Deuterium isotope effect on bulk heterojunction solar cells. Enhancement of organic photovoltaic performances using monobenzyl substituted deuteriofullerene acceptors

Org Lett. 2013 Nov 15;15(22):5674-7. doi: 10.1021/ol4026606. Epub 2013 Nov 1.

Abstract

A series of novel monobenzyl-substituted deuteriofullerenes (BnDCs) were synthesized efficiently through Co-catalyzed selective monofunctionalization of C60. Bulk heterojunction solar cells, based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) as the donor and BnDCs as the acceptors, exhibited higher photovoltaic performances as compared to the corresponding protonated BnHCs devices.