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Chemek M, Rhouma FIH, Chemek M, Safi Z, Kadi A, Naili S, Wazzan N, Kamel A. Impact of the chemical insertion of the dimethylamino group on the electronic and optical properties of the 4-(methoxyphenyl acetonitrile) monomer (MPA): a DFT theoretical investigation. J Mol Model 2024; 30:271. [PMID: 39017741 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-024-06062-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
CONTEXT Density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the ground and the first excited state are performed on the modified and unmodified 4-(methoxyphenyl acetonitrile) monomer (referred to as MPA). The modified monomer named MFA is obtained by Knoevenagel condensation of MPA with dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMF-DMA). DFT computations show that the chemical grafting of the dimethylamino group onto the MPA unit induces a great change in the geometric, electronic, and optical properties. Going from MPA to MFA monomer, a great change in the frontier orbitals of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) in the ground and the first excited state is observed. Consequently, a reduction in the energy gap HOMO-LUMO and an enhancement in the absorption and emission properties are observed under the chemical modification. The observed modifications in the electronics and optical properties are the result of the charge transfer appearing between the cyano (C≡N) acceptor group and the dimethylamino (DMF-DMA)-grafted group donor ring. METHODS Quantum chemical calculations were performed in the ground and the first excited state using the density functional theory (DFT), and it extends the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), implemented in the Gaussian 09 software package. The ground state is obtained by optimization of the studied molecular geometries by employing the DFT/M062X/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. The first excited state is obtained by re-optimization of the ground state geometries using the TD-DFT/M062X/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. The contour plots of the frontier orbitals and the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) maps are obtained from the ground and the first excited state, optimized geometries, and drawn using Gaussview software.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mourad Chemek
- Laboratoire de Recherche: Synthèse asymétrique et ingénierie moléculaire de matériaux organiques pour l'électronique organique (LR18ES19), Faculté des Sciences de Monastir, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia.
- Institut Supérieur des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie de Sousse (ISSAT-Sousse), Université de Sousse-Tunisie, Sousse, Tunisia.
| | - F I H Rhouma
- Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Renewable Energy Systems, Research and Technology Center of Energy, Borj-Cedria Science and Technology Park, BP 95, 2050, Hammam-Lif, Tunisia
| | - Marouane Chemek
- Department of Food and Biotechnology, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia
| | - Zaki Safi
- Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Al Azhar University-Gaza, P.O Box 1277, Gaza, Palestine
| | - Ammar Kadi
- Department of Food and Biotechnology, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia
| | - Salem Naili
- Department of Physics, College of Science, Qassim University, Buraydah, 51452, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nuha Wazzan
- Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O Box 42805, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
| | - Alimi Kamel
- Laboratoire de Recherche: Synthèse asymétrique et ingénierie moléculaire de matériaux organiques pour l'électronique organique (LR18ES19), Faculté des Sciences de Monastir, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia
- Institut National de Recherche et d'Analyse Physico-chimique, Biotechpôle Sidi Thabet, Ariana, 2020, Tunisia
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Tendongmo H, Kogge BF, Tamafo Fouegue AD, Tasheh SN, Tessa CBN, Ghogomu JN. Theoretical screening of N-[5'-methyl-3'-isoxasolyl]-N-[(E)-1-(-2-thiophene)] methylidene]amine and its isoxazole based derivatives as donor materials for bulk heterojunction organic solar cells: DFT and TD-DFT investigation. J Mol Model 2024; 30:176. [PMID: 38773049 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-024-05978-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
CONTEXT In the present work, the influence of aromatic ring substitution on a series of small-donor organic molecules (A, B, C, D, and E) with isoxazole cores was investigated for photovoltaic applications in organic solar cells. Frontier molecular orbital analysis, chemical reactivity descriptors, dipole moment, and population analysis showed that all the organic materials have intramolecular charge transfer abilities capable of donating electrons to the acceptor material (PCBM). The required photovoltaic parameters such as Voc, FF, Jsc, LHE, and other associated optoelectronic parameters are reported. The results demonstrate that aromatic ring substitution influences charge transfer and power conversion efficiencies of solar cells. That is, an increase in the aromatic character of a material increases its charge transfer, and as a result, its photovoltaic properties are increased. Additionally, all the investigated derivatives are good charge transporters with suitable electron reorganization energies, which are beneficial for minimizing energy loss. Hence, these organic derivatives with isoxazole backbones are promising materials and may provide fresh insights into the design of new materials for organic solar cell applications. METHOD All calculations were performed using DFT and the ORCA 4.1.0 program package as the main tool for geometry optimization and frequency calculations. The Avogadro 1.2.1 visualization tool was used to prepare all input files executed by ORCA 4.1.0. The BP86, B3LYP, and wB97M series of functionals coupled with the def2/TZVP basis set were employed for geometry optimization. All energy-related calculations were carried out using the M06-2x functional. Multiwfn version 3.7 was used for aromaticity and population analysis. Excited state and UV-visible spectra were simulated using the TD-DFT method at the CAM-B3LYP-D3, wB97X-D3, and PBE0-D3 coupled with the ma-def2-TZVP basis set. Moreover, solvent effects were incorporated using the SMD scheme as incorporated in the ORCA software. Lastly, the RIJCOSX approximations were used to speed up calculations while maintaining accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilaire Tendongmo
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon
| | - Bine Fritzgerald Kogge
- Department of Fundamental and Transversal Sciences, National Advanced School of Public Works, P.O. Box 510, Yaounde, Cameroon
| | - Aymard Didier Tamafo Fouegue
- Department of Chemistry, Higher Teacher Training College, The University of Bertoua, P.O. Box 652, Bertoua, Cameroon.
| | | | - Charles Bernard Nwamba Tessa
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon
| | - Julius Numbonui Ghogomu
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Bamenda, P.O. Box 39, Bambili, Bamenda, Cameroon.
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Liu KX, Yang J, Bai Y, Li QS. Designing Benzodithiophene-Based Small Molecule Donors for Organic Solar Cells by Regulation of Halogenation Effects. J Phys Chem A 2023; 127:8985-8993. [PMID: 37874943 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c04347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
The donors are key components of organic solar cells (OSCs) and play crucial roles in their photovoltaic performance. Herein, we designed two new donors (BTR-γ-Cl and BTR-γ-F) by finely optimizing small molecule donors (BTR-Cl and BTR-F) with a high performance. The optoelectronic properties of the four donors and their interfacial properties with the well-known acceptor Y6 were studied by density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory. Our calculations show that the studied four donors have large hole mobility and strong interactions with Y6, where the BTR-γ-Cl/Y6 has the largest binding energy. Importantly, the proportion of charge transfer (CT) states increases at the BTR-γ-Cl/Y6 (50%) and BTR-γ-F/Y6 (45%) interfaces. The newly designed donors are more likely to achieve CT states through intermolecular electric field (IEF) and hot exciton mechanisms than the parent molecules; meanwhile, donors containing Cl atoms are more inclined to produce CT states through the direct excitation mechanism than those containing F atoms. Our results not only provided two promising donors but also shed light on the halogenation effects on donors in OSCs, which might be important to design efficient photovoltaic materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai-Xin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Jie Yang
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Yang Bai
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Quan-Song Li
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
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Azaid A, Abram T, Alaqarbeh M, Raftani M, Kacimi R, Sbai A, Lakhlifi T, Bouachrine M. Design new organic material based on triphenylamine (TPA) with D-π-A-π-D structure used as an electron donor for organic solar cells: A DFT approach. J Mol Graph Model 2023; 122:108470. [PMID: 37116334 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2023.108470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
Because of the increasing scarcity of fossil fuels and the growing need for energy, it has become necessary to research new renewable energy resources. In this study, five new high-performance materials (TP-FA1F-TP - TP-FA5F-TP) of the D-π-A-π-D configuration based on triphenylamine (TPA) were theoretically investigated by applying DFT and TD-DFT methods for future application as heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ). The influence of the modification of the acceptor (A) of the parent molecule TP-FTzF-TP on the structural, electronic, photovoltaic and optical properties of the TP-FA1F-TP - TP-FA5F-TP organic molecules was investigated in detail. TP-FA1F-TP - TP-FA5F-TP showed Egap in the interval of 1.44-2.01 eV with λabs in the range of 536-774 nm, open-circuit voltage (Voc) values varied between 0.3 and 0.56 V and power conversion efficiencies (PCE) ranging from (3-6) %. Our results also show that the donor molecules suggested in this research exhibit an improved performance compared to the recently synthesized TP-FTzF-TP, such as a lowest HOMO energy, a smaller Egap, and a greater absorption spectrum, and can lead to higher performance. Indeed, this theoretical research could lead to the future synthesis of better compounds as active substances used in BHJ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Azaid
- Molecular Chemistry and Natural Substances Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco
| | - Tayeb Abram
- Molecular Chemistry and Natural Substances Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco
| | - Marwa Alaqarbeh
- National Agricultural Research Center, Al-Baqa, 19381, Jordan.
| | - Marzouk Raftani
- Molecular Chemistry and Natural Substances Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco
| | - Rchid Kacimi
- Molecular Chemistry and Natural Substances Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco
| | - Abdelouahid Sbai
- Molecular Chemistry and Natural Substances Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco
| | - Tahar Lakhlifi
- Molecular Chemistry and Natural Substances Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco
| | - Mohammed Bouachrine
- Molecular Chemistry and Natural Substances Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco; EST Khenifra, University Sultan Moulay Sliman, Morocco.
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Thiviyanathan VA, Ker PJ, Amin EPP, Tang SGH, Yee W, Jamaludin MZ. Quantifying Microalgae Growth by the Optical Detection of Glucose in the NIR Waveband. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28031318. [PMID: 36770982 PMCID: PMC9921349 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28031318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 12/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Microalgae have become a popular area of research over the past few decades due to their enormous benefits to various sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and food and feed. Nevertheless, the benefits of microalgae cannot be fully exploited without the optimization of their upstream production. The growth of microalgae is commonly measured based on the optical density of the sample. However, the presence of debris in the culture and the optical absorption of the intercellular components affect the accuracy of this measurement. As a solution, this paper introduces the direct optical detection of glucose molecules at 940-960 nm to accurately measure the growth of microalgae. In addition, this paper also discusses the effects of the presence of glucose on the absorption of free water molecules in the culture. The potential of the optical detection of glucose as a complement to the commonly used optical density measurement at 680 nm is discussed in this paper. Lastly, a few recommendations for future works are presented to further verify the credibility of glucose detection for the accurate determination of microalgae's growth.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pin Jern Ker
- Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
- Correspondence: (P.J.K.); (S.G.H.T.)
| | - Eric P. P. Amin
- Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Shirley Gee Hoon Tang
- Center for Toxicology and Health Risk Studies (CORE), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
- Correspondence: (P.J.K.); (S.G.H.T.)
| | - Willy Yee
- Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
| | - M. Z. Jamaludin
- Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
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Chebil S, chemek M, Mestiri T, Alimi K. Theoretical enhancement of the electronic and optical properties of a new D-π-A-π-D synthesized donor molecule for a new generation of fullerene-based bulk heterojunction (BHJ) for new organic solar cells devices. J Mol Graph Model 2022; 115:108226. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2022.108226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Greenstein BL, Hiener DC, Hutchison GR. Computational Evolution of High-Performing Unfused Non-Fullerene Acceptors for Organic Solar Cells. J Chem Phys 2022; 156:174107. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0087299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Materials optimization for organic solar cells (OSCs) is a highly active field, with many approaches using empirical experimental synthesis, computational brute-force approaches to screen candidates in a given subset of chemical space, or generative machine learning methods which often require significant training sets. While these methods may find high-performing materials, they can be inefficient and time-consuming. Genetic algorithms (GAs) are an alternative approach, allowing for the "virtual synthesis" of molecules and a prediction of their ``fitness' for some property, with new candidates suggested based on good characteristics of previously generated molecules. In this work, a GA is used to discover high-performing unfused non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) based on an empirical prediction of power conversion efficiency (PCE) and provides design rules for future work. The electron withdrawing/donating strength, as well as the sequence and symmetry of those units are examined. The utilization of a GA over a brute force approach resulted in speedups up to $1.8 \times 10^{12}$. New types of units not frequently seen in OSCs are suggested, and in total 5,426 NFAs are discovered with the GA. Of these, 1,087 NFAs are predicted to have a PCE greater than 18\%, which is roughly the current record efficiency. While the symmetry of the sequence showed no correlation with PCE, analysis of the sequence arrangement revealed that higher performance can be achieved with a donor core and acceptor end groups. Future NFA designs should consider this strategy as an alternative to the current A-D-A$'$-D-A architecture.
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