Effective D-A-D type chromophore of fumaronitrile-core and terminal alkylated bithiophene for solution-processed small molecule organic solar cells

M Nazim; Sadia Ameen; Hyung-Kee Seo; Hyung Shik Shin

doi:10.1038/srep11143

Effective D-A-D type chromophore of fumaronitrile-core and terminal alkylated bithiophene for solution-processed small molecule organic solar cells

Sci Rep. 2015 Jun 12:5:11143. doi: 10.1038/srep11143.

Authors

M Nazim¹, Sadia Ameen¹, Hyung-Kee Seo¹, Hyung Shik Shin¹

Affiliation

¹ Energy Materials &Surface Science Laboratory, Solar Energy Research Center, School of Chemical Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

A new and novel organic π-conjugated chromophore (named as RCNR) based on fumaronitrile-core acceptor and terminal alkylated bithiophene was designed, synthesized and utilized as an electron-donor material for the solution-processed fabrication of bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) small molecule organic solar cells (SMOSCs). The synthesized organic chromophore exhibited a broad absorption peak near green region and strong emission peak due to the presence of strong electron-withdrawing nature of two nitrile (-CN) groups of fumaronitrile acceptor. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of -5.82 eV and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level of -3.54 eV were estimated for RCNR due to the strong electron-accepting tendency of -CN groups. The fabricated SMOSC devices with RCNR:PC60BM (1:3, w/w) active layer exhibited the reasonable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ~2.69% with high short-circuit current density (JSC) of ~9.68 mA/cm(2) and open circuit voltage (VOC) of ~0.79 V.