A recent study conducted by Prof. Yao Liu’s research group proposed the design and synthesis of a series of multifunctional interface materials containing bis-sulfonimides (BSI) with unique d-pπ bonds rather than typical p-pπ bonds. The unique conformational and electronic structure of BSI enables precise modulation of the optoelectronic properties and packing characteristics of the resultant polymer interlayer materials. Consequently, the optimal interlayer material, namely BSIz-TT-PDI, can serve as a versatile thickness insensitive cathode interlayer materials (CIMs), exhibiting high compatibility with different active layer systems and achieving a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 19.80% with exceptional stability. 

Overall, this work not only introduces a new library of water/alcohol-soluble n-type semiconductors containing BSI, while also pioneers the creation of thickness-insensitive CIMs for stable and efficient OSCs by integrating electron-withdrawing components with d-pπ bonds.

The work entitled “Exploiting Bis-Sulfonimide Featuring Multiple d-pπ Bonds to Construct Interlayers for Organic Solar Cells” was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The co-first authors for this paper are PhD candidates: Yanhui Fan and Junjie Wen from Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering. The corresponding authors are Profs. Wenxu Liu and Yao Liu from Beijing University of Chemical Technology.

Article information: Yanhui Fan, Junjie Wen, Huanhuan Yang, Huixiang Zhang,Wentian Han, Zuhao You, Yuxing Wang, Wenxu Liu, and Yao Liu. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, e202500096.

More information can be found at:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202500096