Design and Properties of Intermediate-Sized Narrow Band-Gap Conjugated Molecules Relevant to Solution-Processed Organic Solar Cells

Unsymmetrical squaraines with new linkage manner for high-performance solution-processed small-molecule organic photovoltaic cells

Two unsymmetrical squaraines were employed as donors for high performance BHJ-OPV devices with J_sc > 13 mA cm⁻² and PCE > 5%.

A dithienodisilacyclohexadiene (DTDS)-based conjugated model semiconductor: understanding unique features and monitoring structural transition

In this study, an intra-structural transitioning from Si–Si to Si–O–Si units in DTDS(FBTTh₂)₂ is not only confirmed by real-time ¹H NMR experiments, but the conversion mechanism is also formulated.

One-Step Synthesis of Precursor Oligomers for Organic Photovoltaics: A Comparative Study between Polymers and Small Molecules

Two series of oligomers TQ and rhodanine end-capped TQ-DR were synthesized using a facile one-step method. Their optical, electrical, and thermal properties and photovoltaic performances were systematically investigated and compared. The TQ series of oligomers were found to be amorphous, whereas the TQ-DR series are semicrystalline. For the TQ oligomers, the results obtained in solar cells show that as the chain length of the oligomers increases, an increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) is obtained. However, when introducing 3-ethylrhodanine into the TQ oligomers as end groups, the PCE of the TQ-DR series of oligomers decreases as the chain length increases. Moreover, the TQ-DR series of oligomers give much higher performances compared to the original amorphous TQ series of oligomers owing to the improved extinction coefficient (ε) and crystallinity afforded by the rhodanine. In particular, the highly crystalline oligomer TQ5-DR, which has the shortest conjugation length shows a high hole mobility of 0.034 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and a high PCE of 3.14%, which is the highest efficiency out of all of the six oligomers. The structure-property correlations for all of the oligomers and the TQ1 polymer demonstrate that structural control of enhanced intermolecular interactions and crystallinity is a key for small molecules/oligomers to achieve high mobilities, which is an essential requirement for use in OPVs.

Effect of Fluorine Substitution on Photovoltaic Properties of Alkoxyphenyl Substituted Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene-Based Small Molecules

Two new small molecules, C3T-BDTP and C3T-BDTP-F with alkoxyphenyl-substituted benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT) and meta-fluorinated-alkoxyphenyl-substituted BDT as the central donor blocks, respectively, have been synthesized and used as donor materials in organic solar cells (OSCs). With the addition of 0.4% v/v 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO), the blend of C3T-BDTP-F/PC71BM showed a higher hole mobility of 8.67 × 10(-4) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) compared to that of the blend of C3T-BDTP/PC71BM. Two types of interlayers, zirconium acetylacetonate (ZrAcac) and perylene diimide (PDI) derivatives (PDINO and PDIN), were used to further optimize the performance of OSCs. With a device structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/donor:PC71BM/PDIN/Al, the OSCs based on C3T-BDTP delivered a satisfying power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.27% with an open circuit voltage (V(oc)) of 0.91 V, whereas the devices based on C3T-BDTP-F showed an enhanced PCE of 5.42% with a higher V(oc) of 0.97 V.

Solution-Processable Organic Molecule for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells with Low Acceptor Content

A new planar D2-A-D1-A-D2 structured organic molecule with bithienyl benzodithiophene (BDT) as central donor unit D1 and fluorine-substituted benzothiadiazole (BTF) as acceptor unit and alkyl-dithiophene as end group and donor unit D2, BDT-BTF, was designed and synthesized for the application as donor material in organic solar cells (OSCs). BDT-BTF shows a broad absorption in visible region, suitable highest occupied molecular orbital energy level of -5.20 eV, and high hole mobility of 1.07 × 10(-2) cm(2)/(V s), benefitted from its high coplanarity and strong crystallinity. The OSCs based on BDT-BTF as donor (D) and PC71BM as acceptor (A) at a D/A weight ratio of 3:1 without any extra treatment exhibit high photovoltaic performance with Voc of 0.85 V, Jsc of 10.48 mA/cm(2), FF of 0.66, and PCE of 5.88%. The morphological study by transmission electron microscopy reveals that the blend of BDT-BTF and PC71BM (3:1, w/w) possesses an appropriate interpenetrating D/A network for the exciton separation and charge carrier transport, which agrees well with the good device performance. The optimized D/A weight ratio of 3:1 is the lowest acceptor content in the active layer reported so far for the high-performance OSCs, and the organic molecules with the molecular structure like BDT-BTF could be promising high-performance donor materials in solution-processable OSCs.

High performance asymmetrical push-pull small molecules end-capped with cyanophenyl for solution-processed solar cells

Two novel asymmetrical push-pull small molecules have been synthesized successfully, consisting of triphenylamine and diketopyrrolopyrrole as a fundamental dipolar D-π-A structure with ethynylbenzene as the π-bridge. TPATDPPCN end-capped with cyanophenyl exhibits a low optical band gap of 1.65 eV, and an impressive PCE of 5.94% has been achieved.

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

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 (J_SC) of ~9.68 mA/cm² and open circuit voltage (V_OC) of ~0.79 V.

A highly planar fluorinated benzothiadiazole-based conjugated polymer for high-performance organic thin-film transistors

High-mobility and low-voltage-operated organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are demonstrated by the design of a new fluorinated benzothiadiazole-based conjugated polymer with fluorinated high-k polymer dielectrics. A record-breaking high hole mobility of 9.0 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) for benzothiadiazole-based semiconducting polymers is achieved by the excellent planarity of the semiconducting polymer.

A series of simple oligomer-like small molecules based on oligothiophenes for solution-processed solar cells with high efficiency

A series of acceptor-donor-acceptor simple oligomer-like small molecules based on oligothiophenes, namely, DRCN4T-DRCN9T, were designed and synthesized. Their optical, electrical, and thermal properties and photovoltaic performances were systematically investigated. Except for DRCN4T, excellent performances were obtained for DRCN5T-DRCN9T. The devices based on DRCN5T, DRCN7T, and DRCN9T with axisymmetric chemical structures exhibit much higher short-circuit current densities than those based on DRCN6T and DRCN8T with centrosymmetric chemical structures, which is attributed to their well-developed fibrillar network with a feature size less than 20 nm. The devices based on DRCN5T/PC71BM showed a notable certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.10% under AM 1.5G irradiation (100 mW cm(-2)) using a simple solution spin-coating fabrication process. This is the highest PCE for single-junction small-molecule-based organic photovoltaics (OPVs) reported to date. DRCN5T is a rather simpler molecule compared with all of the other high-performance molecules in OPVs to date, and this might highlight its advantage in the future possible commercialization of OPVs. These results demonstrate that a fine and balanced modification/design of chemical structure can make significant performance differences and that the performance of solution-processed small-molecule-based solar cells can be comparable to or even surpass that of their polymer counterparts.

Donor–acceptor conjugated polymers based on cyclic imide substituted quinoxaline or dibenzo[a,c]phenazine for polymer solar cells

A series of donor–acceptor type of conjugated polymers based on cyclic imide substituted quinoxaline or dibenzo[a,c]phenazine were synthesized, where the copolymers comprising dibenzo[a,c]phenazine showed much higher photovoltaic performances.

Spectra and Charge Transport of Polar Molecular Photoactive Layers Used for Solar Cells

The ground state structures, HOMO and LUMO energy levels, band gapsΔH-L, ionization potentials (IP), and electron affinities (EA) of three types of copolymer P1 and its derivatives P2, P3, and PBDT-BTA were investigated by using density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP and 6-31G (d) basis set. On the base of optimized structures of ground states, their absorption spectra were obtained by using TD-DFT//Cam-B3LYP/6-31 G (d). Research shows that with the increasing conjugated units, HOMO energy levels increased, LUMO energy levels decreased, and band gaps decreased gradually. Moreover, their ionization potentials decreased and electron affinities increased along with the increase of conjugated chains, and absorption spectra red-shifted. In addition, the side chain has a significant effect on the properties of ground and excited states. In order to investigate the influence of conjugated units and side chain on the charge transport, their hole and electron reorganization energies were calculated, and the results indicated that Pb have a good hole transport capability. Considering the practical application, the HOMO and LUMO energy levels, band gaps, and absorption spectra under external electric field were studied, and the results proved that the external electric field has an effect on the optical and electronic properties.

Molecular orientation within thin films of isomorphic molecular semiconductors

Subtle structural variation of isomorphic molecular semiconductors leads to sharp contrast in electronic structures and molecular orientation in the bulk.

Design and structure–property relationship of benzothienoisoindigo in organic field effect transistors

A novel planar π-conjugated small molecule, benzothienoisoindigo (BTII), in which additional benzene rings are fused with the thieoisoindigo (TII) unit, has been designed and synthesized.

Design, synthesis and electronic properties of push–pull–push type dye

Alkyne conjugated push–pull–push type dye where alkyne π-spacer and push units monitor the electronic properties of the dye.

Asymmetrical squaraines for high-performance small-molecule organic solar cells with a short circuit current of over 12 mA cm−2

Asymmetrical squaraine dyes with two aryl groups directly linked to the squaric acid core were synthesized, and exhibited excellent photovoltaic performance.

Effects of end-capped acceptors subject to subtle structural changes on solution-processable small molecules for organic solar cells

Three subtle structural changed end-capped acceptors with increased electron withdrawing ability were synthesized and introduced into a planar conjugated backbone. The relationship between molecules bearing the three end-capped acceptors and their photovoltaic properties was studied.

Synthesis of heteroarenes dyads from heteroarenes and heteroarylsulfonyl chlorides via Pd-catalyzed desulfitative C–H bond heteroarylations

We report palladium-catalyzed synthesis of heteroarenes dyads using heteroarylsulfonyl chlorides as coupling partners. The C–H bond functionalizations occurred at α-position with pyrroles and furans, while at β-position with thiophenes.

Tailoring π-conjugated dithienosilole–benzothiadiazole oligomers for organic solar cells

This investigation provides a distinctive view to observe how the relevant optoelectronic properties of oligomers change according to their molecular sizes.

Photocurrent enhancement of BODIPY-based solution-processed small-molecule solar cells by dimerization via the meso position

Three 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indancene (BODIPY)-based small molecule donors H-T-BO, Br-T-BO, and DIMER were synthesized and fully characterized. Although modification at the meso position has a subtle influence on the light-harvesting ability, energy levels, and phase sizes, it has a striking effect on the packing behavior in solid film as two-dimension grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (2D GIXRD) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirm. Br-T-BO exhibits better packing ordering than H-T-BO in pristine film, which is beneficial from reinforced intermolecular interaction from halogen atoms. However, when [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) is blended, no diffraction patterns corresponding to the monomeric donor can be seen from the XRD data and both H-T-BO- and Br-T-BO-based blend films give a slightly blue-shifting absorption peak with respect to their neat ones, both of which imply destruction of the crystalline structure. As for DIMER, the enhancement of the intermolecular interaction arises not only from the expansion of the backbone but the "steric pairing effect" brought on by its twisted structure. When blended with PC71BM, the diffraction patterns of DIMER are, however, kept well and the absorption peak position remains unchanged, which indicates the ordered packing of DIMER is held well in blend film. In coincidence with the fact that packing ordering improves from H-T-BO to Br-T-BO and DIMER in pristine films and the ordered packing of DIMER even in blend film, DIMER-based devices show the highest and most balanced hole/electron mobility of 1.16 × 10(-3)/0.90 × 10(-3) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)with respect to Br-T-BO (4.71 × 10(-4)/2.09 × 10(-4) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) and H-T-BO (4.27 × 10(-5)/1.00 × 10(-5) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) based ones. The short-circuit current density of the three molecule-based cells follows the same trend from H-T-BO (6.80) to Br-T-BO (7.62) and then to DIMER (11.28 mA cm(-2)). Finally, the H-T-BO-, Br-T-BO-, and DIMER-based optimal device exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 1.56%, 1.96%, and 3.13%, respectively.

Mobility guidelines for high fill factor solution-processed small molecule solar cells

Analysis of measured charge-carrier mobilities and fill factors in solution-processable small-molecule bulk-heterojunction solar cells reveals that in order to achieve a high FF, the hole and electron mobilities must be >10(-4) cm 2 V(-1) s(-1) . Neat-film mobility measurements are also found to be a useful predictor of the maximum blend film mobility and FF obtained in blend film solar cells.