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Peer-reviewedCC BYRSC Advances

A comprehensive review on heteroatom engineering in fused-ring electron acceptors: from molecular design to device efficiency

  • Nizamuddin Shaik1
  • Bommaramoni Yadagiri2,3
  • David Kreher4
  • Surya Prakash Singh5,6
  • Kamatham Narayanaswamy1
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Chemistry, SRM University-AP Amaravati Andhra Pradesh-522240 India
  2. 2Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology M. Strzody Street 9 Gliwice 44-100 Poland
  3. 3Centre for Organic and Nanohybrid Electronics (CONE), Silesian University of Technology S. Konarskiego Street 22b Gliwice 44-100 Poland
  4. 4Institut Lavoisier de Versailles, UMR CNRS 8180, UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay Versailles 78035 France
  5. 5Polymers and Functional Materials Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology Uppal Road, Tarnaka Hyderabad-500007 India
  6. 6Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) Ghaziabad Uttar Pradesh-201002 India
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Abstract

Organic solar cells (OSCs) using bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) blends of polymer donors and non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) have garnered considerable attention in recent years. NFAs, especially fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs) adopting acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) and A–DA′D–A structures, have contributed most to high-efficiency OSCs, pushing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to over 20%. The rapid advancement of novel FREAs is primarily driven by their tunable molecular architectures, broad absorption characteristics, and the ability to finely adjust energy levels and molecular packing through chemical modification. Typically, FREAs consist of coplanar fused aromatic ring systems serving as donor (D) cores, flanked by two highly electron-deficient acceptor (A) end groups. In this review, we summarize recent advances in heteroatom engineering on central fused-ring cores in FREAs for high-efficiency OSCs. The influence of heteroatom incorporation on light absorption, energy levels, electron mobility, and overall photovoltaic performance is systematically discussed. Furthermore, some new guidelines are proposed for future molecular design in the aspect of light absorption, fill factor, driving force, and voltage loss. Finally, we present an outlook on the remaining challenges and highlight promising directions toward the commercialization of OSCs.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{shaik2026comprehensive,
  title = {{A comprehensive review on heteroatom engineering in fused-ring electron acceptors: from molecular design to device efficiency}},
  author = {Nizamuddin Shaik and Bommaramoni Yadagiri and David Kreher and Surya Prakash Singh and Kamatham Narayanaswamy},
  journal = {RSC Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1039/d6ra07219d},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05838472v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A comprehensive review on heteroatom engineering in fused-ring electron acceptors: from molecular design to device efficiency
AU  - Nizamuddin Shaik
AU  - Bommaramoni Yadagiri
AU  - David Kreher
AU  - Surya Prakash Singh
AU  - Kamatham Narayanaswamy
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/16
JO  - RSC Advances
DO  - 10.1039/d6ra07219d
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05838472v1
AB  - Organic solar cells (OSCs) using bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) blends of polymer donors and non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) have garnered considerable attention in recent years. NFAs, especially fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs) adopting acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) and A–DA′D–A structures, have contributed most to high-efficiency OSCs, pushing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to over 20%. The rapid advancement of novel FREAs is primarily driven by their tunable molecular architectures, broad absorption characteristics, and the ability to finely adjust energy levels and molecular packing through chemical modification. Typically, FREAs consist of coplanar fused aromatic ring systems serving as donor (D) cores, flanked by two highly electron-deficient acceptor (A) end groups. In this review, we summarize recent advances in heteroatom engineering on central fused-ring cores in FREAs for high-efficiency OSCs. The influence of heteroatom incorporation on light absorption, energy levels, electron mobility, and overall photovoltaic performance is systematically discussed. Furthermore, some new guidelines are proposed for future molecular design in the aspect of light absorption, fill factor, driving force, and voltage loss. Finally, we present an outlook on the remaining challenges and highlight promising directions toward the commercialization of OSCs.
SN  - 2046-2069
ER  -