High-Performance Photoactive Polymers: Innovations in Ternary Polymerization for Solar Applications

Abstract

In recent years, polymer solar cells (PSCs) have achieved rapid progress, with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) reaching up to 20.25%, driven by significant advancements in device fabrication and active-layer materials. The ternary polymerization strategy has proven to be a straightforward and effective approach for developing high-performance photoelectric polymers by incorporating a third monomer into the polymer backbone. This incorporation effectively optimizes intrinsic photoelectric properties, including UV–vis absorption, energy levels, solubility, crystallinity, morphology, charge transfer, mechanical robustness, batch-to-batch reproducibility, and device stability. This review highlights the latest advancements in the ternary polymerization strategy for designing high-performance photoactive copolymers (both ternary polymer donors and acceptors), with a particular focus on batch-to-batch reproducibility, stability, and potential applications in commercial development. The aim is to provide valuable guidance for the development of high-performance photoelectric polymer materials using the ternary polymerization strategy.