biostudies-literatureWu YUnited States Department of Defense | United States Navy | Office of Naval ResearchDOE | Office of Science (SC)Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation)United States Department of Defense | United States Navy | Office of Naval Research (ONR)National Science Foundation (NSF)DOE | Office of ScienceNational Science Foundation2170https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10924936biostudies-literatureUnknown15(1)All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) offer improved morphological and mechanical stability compared with those containing small-molecule-acceptors (SMAs). They can be processed with a broader range of conditions, making them desirable for printing techniques. In this study, we report a high-performance polymer acceptor design based on bithiazole linker (PY-BTz) that are on par with SMAs. We demonstrate that bithiazole induces a more coplanar and ordered conformation compared to bithiophene due to the synergistic effect of non-covalent backbone planarization and reduced steric encumbrances. As a result, PY-BTz shows a significantly higher efficiency of 16.4% in comparison to the polymer acceptors based on commonly used thiophene-based linkers (i.e., PY-2T, 9.8%). Detailed analyses reveal that this improvement is associated with enhanced conjugation along the backbone and closer interchain π-stacking, resulting in higher charge mobilities, suppressed charge recombination, and reduced energetic disorder. Remarkably, an efficiency of 14.7% is realized for all-PSCs that are solution-sheared in ambient conditions, which is among the highest for devices prepared under conditions relevant to scalable printing techniques. This work uncovers a strategy for promoting backbone conjugation and planarization in emerging polymer acceptors that can lead to superior all-PSCs.Nature communicationsTuning polymer-backbone coplanarity and conformational order to achieve high-performance printed all-polymer solar cells.PMC10924936ECCS-2026822N00014-19-1-2453DFG 456522816DE-AC02-76SF00515Cheng CToney MFAsbury JBBao ZLeCroy GGomez EDZhang SMichalek LSalleo AGalli GSorbelli DCheng HWMilner STWu YYuan YJindal VfalseTuning polymer-backbone coplanarity and conformational order to achieve high-performance printed all-polymer solar cells.All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) offer improved morphological and mechanical stability compared with those containing small-molecule-acceptors (SMAs). They can be processed with a broader range of conditions, making them desirable for printing techniques. In this study, we report a high-performance polymer acceptor design based on bithiazole linker (PY-BTz) that are on par with SMAs. We demonstrate that bithiazole induces a more coplanar and ordered conformation compared to bithiophene due to the synergistic effect of non-covalent backbone planarization and reduced steric encumbrances. As a result, PY-BTz shows a significantly higher efficiency of 16.4% in comparison to the polymer acceptors based on commonly used thiophene-based linkers (i.e., PY-2T, 9.8%). Detailed analyses reveal that this improvement is associated with enhanced conjugation along the backbone and closer interchain π-stacking, resulting in higher charge mobilities, suppressed charge recombination, and reduced energetic disorder. Remarkably, an efficiency of 14.7% is realized for all-PSCs that are solution-sheared in ambient conditions, which is among the highest for devices prepared under conditions relevant to scalable printing techniques. This work uncovers a strategy for promoting backbone conjugation and planarization in emerging polymer acceptors that can lead to superior all-PSCs.2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Mar2026-06-28T03:08:58.014Z2025-04-04T12:58:42.272ZS-EPMC109249363846115310.1038/s41467-024-46493-4