Covalently linked thieno[2,3- b]thiophene-fullerene dimers: synthesis and physical characterization

Abdulrahman M Alazemi; Mohammad H BinSabt; Hamad M Al-Matar; Alan L Balch; Mona A Shalaby

doi:10.1039/d4ob00027g

Covalently linked thieno[2,3- b]thiophene-fullerene dimers: synthesis and physical characterization

Org Biomol Chem. 2024 Apr 17;22(15):2978-2984. doi: 10.1039/d4ob00027g.

Authors

Abdulrahman M Alazemi¹, Mohammad H BinSabt¹, Hamad M Al-Matar¹, Alan L Balch², Mona A Shalaby¹

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, University of Kuwait, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait. a.alazmi@ku.edu.kw.
² Department of Chemistry, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA.

PMID: 38415501
DOI: 10.1039/d4ob00027g

Abstract

Thienothiophene (TT) has received great attention in the fields of electronics and optoelectronics. Here we report a synthesis and characterization of fullerene-donor-fullerene triads linked to thieno[2,3-b]thiophene as a donor. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the new dumbbells were investigated using UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and square wave voltammetry. The results showed that both compounds have higher LUMO energy levels than PC₆₁BM, indicating that they can be used in photovoltaic applications. Furthermore, the powder was structurally and morphologically characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM revealed the morphological characterization of the two derivatives as globular and urchin-like supramolecular assemblies.