Utilizing alkoxyphenyl substituents for side-chain engineering of efficient benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene-based small molecule organic solar cells

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2015 Jul 14;17(26):17391-8. doi: 10.1039/c5cp02632f.

Abstract

A new two-dimensional (2D) conjugated small molecule, namely DCA3TBDTP, with an alkoxyphenyl substituted benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT) unit as the central core, octyl cyanoacetate as the end-capped groups and terthiophene as the π-linked bridge, was designed and synthesized for solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) as an electron donor material, in which an alkoxyphenyl group was introduced as a weak electron-donating side chain of the BDT moiety. The DCA3TBDTP molecule exhibited good solubility, a deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level (-5.25 eV), an appropriate optical band-gap (1.82 eV) and a high decomposition temperature (362 °C). By applying the simple solution spin-coating fabrication process, the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OSCs based on DCA3TBDTP and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) exhibited a good power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.51% with a high open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.90 V when thermal annealing at only 70 °C.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electric Power Supplies*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Nitriles / chemical synthesis
  • Nitriles / chemistry*
  • Solar Energy*
  • Thiophenes / chemical synthesis
  • Thiophenes / chemistry*

Substances

  • DCA3TBDTP compound
  • Nitriles
  • Thiophenes
  • benzo(1,2-b-4,5-b')dithiophene