{
  "abstract": "Side-chain engineering is an effective strategy for precisely tuning the crystallinity and active-layer morphology of high-performance bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs). To systematically elucidate the side-chain length–property relationship across a complete homologous series, we herein designed and employed a small-molecule donor TiC6, which, together with the previously reported TiC8 and TiC12 analogues, completes the thieno[3,2-c]isochromene-based donor family with alkyl chains varying from hexyl to dodecyl. Taking the PTB7-Th:PC71BM system as a platform, we employed these three donors as the third component in ternary OSCs and systematically compared their photovoltaic performance and stability. Our comparative study reveals a non-monotonic chain-length dependence: the TiC8-based device delivers the highest PCE of 11.12%, superior to TiC6 (9.80%) and TiC12 (10.42%), which is attributed to optimized π–π stacking. Notably, the stability trend exhibits a reverse order; the TiC12-based device shows dramatically superior thermal stability, retaining 92% of its initial PCE after 48 h at 100 °C, far exceeding TiC8 (86%) and TiC6 (77%) under identical conditions. All ternary devices substantially outperform the binary PTB7-Th:PC71BM control (9.16%) and exhibit markedly enhanced long-term storage stability (e.g., TiC6 retains 90% after 360 h at RT, whereas the control drops to 63% within 10 min at 100 °C). This work not only expands the donor library but also provides unprecedented insights into the side-chain length–property relationship, demonstrating that optimizing efficiency and thermal stability requires distinct chain-length choices.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Xiangnan University , , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wei Tang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ran Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jiawei Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xiaobing Lan",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5301-069X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8esvmfx64cyvg.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1021/acsomega.6c09370",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "8esvmfx64cyvg",
  "issns": [
    "2470-1343"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/40/62202/5443647/Side-Chain-Length-Modulation-in-Thieno-3-2-c",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2208|Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215070386",
  "pdf_url": "https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsomega.6c09370",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8esvmfx64cyvg.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:39Z",
      "native_id": "10.1021/acsomega.6c09370",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/40/62202/5443647/Side-Chain-Length-Modulation-in-Thieno-3-2-c"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "issn:2470-1343",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Side-Chain Length Modulation in Thieno[3,2- c ]isochromene Small-Molecule Donors for High-Performance Ternary Fullerene Organic Solar Cells",
  "title_text": "Side-Chain Length Modulation in Thieno[3,2- c ]isochromene Small-Molecule Donors for High-Performance Ternary Fullerene Organic Solar Cells",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:39Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8esvmfx64cyvg",
  "venue": "ACS Omega",
  "versions": []
}