is of paramount importance to endow the acceptors with optimized properties, such as balanced energy level, efficient exciton dissociation, ideal phase separation and morphology, complementary absorption spectrum compared to the donor, sufficient electron mobility, feasible synthesis, low cost, and good solution processability. Fullerene derivatives have been the predominant type of acceptors since the first BHJ solar cell was ever reported. Non-fullerene type of acceptors, however, started to emerge recently as a potential substitute to the expensive fullerene derivatives. This chapter reviews the general design principles of acceptors, followed by discussions and comparisons on the structure-property relationships of both fullerene and non-fullerene derivatives. Eventually, it ends with a critical outlook on the future development of next generation acceptor materials.
