title: Long-term stable polymer solar cells with significantly reduced burn-in loss.
abstract: The inferior long-term stability of polymer-based solar cells needs to be overcome for their commercialization to be viable. In particular, an abrupt decrease in performance during initial device operation, the so-called 'burn-in' loss, has been a major contributor to the short lifetime of polymer solar cells, fundamentally impeding polymer-based photovoltaic technology. In this study, we demonstrate polymer solar cells with significantly improved lifetime, in which an initial burn-in loss is substantially reduced. By isolating trap-embedded components from pristine photoactive polymers based on the unimodality of molecular weight distributions, we are able to selectively extract a trap-free, high-molecular-weight component. The resulting polymer component exhibits enhanced power conversion efficiency and long-term stability without abrupt initial burn-in degradation. Our discovery suggests a promising possibility for commercial viability of polymer-based photovoltaics towards real solar cell applications.
authors.affiliation: Heeger Center for Advanced Materials (HCAM), and Research Institute for Solar &Sustainable Energies (RISE), Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jaemin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, South Korea.
authors.forename: Suhee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Heeger Center for Advanced Materials (HCAM), and Research Institute for Solar &Sustainable Energies (RISE), Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Minji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Heeger Center for Advanced Materials (HCAM), and Research Institute for Solar &Sustainable Energies (RISE), Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ga Young
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Departments of Chemistry &Biochemistry and Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Obum
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yongin 449-791, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Kuen
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science &Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyungcheol
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Back
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science &Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Geunjin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Heeger Center for Advanced Materials (HCAM), and Research Institute for Solar &Sustainable Energies (RISE), Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seoung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hongsuk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: 1] Heeger Center for Advanced Materials (HCAM), and Research Institute for Solar &Sustainable Energies (RISE), Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea [2] School of Materials Science &Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science &Technology, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kwanghee
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee