Asymmetric ITIC acceptor for asymmetric benzodithiophene polymer solar cells

In this work, one novel asymmetric non-fullerene acceptor ITIC-3T was designed and synthesized. ITIC-3T molecule shows 1.58 eV Eg, with −3.95 eV LUMO level. Utilizing P3 (one asymmetric 2D conjugated benzodithiophene polymer) as donor material, bulk heterojunction solar cells were fabricated. The optimal device yields a PCE of 6.47% with a VOC of 0.64 V, a FF of 55.5% and a high JSC of 18.18 mA cm−2, which may be attributed to the complementary optical absorption of active blend (P3 and ITIC-3T). In general, this work demonstrates that asymmetric polymer donor and non-fullerene acceptor active layer blend is potential for fabricating efficient photovoltaic cells.