Small bandgap non-fullerene acceptor enables efficient PTB7-Th solar cell with near 0 eV HOMO offset

Three small bandgap non-fullerene (SBG NFAs) acceptors, BDTI, BDTI-2F and BDTI-4F, based on a carbon-oxygen bridged central core and thieno[3,4-b]thiophene linker, end-capped with varied electron-withdrawing terminal groups, were designed and synthesized. The acceptors exhibit strong absorption from 600 nm to 1000 nm. The optimal device incorporating designed NFA and PTB7-Th polymer donor achieves a power conversion efficiency of 9.11% with near 0 eV HOMO offset. The work presents a case study of efficient non-fullerene solar cells with small HOMO offsets, which is achieved by blending PTB7-Th with fine-tuned SBG acceptor.