The field of halide metal perovskite photovoltaics has caught widespread interest in the last decade. This is seen in the rapid rise of power conversion efficiency, which is currently over 23%. It ...has also stimulated a widespread application of halide metal perovskites in other fields, such as light‐emitting diodes, field‐effect transistors, detectors, and lasers. Despite the fascinating characteristics of the halide metal perovskites, the presence of toxic lead (Pb) in their chemical composition is regarded as one of the major limiting factors preventing their commercialization. Addressing the toxicity issues in these compounds by a careful and strategic replacement of Pb2+ with other nontoxic candidate elements represents a promising direction to fabricate lead‐free optoelectronic devices. Such attempts yield a halide double perovskite structure which allows flexibility for various compositional adjustments. Here, the authors present the current progress and setbacks in crystal structures, materials preparation, optoelectronic properties, stability, and photovoltaic applications of lead‐free halide double perovskite compounds. Prospective research directions to improve the optoelectronic properties of existing materials are given that may help in the discovery of new lead‐free halide double perovskites.
Halide double perovskites represent a promising direction to fabricate lead‐free optoelectronic devices. The current progress and setbacks in crystal structures, materials preparation, optoelectronic properties, stability, challenge, and photovoltaic applications of lead‐free halide double perovskite compounds are reviewed in detail.
Compared to efficient green and near‐infrared light‐emitting diodes (LEDs), less progress has been made on deep‐blue perovskite LEDs. They suffer from inefficient domain various number of PbX6− ...layers (n) control, resulting in a series of unfavorable issues such as unstable color, multipeak profile, and poor fluorescence yield. Here, a strategy involving a delicate spacer modulation for quasi‐2D perovskite films via an introduction of aromatic polyamine molecules into the perovskite precursor is reported. With low‐dimensional component engineering, the n1 domain, which shows nonradiative recombination and retarded exciton transfer, is significantly suppressed. Also, the n3 domain, which represents the population of emission species, is remarkably increased. The optimized quasi‐2D perovskite film presents blue emission from the n3 domain (peak at 465 nm) with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) as high as 77%. It enables the corresponding perovskite LEDs to deliver stable deep‐blue emission (CIE (0.145, 0.05)) with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 2.6%. The findings in this work provide further understanding on the structural and emission properties of quasi‐2D perovskites, which pave a new route to design deep‐blue‐emissive perovskite materials.
A quasi‐two‐dimensional perovskite film with stable domain distribution is prepared based on a new spacer. The film containing pure bromide perovskite exhibits enhanced deep‐blue fluorescence with quantum yield of 77% by low‐dimensional component engineering. As a result, the corresponding light‐emitting diodes deliver stable deep‐blue emission with a peak external quantum efficiency of 2.6%.
Researchers have spared no effort to design new thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters for high‐efficiency organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, efficient long‐wavelength ...TADF emitters are rarely reported. Herein, a red TADF emitter, TPA–PZCN, is reported, which possesses a high photoluminescence quantum yield (ΦPL) of 97% and a small singlet–triplet splitting (ΔEST) of 0.13 eV. Based on the superior properties of TPA–PZCN, red, deep‐red, and near‐infrared (NIR) OLEDs are fabricated by utilizing different device structure strategies. The red devices obtain a remarkable maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 27.4% and an electroluminescence (EL) peak at 628 nm with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.65, 0.35), which represents the best result with a peak wavelength longer than 600 nm among those of the reported red TADF devices. Furthermore, an exciplex‐forming cohost strategy is adopted. The devices achieve a record EQE of 28.1% and a deep‐red EL peak at 648 nm with the CIE coordinates of (0.66, 0.34). Last, nondoped devices exhibit 5.3% EQE and an NIR EL peak at 680 nm with the CIE coordinates of (0.69, 0.30).
A novel red thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitter, TPA–PZCN, is designed and synthesized. It simultaneously possesses a high ΦPL of 97% and a small ΔEST of 0.13 eV. Red, deep‐red, and near‐infrared organic light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) based on it achieve record external quantum efficiencies of 27.4%, 28.1%, and 5.3%, respectively, which are the best performances in comparison with LEDs having a similar device structure.
Organic semiconductors can be designed and constructed in π‐stacked structures instead of the conventional π‐conjugated structures. Through‐space interaction (TSI) occurs in π‐stacked optoelectronic ...materials. Thus, unlike electronic coupling along the conjugated chain, the functional groups can stack closely to facilitate spatial electron communication. Using π‐stacked motifs, chemists and materials scientists can find new ways for constructing materials with aggregation‐induced emission (AIE), thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), and room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP), as well as enhanced molecular conductance. Organic optoelectronic devices based on π‐stacked molecules have exhibited very promising performance, with some of them exceeding π‐conjugated analogues. Recently, reports on various organic π‐stacked structures have grown rapidly, prompting this review. Representative molecular scaffolds and newly developed π‐stacked systems could stimulate more attention on through‐space charge transfer the well‐known through‐bond charge transfer. Finally, the opportunities and challenges for utilizing and improving particular materials are discussed. The previous achievements and upcoming prospects may provide new insights into the theory, materials, and devices in the field of organic semiconductors.
Unlike traditional covalent bond‐connected conjugated molecules, π‐stacked small molecules have special advantages in organic semiconductors. This review mainly focuses on the research development of π‐stacked molecular systems and introduces the new characteristics brought by the special molecular configuration and its application in organic semiconductors.
In this work, two novel thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters, 2tDMG and 3tDMG, are synthesized for high‐efficiency organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), The two emitters have a ...tilted face‐to‐face alignment of donor (D)/acceptor (A) units presenting intramolecular noncovalent interactions. The two TADF materials are deposited either by an evaporation‐process or by a solution‐process, both of them leading to high OLED performance. 2tDMG used as the emitter in evaporation‐processed OLEDs achieves a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 30.8% with a very flat efficiency roll‐off of 7% at 1000 cd m−2. The solution‐processed OLEDs also display an interesting EQE of 16.2%. 3tDMG shows improved solubility and solution processability as compared to 2tDMG, and thus a high EQE of 20.2% in solution‐processed OLEDs is recorded. The corresponding evaporation‐processed OLEDs also reach a reasonably high EQE of 26.3%. Encouragingly, this work provides a novel strategy to address the imperious demands for OLEDs with high EQE and low roll‐off.
A thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitter, 2tDMG, is designed and synthesized based on the donor (D)/acceptor (A) spatially intramolecular noncovalent interaction. The D/A units are connected via a rigid linker, thereby confining them into a close‐packed coplanar configuration for small singlet–triplet splitting energy. 2tDMG achieves a high external quantum efficiency of 30.8% with a low efficiency roll‐off in evaporation‐processed organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs).
Charge transfer state (CT) plays an important role in exciton diffusion, dissociation, and charge recombination mechanisms. Enhancing the utilization and suppressing the recombination process of CT ...excitons is a promising way to improve the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). Here, an effective method is presented via introducing a delayed fluorescence (DF) emitter 3,4‐bis(4‐(diphenylamino)phenyl)acenaphtho1,2‐bpyrazine‐8,9‐dicarbonitrile (APDC‐TPDA) in OSCs. The long‐lifetime singlet excitons on APDC‐TPDA can transfer to polymer donors to prolong exciton lifetime, which ensures sufficient time for diffusion and dissociation. Concurrently, the high triplet energy level (T1) of the DF material can also prevent the reverse energy transfer from CT to T1. APDC‐TPDA‐containing ternary OSCs shows a high PCE of 16.96% with a reduced recombination energy loss of 0.46 eV. It is noteworthy that the ternary OSC also exhibits superior storage stability. After 55 days of storage, the PCE of the ternary OSC still retains about 96% of its primitive state. Furthermore, this ternary strategy is efficient and universally applicable to OSCs, and positive results can be obtained in different systems with different DF emitters. These results indicate that the ternary strategy provides a new design idea to realize high performance OSCs.
Herein, 17% efficient and stable ternary organic solar cells are realized by introducing a delayed fluorescence material 3,4‐bis(4‐(diphenylamino)phenyl)acenaphtho1,2‐bpyrazine‐8,9‐dicarbonitrile (APDC‐TPDA) in a non‐fullerene system. Long‐lifetime singlet excitons on APDC‐TPDA can transfer to the polymer donor to prolong the excitons lifetime and suppress the reverse energy transfer from charge transfer state to triplet state, and then reduce the recombination energy loss of the device.
Multi‐layer π‐stacked emitters based on spatially confined donor/acceptor/donor (D/A/D) patterns have been developed to achieve high‐efficiency thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). In ...this case, dual donor moieties and a single acceptor moiety are introduced to form two three‐dimensional (3D) emitters, DM‐BD1 and DM‐BD2, which rely on spatial charge transfer (CT). Owing to the enforced face‐to‐face D/A/D pattern, effective CT interactions are realized, which lead to high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of 94.2 % and 92.8 % for the two molecules, respectively. The resulting emitters exhibit small singlet–triplet energy splitting (ΔEST) and fast reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) processes. Maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 28.0 % and 26.6 % were realized for devices based on DM‐BD1 and DM‐BD2, respectively, which are higher than those of their D/A‐type analogues.
Multi‐Layer π‐stacked molecules are designed to realize efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence. Spatially confined molecules with stereochemical structures are constructed in donor/acceptor/donor architectures with different conformations. Their organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) devices exhibit high external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 28.0 %/26.6 %, respectively.
Near‐infrared (NIR) organic solid‐state lasers play an essential role in applications ranging from laser communication to infrared night vision, but progress in this area is restricted by the lack of ...effective excited‐state gain processes. Herein, we originally proposed and demonstrated the cascaded occurrence of excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer for constructing the completely new energy‐level systems. Cascading by the first ultrafast proton transfer of <430 fs and the subsequent irreversible second proton transfer of ca. 1.6 ps, the stepwise proton transfer process favors the true six‐level photophysical cycle, which supports efficient population inversion and thus NIR single‐mode lasing at 854 nm. This work realizes longest wavelength beyond 850 nm of organic single‐crystal lasing to date and originally exploits the cascaded excited‐state molecular proton transfer energy‐level systems for organic solid‐state lasers.
Six‐level energy systems are constructed through the cascaded occurrence of excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer consisting of a first ultrafast proton transfer of <430 fs and a following dominant and irreversible proton transfer of ca. 1.6 ps, which support the NIR single‐mode lasing at 854 nm for exploiting energy‐level systems of OSSLs, especially at the NIR region from 780 to 2500 nm.
Energy generation and consumption have always been an important component of social development. Interests in this field are beginning to shift to indoor photovoltaics (IPV) which can serve as power ...sources under low light conditions to meet the energy needs of rapidly growing fields, such as intelligence gathering and information processing which usually operate via the Internet‐of‐things (IoT). Since the power requirements for this purpose continue to decrease, IPV systems under low light may facilitate the realization of self‐powered high‐tech electronic devices connected through the IoT. This review discusses and compares the characteristics of different types of IPV devices such as those based on silicon, dye, III‐V semiconductors, organic compounds, and halide perovskites. Among them, specific attention is paid to perovskite photovoltaics which may potentially become a high performing IPV system due to the fascinating photophysics of the halide perovskite active layer. The limitations of such indoor application as they relate to the toxicity, stability, and electronic structure of halide perovskites are also discussed. Finally, strategies which could produce highly functional, nontoxic, and stable perovskite photovoltaics devices for indoor applications are proposed.
Indoor photovoltaics (IPV) can serve as power sources under low‐light conditions to meet the energy needs of rapidly growing fields, such as intelligence gathering and information processing. Among different types of IPV devices, the eco‐friendly tin‐based perovskite photovotaics may potentially become a high performing IPV system due to the fascinating photo‐physics of the halide perovskite.
The chemical composition engineering of lead halide perovskites via a partial or complete replacement of toxic Pb with tin has been widely reported as a feasible process due to the suitable ionic ...radius of Sn and its possibility of existing in the +2 state. Interestingly, a complete replacement narrows the bandgap while a partial replacement gives an anomalous phenomenon involving a further narrowing of bandgap relative to the pure Pb and Sn halide perovskite compounds. Unfortunately, the merits of this anomalous behavior have not been properly harnessed. Although promising progress has been made to advance the properties and performance of Sn‐based perovskite systems, their photovoltaic (PV) parameters are still significantly inferior to those of the Pb‐based analogs. This review summarizes the current progress and challenges in the preparation, morphological and photophysical properties of Sn‐based halide perovskites, and how these affect their PV performance. Although it can be argued that the Pb halide perovskite systems may remain the most sought after technology in the field of thin film perovskite PV, prospective research directions are suggested to advance the properties of Sn halide perovskite materials for improved device performance.
The replacement of lead with tin in halide perovskites is feasible due to suitable ionic radius and valency. However, easy oxidation, high cost and toxicity concerns in Sn halide perovskite systems may limit the consideration of Sn as a suitable alternative to Pb.