A Kinetic–Energetic Bottleneck of Charge‐Transfer Injection Governs Energy Loss in Organic Solar Cells

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Authors: Rong Wang, Tobias Osterrieder, Atul Shukla, Christos L. Chochos, Vasilis G. Gregoriou, Yakun He, Hua Tang, Julian Matthias Haffner‐Schirmer, Karen K. Forberich, Ning Li, Thomas Heumueller, Frédéric Laquai
+5 more Jens Hauch, Safa Shoaee, Dieter Neher, Larry Lüer, Christoph J. Brabec
Cited by: 1
References: 20

Abstract

ABSTRACT The charge‐transfer (CT) state in organic solar cells constitutes a kinetic–energetic bottleneck that simultaneously controls charge generation and nonradiative voltage loss. By combining time‐resolved photoluminescence (100 ps–20 ns) with a physics‐constrained Bayesian optimization framework, we show that the multidimensional kinetic network collapses onto a single emergent descriptor: the effective CT injection rate, k CT . Crucially, k CT is not a microscopic rate constant but a renormalized collective parameter arising from the coupled competition among exciton injection, CT population redistribution, and CT nonradiative recombination. Across six donor–acceptor systems spanning nearly two orders of magnitude in k CT , we uncover a universal scaling: each decade increase in injection rate incurs an additional ∼85 meV nonradiative energy loss. This scaling reveals an intrinsic kinetic–energetic trade‐off imposed by the topology of the CT manifold—accelerating injection inevitably amplifies recombination loss. Breaking this bottleneck requires restructuring the CT network to decouple charge dissociation from recombination pathways, offering a route beyond the present voltage ceiling of organic photovoltaics.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies Perovskite Materials and Applications

Publication details

Journal / source
Advanced Energy Materials
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
16
Issue
30
Publication date
10 June 2026
Language
EN