All-Polymer Solar Cell Technologies

All-polymer solar cells are a class of organic photovoltaics in which both the electron-donating and electron-accepting components are conjugated polymers. This fully polymeric architecture offers intrinsic advantages in mechanical flexibility, thermal stability and morphological robustness compared with polymer–small molecule systems. Progress in material design, particularly the development of low-bandgap polymer acceptors and polymerised small-molecule acceptors, has driven power conversion efficiencies from single digits to above 17 per cent. Key challenges remain in optimising bulk heterojunction morphology, controlling phase separation at the nanoscale and minimising energy losses during exciton dissociation. Strategies in polymer synthesis, additive engineering and processing conditions have been central to tailoring domain purity and crystallinity, thereby enhancing charge transport and reducing recombination. The convergence of molecular design and advanced film-forming techniques promises to deliver scalable, durable and high-performance all-polymer solar modules for applications in wearable electronics, building-integrated photovoltaics and distributed power generation.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent work has introduced a nano-to-micron hierarchical morphology in all-polymer devices by combining a nano-fibrillar donor–acceptor network with a microscale surface topology, yielding a record efficiency near 19 per cent and a 30 per cent boost in power gain under oblique illumination. Another advance employs a poly(fullerene-alt-xylene) guest acceptor to construct ternary blends, achieving an efficiency increase from 16.9 to 18.0 per cent while simultaneously reducing voltage loss and enhancing mechanical durability. Complementing these developments, synergistic optimisation of polymerised small molecule acceptors through modifications of π-bridge linkers and side chains has led to binary all-polymer cells surpassing 17 per cent efficiency by improving phase separation, charge transport and exciton dissociation kinetics.

All-Polymer Solar Cell Technologies publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in all-polymer solar cell technologies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Bulk heterojunction: An interpenetrating network of donor and acceptor polymers that facilitates exciton dissociation and unimpeded charge transport.

Power conversion efficiency: The ratio of electrical output power to incident solar power under standard testing conditions.

Phase separation: The self-organisation of donor and acceptor polymers into discrete domains with controlled size and purity.

Polymer donor: A light-absorbing conjugated polymer that generates excitons upon photon absorption.

Polymer acceptor: A conjugated polymer or polymerised small molecule that accepts electrons from the donor and transports charge to the electrode.

References

1. All-polymer organic solar cells with nano-to-micron hierarchical morphology and large light receiving angle. Nature Communications (2023).
2. Improved photovoltaic performance and robustness of all-polymer solar cells enabled by a polyfullerene guest acceptor. Nature Communications (2023).
3. High performance polymerized small molecule acceptor by synergistic optimization on π-bridge linker and side chain. Nature Communications (2022).
4. Over 14% efficiency all-polymer solar cells enabled by a low bandgap polymer acceptor with low energy loss and efficient charge separation. Energy & Environmental Science (2020).
5. Morphology control in high‐efficiency all‐polymer solar cells. InfoMat (2022).
6. Binary Blend All‐Polymer Solar Cells with a Record Efficiency of 17.41% Enabled by Programmed Fluorination Both on Donor and Acceptor Blocks. Advanced Science (2022).