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Despite numerous organic semiconducting materials synthesized for organic photovoltaics in the past decade, fullerenes are widely used as electron acceptors in highly efficient bulk-heterojunction solar cells. None of the non-fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells have achieved efficiencies as high as fullerene-based solar cells. Design principles for fullerene-free acceptors remain unclear in the field. Here we report examples of helical molecular semiconductors as electron acceptors that are on par with fullerene derivatives in efficient solar cells. We achieved an 8.3% power conversion efficiency in a solar cell, which is a record high for non-fullerene bulk heterojunctions. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy revealed both electron and hole transfer processes at the donor-acceptor interfaces. Atomic force microscopy reveals a mesh-like network of acceptors with pores that are tens of nanometres in diameter for efficient exciton separation and charge transport. This study describes a new motif for designing highly efficient acceptors for organic solar cells.

Bridgehead imine-substituted cyclopentadithiophene structural units, in combination with highly electronegative acceptors that exhibit progressively delocalized π-systems, afford donor-acceptor (DA) conjugated polymers with broad absorption profiles that span technologically relevant wavelength (λ) ranges from 0.7 < λ < 3.2 μm. A joint theoretical and experimental study demonstrates that the presence of the cross-conjugated substituent at the donor bridgehead position results in the capability to fine-tune structural and electronic properties so as to achieve very narrow optical bandgaps (Eg (opt) < 0.5 eV). This strategy affords modular DA copolymers with broad- and long-wavelength light absorption in the infrared and materials with some of the narrowest bandgaps reported to date., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Photodetectors operating across the short‐, mid‐, and long‐wave infrared (SWIR–LWIR, λ = 1–14 µm) underpin modern science, technology, and society in profound ways. Narrow bandgap semiconductors that form the basis for these devices require complex manufacturing, high costs, cooling, and lack compatibility with silicon electronics, attributes that remain prohibitive for their widespread usage and the development of emerging technologies. Here, a photoconductive detector, fabricated using a solution‐processed narrow bandgap conjugated polymer is demonstrated that enables charge carrier generation in the infrared and ultrasensitive SWIR–LWIR photodetection at room temperature. Devices demonstrate an ultralow electronic noise that enables outstanding performance from a simple, monolithic device enabling a high detectivity (D*, the figure of merit for detector sensitivity) >2.44 × 109 Jones (cm Hz1/2 W−1) using the ultralow flux of a blackbody that mirrors the background emission of objects. These attributes, ease of fabrication, low dark current characteristics, and highly sensitive operation overcome major limitations inherent within modern narrow–bandgap semiconductors, demonstrate practical utility, and suggest that uncooled detectivities superior to many inorganic devices can be achieved at high operating temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymers are desirable optoelectronic materials, stemming from their solution processability, tunable electronic properties, and large absorption coefficients. An exciting development is the recent discovery that singlet fission (SF), the conversion of a singlet exciton to a pair of triplet states, can occur along the backbone of an individual conjugated polymer chain. Compared to other intramolecular SF compounds, the nature of the triplet pair state in SF polymers remains poorly understood, hampering the development of new materials with optimized excited state dynamics. Here, we investigate the effect of solvent polarity on the triplet pair dynamics in the SF polymer polybenzodithiophene-thiophene-1,1-dioxide. We use transient emission measurements to study isolated polymer chains in solution and use the change in the solvent polarity to investigate the role of charge transfer character in both the singlet exciton and the triplet pair multiexciton. We identify both singlet fluorescence and direct triplet pair emission, indicating significant symmetry breaking. Surprisingly, the singlet emission peak is relatively insensitive to solvent polarity despite its nominal "charge-transfer" nature. In contrast, the redshift of the triplet pair energy with increasing solvent polarity indicates significant charge transfer character. While the energy separation between singlet and triplet pair states increases with solvent polarity, the overall SF rate constant depends on both the energetic driving force and additional environmental factors. The triplet pair lifetime is directly determined by the solvent effect on its overall energy. The dominant recombination channel is a concerted, radiationless decay process that scales as predicted by a simple energy gap law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first highly efficient single junction quaternary blend solar cells that break efficiency above 10% with complementary squaraine small molecules and low band‐gap polymer combinations are reported by Nilay Hazari, André D. Taylor and co‐workers in article number 1600660. The quaternary design demonstrates several advantages: (i) broader light absorption, (ii) improved surface morphology, (iii) enhanced co‐crystallization packing, (iv) multiple energy and charge transfer pathways to reduce recombination, and (v) increased charge mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Front Cover: Bridgehead imine ‐ substituted cyclopentadithiophene structural units, in combination with strong acceptors with progressively delocalized π ‐ systems, afford modular donor ‐ acceptor copolymers with broad and long wavelength light absorption in the infrared. These solution ‐ processable materials possess some of the narrowest bandgaps reported to date and elucidate important aspects of the role of chemical structure in controlling the primary photoexcitations in conjugated copolymer systems. Further details can be found in the article by M. E. Foster, B. A. Zhang, D. Murtagh, Y. Liu, M. Y. Sfeir, B. M. Wong, and J. D. Azoulay* on page 1516. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]