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Arunkumar A, Ju XH. Computational method on highly efficient D-π-A-π-D-based different molecular acceptors for organic solar cells applications and non-linear optical behaviour. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2024; 317:124391. [PMID: 38704998 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2024.124391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
Eight molecular structures (BT-A1 to BT-A8) with high-performance non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) were selected for organic solar cells (OSCs) and non-linear optical (NLO) applications. Their electronic, photovoltaic (PV) and optoelectronic properties were tuned by adding powerful electron-withdrawing groups to the acceptor (A) of the D-π-A-π-D structure. Using time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) techniques, based on the laws of quantum chemical calculations, the absorption spectra, stability of the highest and lowest-energy molecular orbitals (HOMO/LUMOs), electron density, intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), transition density matrix (TDM), were examined. The binding energy (Eb) and density of states (DOS) were probed to realize the optoelectronic analysis of the structures BT-A1 to BT-A8. Noncovalent interactions (NCIs) based on a reduced density gradient (RDG) were used to describe the nature and strength of D-A interactions in the molecules BT-A1 to BT-A8. The new refined molecules BT-A1 to BT-A8 exhibited strong absorbance bands between 408-721 nm and high electron transfer contribution (ETC) ranges between 87-96 %, along with the smallest excitation energies (Ex) between 1.71-3.55 eV in the solvent dichloromethane. Dipolar moment strengths ranging from 0.38 to 4.72 Debye in both the excited and ground states have determined with good solubility properties of BT-A1 to BT-A8 in polar solvent. Highly effective charge mobilities and prevention of charge recombination have been demonstrated by the electron (0.18-0.41 eV) and hole RE values (0.13-0.89 eV) for the new compounds. Power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of BT-A1 to BT-A8 were nearly the same because of better outcomes compared to the molecules in the BT. Compared to poly[4.8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b: 4,5-b']dithiophene-2,6- diyl-alt-(4-2-ethylhexyl)-3-fluorothieno[3,4-b]thiophene-)-2-carboxylate-2-6-diyl)] (PTB7-Th), the open circuit voltages (Voc) of compounds BT-A1 to BT-A8 were ranged from 1.52 to 2.13 eV. The polarizability (α) and hyperpolarizability (β) of the molecules BT-A1 to BT-A8 were used to determine the non-linear optical (NLO) properties. The results showed that BT-A2, BT-A6 and BT-A7 have good NLO activity. This computational analysis demonstrates the superiority of the molecules with NFA. Hence the compounds are advised for the use in production of high-performance OSCs and NLO activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ammasi Arunkumar
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, PR China
| | - Xue-Hai Ju
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, PR China.
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Shafiq I, Kousar S, Rasool F, Ahamad T, Munawar KS, Bullo S, Ojha SC. Exploration of the synergistic effect of chrysene-based core and benzothiophene acceptors on photovoltaic properties of organic solar cells. Sci Rep 2024; 14:15105. [PMID: 38956211 PMCID: PMC11219797 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65459-6] [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: 04/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
To improve the efficacy of organic solar cells (OSCs), novel small acceptor molecules (CTD1-CTD7) were designed by modification at the terminal acceptors of reference compound CTR. The optoelectronic properties of the investigated compounds (CTD1-CTD7) were accomplished by employing density functional theory (DFT) in combination with time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The M06 functional along with a 6-311G(d,p) basis set was utilized for calculating various parameters such as: frontier molecular orbitals (FMO), absorption maxima (λmax), binding energy (Eb), transition density matrix (TDM), density of states (DOS), and open circuit voltage (Voc) of entitled chromophores. A red shift in the absorption spectra of all designed chromophores (CTD1-CTD7) was observed as compared to CTR, accompanied by low excitation energy. Particularly, CTD4 was characterized by the highest λmax value of 685.791 nm and the lowest transition energy value of 1.801 eV which might be ascribed to the robust electron-withdrawing end-capped acceptor group. The observed reduced binding energy (Eb) was linked to an elevated rate of exciton dissociation and substantial charge transfer from central core in HOMO towards terminal acceptors in LUMO. These results were further supported by the outcomes from TDM and DOS analyses. Among all entitled chromophores, CTD4 exhibited bathochromic shift (685.791 nm), minimum HOMO/LUMO band gap of 2.347 eV with greater CT. Thus, it can be concluded that by employing molecular engineering with efficient acceptor moieties, the efficiency of photovoltaic materials could be improved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iqra Shafiq
- Institute of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
- Centre for Theoretical and Computational Research, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
| | - Shehla Kousar
- Institute of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
- Centre for Theoretical and Computational Research, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
| | - Faiz Rasool
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan
| | - Tansir Ahamad
- Department of Chemistry, King Saud University, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khurram Shahzad Munawar
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, 40100, Pakistan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Mianwali, Mianwali, 42200, Pakistan
| | - Saifullah Bullo
- Department of Human and Rehabilitation Sciences, Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University, Sukkur Sindh, Pakistan.
| | - Suvash Chandra Ojha
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China.
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Abbas F, Bousbih R, Ayub AR, Zahid S, Aljohani M, Amin MA, Waqas M, Soliman MS, Khera RA, Jahan N. A Theoretical Investigation for Exploring the Potential Performance of Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells Through Side-Chain Engineering Having Diphenylamino Groups to Enhance Photovoltaic Properties. J Fluoresc 2024:10.1007/s10895-024-03805-7. [PMID: 38951306 DOI: 10.1007/s10895-024-03805-7] [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: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024]
Abstract
The development of ecofriendly fabrication phenomenon is essential requirement for commercialization of non-fullerene acceptors. Recently, end-capped modeling is employed for computational design of five non-fullerene acceptors to elevate various photovoltaic properties. All new molecules are formulated by altering the peripheral acceptors of CH3-2F and DFT methodology is employed to explore the opto-electronic, morphological and charge transfer analysis. From the computational investigation, all reported molecules manifested red shifted absorption with remarkable reduced band gap. Among investigated molecules, FA1-FA3 evinced effectively decreased value of band gaps and designed molecules have low excitation energy justifying proficient charge transference. The lower values of binding energy of FA1 and FA2 suggest their facile exciton dissociation leading to improved charge mobility. By blending with J61 donor, FA4 have sufficiently enhanced value of VOC (1.72 eV) and fill factor (0.9228). Energy loss of the model (R) is 0.57 eV and statistical calculation demonstrate that all our modified molecules except FA3 has profoundly reduced energy loss compelling in its pivotal utilization. From accessible supportive outcomes of recent investigation, it is recommended that our modified chromophore exhibit remarkable noteworthy applications in solar cells for forthcoming innovations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fakhar Abbas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - R Bousbih
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, 71491, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ali Raza Ayub
- Key Laboratory of Clusters Science of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Saba Zahid
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Mohammed Aljohani
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, 21944, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed A Amin
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, 21944, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Mohamed S Soliman
- Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Taif University, 21944, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
| | - Nazish Jahan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
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Khalid M, Fatima N, Arshad M, Adeel M, Braga AAC, Ahamad T. Unveiling the influence of end-capped acceptors modification on photovoltaic properties of non-fullerene fused ring compounds: a DFT/TD-DFT study. RSC Adv 2024; 14:20441-20453. [PMID: 38946775 PMCID: PMC11208900 DOI: 10.1039/d4ra03170a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Herein, unique A-D-A configuration-based molecules (NBD1-NBD7) were designed from the reference compound (NBR) by utilizing the end-capped acceptor modification approach. Various electron-withdrawing units -F, -Cl, -CN, -NO2, -CF3, -HSO3, and -COOCH3, were incorporated into terminals of reference compound to designed NBD1-NBD7, respectively. A theoretical investigation employing the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) was performed at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. To reveal diverse opto-electronic and photovoltaic properties, the frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), absorption maxima (λ max), density of states (DOS), exciton binding energy (E b), open-circuit voltage (V oc) and transition density matrix (TDM) analyses were executed at the same functional. Moreover, the global reactivity parameters (GRPs) were calculated using the HOMO-LUMO energy gaps from the FMOs. Significant results were obtained for the designed molecules (NBD1-NBD7) as compared to NBR. They showed lesser energy band gaps (2.024-2.157 eV) as compared to the NBR reference (2.147 eV). The tailored molecules also demonstrated bathochromic shifts in the chloroform (671.087-717.164 nm) and gas phases (623.251-653.404 nm) as compared to NBR compound (674.189 and 626.178 nm, respectively). From the photovoltaic perspectives, they showed promising results (2.024-2.157 V). Furthermore, the existence of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) in the designed compounds was depicted via their DOS and TDM graphical plots. Among all the investigated molecules, NBD4 was disclosed as the excellent candidate for solar cell applications owing to its favorable properties such as the least band gap (2.024 eV), red-shifted λ max in the chloroform (717.164 nm) and gas (653.404 nm) phases as well as the minimal E b (0.126 eV). This is due to the presence of highly electronegative -NO2 unit at the terminal of electron withdrawing acceptor moiety, which leads to increased conjugation and enhanced the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) rate. The obtained insights suggested that the designed molecules could be considered as promising materials for potential applications in the realm of OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Khalid
- Institute of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan 64200 Pakistan
- Centre for Theoretical and Computational Research, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan 64200 Pakistan
| | - Noor Fatima
- Institute of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan 64200 Pakistan
- Centre for Theoretical and Computational Research, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan 64200 Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Arshad
- Industry Solutions, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Edmonton Alberta Canada
| | - Muhammad Adeel
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Gomal University D. I. Khan Pakistan
| | - Ataualpa A C Braga
- Departamento de Química Fundamental, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 748 São Paulo 05508-000 Brazil
| | - Tansir Ahamad
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia
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Raza A, Ans M, Khera RA, Bousbih R, Waqas M, Aljohani M, Amin MA, Alshomrany AS, Zahid S, Shaban M. Designing efficient materials for high-performance of non-fullerene organic solar cells through side-chain engineering on DBT-4F derivatives by non-fused-ring electron acceptors. J Mol Model 2024; 30:190. [PMID: 38809306 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-024-05977-2] [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: 03/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
CONTEXT For the advancement in fields of organic and perovskite solar cells, various techniques of structural alterations are being employed on previously reported chromophores. In this study, the end-capped engineering is carried out on DBT-4F (R) by modifying terminal acceptors to improve optoelectronic and photovoltaic attributes. Seven molecules (AD1-AD7) are modeled using different push-pull acceptors. DFT/B3LYP/6-31G along with its time-dependent approach (TD-DFT) are on a payroll to investigate ground state geometries, absorption maxima (λmax), energy gap (Eg), excitation energy (Ex), internal reorganization energy, light harvesting efficiency (LHE), dielectric constant, open circuit voltage (VOC), fill factor (FF), etc. of OSCs. AD1 displayed the lowest band gap (1.76 eV), highest λmax (876 nm), lowest Ex (1.41 eV), and lowest binding energy (0.21 eV). Among various calculated parameters, all of the sketched molecules demonstrated greater dielectric constant when compared to R. The highest dielectric constant was exhibited by AD3 (56.26). AD5 exhibited maximum LHE (0.9980). Lower reorganization energies demonstrated improved charge mobility. AD5 and AD7 (1.63 and 1.68 eV) have higher values of VOC than R (1.51 eV). All novel molecules having outperforming attributes will be better candidates to enhance the efficacy of OSCs for future use. METHODS Precisely, a DFT and TD-DFT analysis on all of the proposed organic molecules were conducted, using the functional MPW1PW91 at 6-31G (d,p) basis set to examine their optoelectronic aspects, additionally the solvent-state computations were studied with a TD-SCF simulation. For all these simulations, Guassian 09 and GuassView 5.0 were employed. Moreover, the Origin 6.0, Multiwfn 3.8, and PyMOlyze 1.1 software were utilized for the visual depiction of the graphs of absorption, TDM, and DOS, respectively of the studied molecules. A number of crucial aspects such as FMOs, bandgaps, light-harvesting efficiency, electrostatic potential, dipole moment, ionization potential, open-circuit voltage, fill factor, binding energy, interaction coefficient, chemical hardness-softness, and electrophilicity index were also investigated for the studied molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Raza
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Ans
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
| | - R Bousbih
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, 71491, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Mohammed Aljohani
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, 21944, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed A Amin
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, 21944, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ali S Alshomrany
- Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Al Taif HWY, 24381, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
| | - Saba Zahid
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Mohamed Shaban
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Madinah, 42351, Madinah, Saudi Arabia
- Nanophotonics and Applications (NPA) Lab, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, 62514, Egypt
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6
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Bhutto JA, Siddique B, Moussa IM, El-Sheikh MA, Hu Z, Yurong G. Machine learning assisted designing of non-fullerene electron acceptors: A quest for lower exciton binding energy. Heliyon 2024; 10:e30473. [PMID: 38711638 PMCID: PMC11070922 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The designing of acceptors materials for the organic solar cells is a hot topic. The normal experimental methods are tedious and expensive for large screening. Machine learning guided exploration is more suitable solution. Bagging regression, random forest regression, gradient boosting regression, and linear regression are trained to predict exciton binding energy. Breaking Retrosynthetically Interesting Chemical Substructures (BRICS) methodology has utilized for designing of new non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). The predicted values were used to select the designed NFAs. On the selected NFAs, clustering and chemical similarity analyses are also performed. Chemical fingerprints are used for this purpose, and the synthetic accessibility score of the new NFAs is also investigated.30 NFAs have selected with low exciton binding energy values. This approach will allow for the rapid screening of NFAs for organic solar cells. Our proposed framework stands out as a valuable tool for strategically selecting the most effective NFAs for organic solar cells and offers a streamlined approach for material discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jameel Ahmed Bhutto
- College of Computer Science, Huang Gang Normal University, Huanggang, 438000, China
| | - Bilal Siddique
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore, 54770, Pakistan
| | - Ihab Mohamed Moussa
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed A. El-Sheikh
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zhihua Hu
- College of Computer Science, Huang Gang Normal University, Huanggang, 438000, China
| | - Guan Yurong
- College of Computer Science, Huang Gang Normal University, Huanggang, 438000, China
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7
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Ali S, Akhter MS, Waqas M, Zubair H, Bhatti HN, Mahal A, Shawky AM, Alkhouri A, Khera RA. End-capped engineering of Quinoxaline core-based non-fullerene acceptor materials with improved power conversion efficiency. J Mol Graph Model 2024; 127:108699. [PMID: 38150839 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2023.108699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
Improving the light-harvesting efficiency and boosting open circuit voltage are crucial challenges for enhancing the efficiency of organic solar cells. This work introduces seven new molecules (SA1-SA7) to upgrade the optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties of Q-C-F molecule-based solar cells. All recently designed molecules have the same alkyl-substituted Quinoxaline core and CPDT donor but vary in the end-capped acceptor subunits. All the investigated molecules have revealed superior properties than the model (R) by having absorbance ranging from 681 nm to 782 nm in the gaseous medium while 726 nm-861 nm in chloroform solvent, with the lowest band gap ranging from 1.91 to 2.19 eV SA1 molecule demonstrated the highest λmax (861 nm) in chloroform solvent and the lowest band gap (1.91 eV). SA2 molecule has manifested highest dipole moment (4.5089 D), lower exciton binding energy in gaseous (0.33 eV) and chloroform solvent (0.47 eV), and lower charge mobility of hole (0.0077693) and electron (0.0042470). At the same time, SA7 showed the highest open circuit voltage (1.56 eV) and fill factor (0.9166) due to solid electron-pulling acceptor moieties. From these supportive outcomes, it is inferred that our computationally investigated molecules may be promising candidates to be used in advanced versions of OSCs in the upcoming period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sajjad Ali
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Salim Akhter
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Bahrain, P. O. Box 32028, Bahrain
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Hira Zubair
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Haq Nawaz Bhatti
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Ahmed Mahal
- Department of Medical Biochemical Analysis, College of Health Technology, Cihan University-Erbil, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
| | - Ahmed M Shawky
- Science and Technology Unit (STU), Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, 21955, Saudi Arabia
| | - Anas Alkhouri
- College of Pharmacy, Cihan University-Erbil, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
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8
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Cao Z, Zheng S. The effects of side chain engineering on the morphology and charge transport of the A-DA 1D-A type of non-fullerene acceptor: a multiscale study. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:2666-2677. [PMID: 38175164 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp05066a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
The appearance of the A-DA1D-A type of non-fullerene acceptor Y6 and its derivatives significantly improves the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. However, the effects of the modulation of the side chains of Y6 on its morphology and charge transport in organic thin films are still not well understood. In this work, we have systematically studied the effects of symmetric modifications of the length of alkyl side chains and the types, such as branched or straight alkyl chains, and the introduction of heteroatoms to side chains on these properties. A multiscale study, including density functional theory and classical molecular dynamics simulations, has been used to answer this open question. We find that face-on configurations are generally dominant for the AA, A1A1, and DD stacking of molecular pairs. With respect to prototype Y6, the introduction of oxygen atoms to outer alkyl side chains could enhance AA stacking but worsen the electrical network and enlarge the reorganization energy during electron transfer, and changing outer side straight alkyl chains to branched chains ruins π-π stacking of all units significantly. Finally, we discover that shortening outer alkyl side chains appropriately or changing inner branched chains to straight chains with the same number of carbon atoms is a good strategy to improve the molecular π-π stacking and electron mobility of Y6 while changing outer straight side chains to branched chains or introducing oxygen atoms to outer straight chains is the opposite. This study provides a new insight into the relationship between morphology and electron mobility and will be helpful for the design of future high-performance non-fullerene acceptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhijun Cao
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Technologies of Clean Energies, School of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
| | - Shaohui Zheng
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Technologies of Clean Energies, School of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
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Ejaz I, Ahsan F, Asif M, Ayub K. Polaronic state of conducting oligomer as a new approach to design non-lieaner optical materials: A case study of oligofurans. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2024; 304:123288. [PMID: 37634328 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.123288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
The geometric, electronic and nonlinear optical properties of neutral and polaron based oligofurans are studied comparatively. We have reported the role of polaron to trigger the nonlinear optical response of oligofurans (nFu). The polaron based oligomers show excellent opto-electronic properties. The effect of polaron on nFu* chains is measured by electronic properties i.e (ionization energy, electron affinity, band gap) and global reactivity descriptors like softness, hardness and chemical potential than their neutral counterpart. An interesting trends of reactivity descriptors have been observed. Lower band gaps (EH-L = 4.66 and 4.41 eV) are observed for polaronic systems as compared to their neutral counterpart. On the other hand, the TD-DFT study further demonstrated that, as the size of chain increases, the absorption maxima (λmax) also increases with significant reduction in excitation energies (ΔE). Furthermore, the nonlinear optical response is confirmed through the linear polarizability (αo), static first order hyperpolarizability (βo) and dynamic (frequency denepndent) hyperpolarizability. Electric filed induced second harmonic generation (EFISHG) and electro-optic pockle effect (EOPE) at 532 nm and 1064 nm, commonly used lasers frequencies have also been employed. Our results showed that the maximum hyperpolarizabilities are observed for polaron based 7Fu* and 9Fu* i.e 1.3 × 104, and 3.1 × 104 au. This study concluded that these polaron based organic polymers (nFu*) are useful as an efficient NLO material with vast applications in different fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iqra Ejaz
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, KPK 22060, Pakistan
| | - Faiza Ahsan
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, KPK 22060, Pakistan
| | - Misbah Asif
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, KPK 22060, Pakistan
| | - Khurshid Ayub
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, KPK 22060, Pakistan.
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10
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Zubair H, Akhter MS, Waqas M, Ishtiaq M, Bhatti IA, Iqbal J, Skawky AM, Khera RA. A computational insight into enhancement of photovoltaic properties of non-fullerene acceptors by end-group modulations in the structural framework of INPIC molecule. J Mol Graph Model 2024; 126:108664. [PMID: 37948853 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2023.108664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Improving the open circuit voltage is a major challenge for enhancing the overall efficiency of organic solar cells. Current work has concentrated on improving open-circuit voltage by designing new molecular frameworks from an INPIC molecule having a conjugated fused core. We modulated the structure by changing the terminal groups of the reference molecule (INPIC) with seven strong electron-withdrawing units. We investigated various optoelectronic attributes, charge transfer, and photovoltaic and geometrical parameters by compiling the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) functional of the DFT approach. The optical absorption for modulated molecules ranges from 748.51 nm to 845.96 nm while showing higher oscillation strength than INPIC. At the same time, their impressive charge transport is attributed to their smaller excitation and exciton binding energy, higher electron/hole mobility, narrower band gap, and a more than 99 % intramolecular charge transfer. The larger dipole moments help in the dense interaction of acceptors with employed donor J61 which, in turn, improves charge transfer at the donor-acceptor interface. One of the triumphs that are difficult to get in organic molecules is success in achieving a higher open circuit voltage (VOC). Our conceptualized molecular frameworks of acceptors are featured with a notable VOC improvement in the range of 1.84-2.05 eV. Thus, the results of the current investigation pave the root for architecting the acceptor molecules with impressive optoelectrical properties that may be capable of providing high photovoltaic output. Thus these acceptors can be utilized for the development of advanced organic solar cells in future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hira Zubair
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Muhamed Salim Akhter
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Bahrain, P. O. Box 32028, Bahrain.
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Mariam Ishtiaq
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Ijaz Ahmed Bhatti
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
| | - Javed Iqbal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Ahmed M Skawky
- Science and Technology Unit (STU), Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, 21955, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
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11
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Atiq K, Iqbal MMA, Hassan T, Hussain R. An efficient end-capped engineering of pyrrole-based acceptor molecules for high-performance organic solar cells. J Mol Model 2023; 30:13. [PMID: 38103081 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-023-05799-8] [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: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT Various innovative molecules have been designed and explored for use in organic photovoltaics. In this study, we devised novel molecules (KZ1-KZ7) specifically for organic solar cells (OSCs). The newly formulated acceptor compounds possess a lower bandgap (Eg = 1.85-2.02), along with bathochromic shift (λmax = 713-788 nm) compared to the reference (Eg = 2.04 eV and λmax = 774 nm). Moreover, the FMO results identified the distinct charge transfer from HOMO to LUMO, which was strongly corroborated by the TDM maps. Similarly, the new designed molecules show less excitation energy (Ex = 1.31-1.54(gas)) than reference (Ex = 1.72). Likewise, all designed molecules (KZ1-KZ7) have demonstrated an analogous open circuit voltage (Voc) with the donor polymer PTB7-Th. All seven designed molecules (KZ1-KZ7) exhibited more fill factor ranging from 97.08 to 97.29 than reference 95.25 and PCE of between 8 and 20% at short circuit current densities of 9, 12, and 15 mA cm-2. Overall, the findings support that designed molecules can be potential molecules for future practical applications. METHODS Geometric calculations were conducted with Gaussian 09W software, and the findings were visualized using Gauss View software. DFT and TD-DFT were employed to evaluate various parameters for R and designed molecules (KZ1-KZ7). Firstly, four functionals including B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP, MPW1PW91, and ωB97XD with 6-31G(d,p) DFT level were applied to R to decide the best level for results. After appropriate analysis, the MPW1PW91/6-31G(d,p) was selected for further examination by comparing the experimental and DFT-based absorption graphs of R. External and internal reorganization energy are the two main factors contributing to reorganization energy. External energy refers to changes in external environment, while internal energy deals with information related to internal geometrical symmetry or the internal environment. The effect of outside factors or external reorganizational energy is omitted because it creates too little change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kainat Atiq
- Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan
- Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan
| | | | - Talha Hassan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara, 56300, Pakistan
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara, 56300, Pakistan.
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12
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Ahmad M, Cruguel H, Ahmadpour M, Vannucchi N, Samie NM, Leuillet C, Generalov A, Li Z, Madsen M, Witkowski N. Uncovering the Electronic State Interplay at Metal Oxide Electron Transport Layer/Nonfullerene Acceptor Interfaces in Stable Organic Photovoltaic Devices. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:55065-55072. [PMID: 37972316 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c11103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
The implementation of sputter-deposited TiOx as an electron transport layer in nonfullerene acceptor-based organic photovoltaics has been shown to significantly increase the long-term stability of devices compared to conventional solution-processed ZnO due to a decreased photocatalytic activity of the sputtered TiOx. In this work, we utilize synchrotron-based photoemission and absorption spectroscopies to investigate the interface between the electron transport layer, TiOx prepared by magnetron sputtering, and the nonfullerene acceptor, ITIC, prepared in situ by spray deposition to study the electronic state interplay and defect states at this interface. This is used to unveil the mechanisms behind the decreased photocatalytic activity of the sputter-deposited TiOx and thus also the increased stability of the organic solar cell devices. The results have been compared to similar measurements on anatase TiOx since anatase TiOx is known to have a strong photocatalytic activity. We show that the deposition of ITIC on top of the sputter-deposited TiOx results in an oxidation of Ti3+ species in the TiOx and leads to the emergence of a new O 1s peak that can be attributed to the oxygen in ITIC. In addition, increasing the thickness of ITIC on TiOx leads to a shift in the O 1s and C 1s core levels toward higher binding energies, which is consistent with electron transfer at the interface. Resonant photoemission at the Ti L-edge shows that oxygen vacancies in sputtered TiOx lie mostly in the surface region, which contrasts the anatase TiOx where an equal distribution between surface and subsurface oxygen vacancies is observed. Furthermore, it is shown that the subsurface oxygen vacancies in sputtered TiOx are strongly reduced after ITIC deposition, which can reduce the photocatalytic activity of the oxide, while the oxygen vacancies in model anatase TiOx are not affected upon ITIC deposition. This difference can explain the inferior photocatalytic activity of the sputter-deposited TiOx and thus also the increased stability of devices with sputter-deposited TiOx used as an electron transport layer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariam Ahmad
- SDU Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Energy Devices (SDU CAPE), Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Alsion 2, So̷nderborg DK-6400, Denmark
- SDU Climate Cluster, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5230, Denmark
| | - Hervé Cruguel
- UMR CNRS 7588, Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Paris F-75005, France
| | - Mehrad Ahmadpour
- SDU Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Energy Devices (SDU CAPE), Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Alsion 2, So̷nderborg DK-6400, Denmark
| | - Noemi Vannucchi
- UMR CNRS 7588, Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Paris F-75005, France
- Division of X-ray Photon Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala 752 36,Sweden
| | - Nahed Mohammad Samie
- UMR CNRS 7588, Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Paris F-75005, France
| | - Céline Leuillet
- UMR CNRS 7588, Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Paris F-75005, France
| | | | - Zheshen Li
- ISA, Centre for Storage Ring Facilities, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, Bldg. 1520, Aarhus C DK-8000, Denmark
| | - Morten Madsen
- SDU Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Energy Devices (SDU CAPE), Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Alsion 2, So̷nderborg DK-6400, Denmark
- SDU Climate Cluster, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5230, Denmark
| | - Nadine Witkowski
- UMR CNRS 7588, Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Paris F-75005, France
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13
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Rehman F, Hameed S, Khera RA, Shaban M, Essid M, Aloui Z, Al-Saeedi SI, Ibrahim MAA, Waqas M. High-Efficiency and Low-Energy-Loss Organic Solar Cells Enabled by Tuning the End Group Modification of the Terthiophene-Based Acceptor Molecules to Enhance Photovoltaic Properties. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:42492-42510. [PMID: 38024709 PMCID: PMC10652832 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c05176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
In the current study, six nonfullerene small acceptor molecules were designed by end-group modification of terminal acceptors. Density functional theory calculations of all designed molecules were performed, and optoelectronic properties were computed by employing different functionals. Every constructed molecule has a significant bathochromic shift in the maximum absorption value (λmax) except AM6. AM1-AM4 molecules represented a narrow band gap (Eg) and low excitation energy values. The AM1-AM4 and AM6 molecules have higher electron mobility. Comparing AM2 to the reference molecule reveals that AM2 has higher hole mobilities. Compared to the reference molecule, all compounds have excellent light harvesting efficiency values compared to AM1 and AM2. The natural transition orbital investigation showed that AM5 and AM6 had significant electronic transitions. The open-circuit voltage (Voc) values of the computed molecules were calculated by combining the designed acceptor molecules with PTB7-Th. In light of the findings, it is concluded that the designed molecules can be further developed for organic solar cells (OSCs) with superior photovoltaic abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faseh
Ur Rehman
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Shanza Hameed
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Mohamed Shaban
- Department
of Physics, Faculty of Science, Islamic
University of Madinah, Madinah 42351, Saudi Arabia
| | - Manel Essid
- Chemistry
Department, College of Science, King Khalid
University (KKU), P.O. Box, Abha 9004. Saudi Arabia
| | - Zouhaier Aloui
- Chemistry
Department, College of Science, King Khalid
University (KKU), P.O. Box, Abha 9004. Saudi Arabia
| | - Sameerah I. Al-Saeedi
- Department
of Chemistry. Collage of Science, Princess
Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O.
Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mahmoud A. A. Ibrahim
- Chemistry
Department, Faculty of Science, Minia University, Minia 61519, Egypt
- School
of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban 4000, South
Africa
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
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14
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Zhang XX, Yu XF, Xiao B. Comparative Study of the Optical and Electronic Properties of Y6 Derivatives: A Theoretical Study. J Phys Chem A 2023; 127:9291-9301. [PMID: 37906699 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c06000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
A series of Y-series nonfullerene acceptors (Y-NFAs) including symmetric acceptors (Y6 and TTY6) as well as asymmetric acceptors (KY6, TY6, and KTY6) have been constructed, and the electronic structure, electronic properties, and excited-state properties have been comparatively studied. The optoelectronic properties, interfacial charge-transfer (CT) mechanism, and interfacial CT rate for the solar cells composed of PM6 as the donor and Y6 derivatives as the acceptors are investigated further. We show that asymmetric Y6 derivatives have high molecular planarity, strong and wide absorption spectra, and large intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). For the solar cells, the complexes of Y6 derivatives show increased open-circuit voltage, larger fill factor, and smaller energy loss compared to Y6. In addition, the complexes of Y6 derivatives have more charge-transfer states than Y6 in the low-energy region, such that there are multiple ways for CT generations, such as hot excitation, intermolecular electric field (IEF), and direct excitation. The detailed CT mechanism as well as interfacial CT rate depends on the type of complexes, and all Y6 derivatives have a similar magnitude of charge-transfer rate to the one of Y6. This work not only reveals the differences in performance between symmetric and asymmetric NFA but also reveals that proper terminal tuning is an effective way to improve photovoltaic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Xue Zhang
- The Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue-Fang Yu
- The Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, People's Republic of China
| | - Bo Xiao
- The Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, People's Republic of China
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15
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Raza A, Mehmood RF, Rashid EU, Nasr S, Yahia IS, Iqbal J, Alatawi NS, Khera RA. Amplifying the photovoltaic properties of phenylene dithiophene core based non-fused ring by engineering the terminal acceptors modification to enhance the efficiency of organic solar cells. J Mol Graph Model 2023; 124:108563. [PMID: 37480831 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2023.108563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
In this study, a series of eight non-fused rings-based semiconducting acceptors (AR1-AR8) were computationally developed by making modifications to the parent molecule (PTICO). In this study, a DFT analysis was conducted at an accurately chosen level of theory to gather a comprehensive inventory of the optoelectronic characteristics of AR1-AR8 and PTICO. The findings indicate that all recently developed molecules exhibit a bathochromic shift in their maximum UV-visible absorbance (λmax) with a smaller band gap (Eg). AR1 has demonstrated the most significant red shift in UV-visible absorbance and possesses the smallest Eg when compared to other recently developed acceptors. AR2 acceptor has shown the best results both as electron and hole-transporting materials owing to its smallest value of reorganization energy for electrons and holes. J61 donor was engaged to calculate the open-circuit voltage (VOC) and the highest VOC with maximum FF % value was observed in AR4. The investigation of charge transfer was also conducted utilizing J61 in conjunction with the AR4 acceptor. Natural transition orbitals (NTO) have also been inspected to recognize the percentage electron transport contribution (% ETC) from the ground state to the first excites state (S0 to S1). The findings of this research suggest that the modified acceptors exhibit potential for practical implementation in the development of organic solar cells that possess improved photovoltaic performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Raza
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Rana Farhat Mehmood
- Department of Chemistry, University of Education, Township, Lahore, 54770, Pakistan D Research, Pakistan
| | - Ehsan Ullah Rashid
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Samia Nasr
- Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, P.O. Box 9004, Saudi Arabia; Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, P.O. Box 9004, Saudi Arabia
| | - I S Yahia
- Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, P.O. Box 9004, Saudi Arabia; Laboratory of Nano-Smart Materials for Science and Technology (LNSMST), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, Saudi Arabia; Center of Medical and Bio-Allied Health Sciences Research (CMBHSR), Ajman University, Ajman, P.O. Box 346, United Arab Emirates
| | - Javed Iqbal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
| | - Naifa S Alatawi
- Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, 71421, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
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16
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Kaya S, Thakur A, Kumar A. The role of in Silico/DFT investigations in analyzing dye molecules for enhanced solar cell efficiency and reduced toxicity. J Mol Graph Model 2023; 124:108536. [PMID: 37300949 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2023.108536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 05/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Toxicity has been a significant concern for many materials used in the production of solar cells and generally conflicts with its efficacy. Therefore, it is crucial to develop alternative, non-toxic materials to improve the sustainability and safety of solar cell technology. In recent years, computational methods such as Conceptual density functional theory (CDFT) have been increasingly used to study the electronic structure and optical properties of toxic molecules such as dyes, with the goal of designing and modifying these molecules to enhance solar cell efficiency and reduce toxicity. By applying CDFT-based chemical reactivity parameters and electronic structure rules, researchers can gain valuable insights into the performance of solar cells and optimize their design accordingly. In silico studies have been used to screen and design non-toxic dye molecules, which can improve the sustainability and safety of solar cell technology. This review article discusses the applications of CDFT in the analysis of toxic dye molecules for use in solar cells. This review also highlights the importance of using alternative, non-toxic materials in the production of solar cells. The review also discusses the limitations of CDFT and in silico studies and their potential for future research. Finally, the article concludes by emphasizing the potential of in silico/DFT investigations for accelerating the discovery of new and efficient dye molecules for enhancing solar cells' efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Savaş Kaya
- Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Health Services Vocational School, Department of Pharmacy, 58140, Sivas, Turkey.
| | - Abhinay Thakur
- Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Physical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India
| | - Ashish Kumar
- NCE, Department of Science and Technology, Government of Bihar, India
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17
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Zubair H, Mahmood RF, Waqas M, Ishtiaq M, Iqbal J, Ibrahim MAA, Sayed SRM, Noor S, Khera RA. Effect of tailoring π-linkers with extended conjugation on the SJ-IC molecule for achieving high VOC and improved charge mobility towards enhanced photovoltaic applications. RSC Adv 2023; 13:26050-26068. [PMID: 37664200 PMCID: PMC10472344 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra03317a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The problem of low efficiency of organic solar cells can be solved by improving the charge mobility and open circuit voltage of these cells. The current research aims to present the role of π-linkers, having extended conjugation, between the donor and acceptor moieties of indacenodithiophene core-based A-π-D-π-A type SJ-IC molecule to improve the photovoltaic performance of pre-existing SJ-IC. Several crucial photovoltaic parameters of SJ-IC and seven newly proposed molecules were studied using density functional theory. Surprisingly, this theoretical framework manifested that the tailoring of SJ-IC by replacing its π-linker with linkers having extended π-conjugation gives a redshift in maximum absorption coefficient in the range of 731.69-1112.86 nm in a solvent. In addition, newly designed molecules exhibited significantly narrower bandgaps (ranging from 1.33 eV to 1.93 eV) than SJ-IC having a bandgap of 2.01 eV. Similarly, newly designed molecules show significantly less excitation energy in gaseous and solvent phases than SJ-IC. Furthermore, the reorganization energies of DL1-DL7 are much lower than that of SJ-IC, indicating high charge mobility in these molecules. DL6 and DL7 have shown considerably improved open circuit voltage (VOC), reaching 1.49 eV and 1.48 eV, respectively. Thus, the modification strategy employed herein has been fruitful with productive effects, including better tuning of the energy levels, lower bandgaps, broader absorption, improved charge mobility, and increased VOC. Based on these results, it can be suggested that these newly presented molecules can be considered for practical applications in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hira Zubair
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad 38000 Pakistan
| | - Rana Farhat Mahmood
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education Township Lahore 54770 Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad 38000 Pakistan
| | - Mariam Ishtiaq
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad 38000 Pakistan
| | - Javed Iqbal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad 38000 Pakistan
| | - Mahmoud A A Ibrahim
- Computational Chemistry Laboratory, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Minia University Minia 61519 Egypt
- School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Westville Campus Durban 4000 South Africa
| | - Shaban R M Sayed
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University P. O. Box 2455 Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia
| | - Sadia Noor
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hohenheim Stuttgart 70599 Germany
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad 38000 Pakistan
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18
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Jin R, Zhang X, Xin J, Xiao W. Molecular design of D-π-A-π-D small molecule donor materials with narrow energy gap for organic solar cells applications. J Mol Model 2023; 29:273. [PMID: 37542668 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-023-05680-8] [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: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT Developing novel materials present a great challenge to improve the photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). In this paper, we designed a series of the donor-π bridge-acceptor-π bridge-donor (D-π-A-π-D) structure molecules. These molecules consist of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) moiety as core, 9-hexyl-carbazole moiety as terminal groups, and different planar electron-rich aromatic groups as π-bridges. The density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) computations showed that the frontier molecular orbital (FMO) energy levels, energy gaps, electron-driving forces (ΔEL-L), open-circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor (FF), reorganization energy (λ), exciton binding energy (Eb), and absorption spectra of the designed molecules can be effectively adjusted by the introduction of different π-bridges. The designed molecules have narrow energy gap and strong absorption spectra, which are beneficial for improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. In addition, the designed molecules possess large ΔEL-L, large Voc, and FF values and low Eb when the typical fullerene derivatives are used as acceptors. The FMO energy levels of the designed molecules can provide match well with the typical fullerene acceptors PC61BM, bisPC61BM, and PC71BM. Our results suggest that the designed molecules are expected to be promising donor materials for OSCs. METHODS All DFT and TD-DFT calculations were carried out using the Gaussian 09 code. The computational technique chosen was the hybrid functional B3LYP and the 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The benzene and chloroform solvent effects have been considered using the polarized continuum model (PCM) at the TD-DFT level. The simulated absorption spectra of designed molecules were plotted by using the GaussSum 1.0 program.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruifa Jin
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China.
- Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China.
| | - Xinhao Zhang
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China
- Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China
| | - Jingfan Xin
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China
- Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China
| | - Wenmin Xiao
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China
- Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China
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19
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Islam F, Waqas A, Khan S, Ali A, Sattar A, Tariq MA, Arshad M, Mehboob MY. Anthracene-bridged sensitizers for environmentally compatible dye-sensitized solar cells: In silico modelling and prediction. J Mol Graph Model 2023; 122:108496. [PMID: 37098283 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2023.108496] [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: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/27/2023]
Abstract
Advancement in solar cells has gained the attention of researchers due to increasing demand and renewable energy sources. Modeling of electron absorbers and donors has been performed extensively for the development of efficient solar cells. In this regard, efforts are being made for designing effective units for the active layer of solar cells. In this study, CXC22 was utilized as a reference in which acetylenic anthracene acted as a π bridge and infrastructure was D-π-A. We theoretically designed four novel dye-sensitized solar cells JU1-JU4 by utilizing reference molecules to improve the photovoltaic and optoelectronic properties. All designed molecules differ from R by donor moiety modifications. Different approaches were done to R and all molecules to explore different analyses like binding energies, excitation energies, dipole moment, TDM (transition density matrix), PDOS (partial density of states), absorption maxima, and charge transfer analysis. For the evaluation of results, we used the DFT technique and the findings demonstrated that the JU3 molecule showed a better redshift absorption value (761 nm) as compared to all other molecules due to the presence of anthracene in the donor moiety which lengthens the conjugation. JU3 was proven to be the best candidate among all due to improved excitation energy (1.69), low energy band gap (1.93), higher λmax value, and improved electron and hole energy values leading toward higher power conversion efficiency. All the other theoretically formed molecules exhibited comparable outcomes as compared to a reference. As a result, this work revealed the potential of organic dyes with anthracene bridges for indoor optoelectronic applications. These unique systems are effective contributors to the development of high-performance solar cells. Thus, we provided efficient systems to the experimentalists for the future development of solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fakhar Islam
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710054, PR China
| | - Ahsan Waqas
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, 710119, PR China
| | - Shabir Khan
- Department of Chemistry, Abdul wali Khan University, Mardan, 23200, Pakistan
| | - Amir Ali
- Department of Chemistry, Ghazi University, D.G.Khan, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Abdul Sattar
- Department of Chemistry, University of Education Lahore, D.G. Khan Campus, Dera Ghazi Khan, 32200, Pakistan
| | | | - Muhammad Arshad
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Gomal University, 29050, Dera Ismail Khan, KPK, Pakistan
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20
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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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21
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Kumar V, Koudjina S, Verma P, Chetti P. Optoelectronic design and charge transport properties of Benzodifuran (BDF) isomers for organic electronic devices: DFT/TD-DFT insights. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2023; 290:122266. [PMID: 36584640 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2022.122266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The primary goal of this work is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the charge transport and optoelectronic characteristics of all the isomers of benzodifuran (BDF) for organic electronic devices in order to suggest qualified materials/candidates for organic photovoltaic devices. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed for all possible isomers of BDF and results are compared with corresponding experimental known isomers. Time Dependent-Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) is used for the calculation of the absorption and HOMO-LUMO energy levels. To characterize the electronic charge transport state in these isomers, the ionization potentials (IP), reorganization energies (hole and electron), and electron affinities (EA) of all the isomers are investigated. Comparatively, all the BDF isomers are having low electron and hole reorganization energies and hence they can be used in the organic electronic material fabrication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vipin Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra 136119, India
| | - Simplice Koudjina
- Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry and Molecular Spectroscopy (LACTHESMO), National University of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (UNSTIM), BP 2282 Goho Abomey, Benin
| | - Pankaj Verma
- Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra 136119, India
| | - Prabhakar Chetti
- Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra 136119, India.
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22
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Computational Study of New Small Molecules based Thiophene as Donor Materials for Bulk Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells. J Fluoresc 2023; 33:553-563. [PMID: 36454428 DOI: 10.1007/s10895-022-03077-z] [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: 08/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
In this research work, we study the structural, optical, electronic, and photovoltaic properties of eight thiophene-based π-conjugated organic molecules using quantum methods namely time-dependent density functional theory. In particular, we identify the relationships between the chemical structure of these π-conjugated organic molecules and their optoelectronic properties. Moreover, we calculate and compare the highest energy occupied molecular orbital and lowest energy unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of these compounds which act as donor with the ones of the acceptorphenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester. As a result, the investigated molecules show a low band gap, suitable open-circuit voltage and appropriate alignment energy level between the engineered donor molecules and the acceptor phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester. This theoretical study shows that these new molecules have potential properties for the development of organic heterojunction photovoltaic cells.
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23
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Haroon M, Akhtar T, Khalid M, Mehmood H, Asghar MA, Baby R, Orfali R, Perveen S. Synthesis, characterization and exploration of photovoltaic behavior of hydrazide based scaffolds: a concise experimental and DFT study. RSC Adv 2023; 13:7237-7249. [PMID: 36891493 PMCID: PMC9986803 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra00431g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Solar energy being a non-depleting energy resource, has attracted scientists' attention to develop efficient solar cells to meet energy demands. Herein, a series of hydrazinylthiazole-4-carbohydrazide organic photovoltaic compounds (BDTC1-BDTC7) with an A1-D1-A2-D2 framework was synthesized with 48-62% yields, and their spectroscopic characterization was accomplished using FT-IR, HRMS, 1H and 13C-NMR techniques. Density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent DFT analyses were performed utilizing the M06/6-31G(d,p) functional to calculate the photovoltaic and optoelectronic properties of BDTC1-BDTC7via numerous simulations of the frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), transition density matrix (TDM), open circuit voltage (V oc) and density of states (DOS). Moreover, the conducted analysis on the FMOs revealed efficient transference of charge from the highest occupied to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO → LUMO), further supported by TDM and DOS analyses. Furthermore, the values of binding energy (E b = 0.295 to 1.150 eV), as well as reorganization energy of the holes (-0.038-0.025 eV) and electrons (-0.023-0.00 eV), were found to be smaller for all the studied compounds, which suggests a higher exciton dissociation rate with greater hole mobility in BDTC1-BDTC7. V oc analysis was accomplished with respect to HOMOPBDB-T-LUMOACCEPTOR. Among all the synthesized molecules, BDTC7 was found to have a reduced band gap (3.583 eV), with a bathochromic shift and absorption maximum at 448.990 nm, and a promising V oc (1.97 V), thus it is regarded as a potential candidate for high performance photovoltaic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Haroon
- Department of Chemistry, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST) 10250-Mirpur AJK Pakistan .,Department of Chemistry, Government Major Muhammad Afzal Khan (Shaheed), Boys Degree College Afzalpur, Mirpur (Affiliated with Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST)) 10250-Mirpur AJK Pakistan
| | - Tashfeen Akhtar
- Department of Chemistry, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST) 10250-Mirpur AJK Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Khalid
- Institute of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan 64200 Pakistan .,Center for Theoretical and Computational Research, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan 64200 Pakistan
| | - Hasnain Mehmood
- Department of Chemistry, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST) 10250-Mirpur AJK Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Adnan Asghar
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education Lahore Pakistan
| | - Rabia Baby
- Department of Education, Sukkur IBA University 65200 Pakistan
| | - Raha Orfali
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Collage of Pharmacy, King Saud University PO Box 2457 Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia
| | - Shagufta Perveen
- Department of Chemistry, School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Morgan State University Baltimore MD 21251 USA
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24
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Muhammad Asif Iqbal M, Arshad M, Yasir Mehboob M, Shahzeb Khan M, Piracha S. Designing efficient A-D-A 1-D-A type fullerene free acceptor molecules with enhanced power conversion efficiency for solar cell applications. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2023; 285:121844. [PMID: 36095855 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2022.121844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The achievement of highly efficient power conversion efficiency (PCE) is a big concern for non-fullerene organic solar cells (NF-OSCs) because PCE can depend on numerous variables. Here, new five novel acceptor molecules without fullerenes were developed and investigated using DFT (density functional theory) and TD-DFT (time dependent-density functional theory). Compared to the recently synthesized molecule (PZ-dIDTC6), the developed molecules display a narrow optical band gap, exhibiting a red shift in the absorption spectrum. The developed molecules (YM1-YM5) express high mobility of electrons and holes in the active layer of OSCs (organic solar cells). In addition, high open-circuit voltage (Voc) values with maximum charge density shifting are noted in designed molecules. YM1-YM5 is also associated with low binding energy and excitation energy. This work proves that noncovalent conformational locking is favourable for improving PCE devices.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Muhammad Arshad
- Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yatsen University, 70 Lien-Hai Road, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan
| | | | - Muhammad Shahzeb Khan
- Department of Chemistry and Technology of Functional Materials, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Sanwal Piracha
- Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab 38000, Pakistan
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25
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Alarfaji SS, Fatima D, Ali B, Sattar A, Hussain R, Hussain R, Ayub K. Computational Investigation of Near-Infrared-Absorbing Indeno[1,2- b]indole Analogues as Acceptors in Organic Photovoltaic Devices. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:1430-1442. [PMID: 36643501 PMCID: PMC9835169 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c06878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) with fullerene-free acceptors have recently been in high demand in the solar cell market because OSCs are less expensive, more flexible, long-lasting, eco-friendly, and, most importantly, have better photovoltaic performance with a higher PCE. We used INTIC as our reference R molecule and designed five new molecules DF1-DF5 from this R molecule. We attempted to test the power conversion efficiencies of five designed novel molecules, DF1-DF5. Therefore, we compared the PCE values of DF1-DF5 with that of R. We used a variety of computational techniques on these molecules to achieve this goal. Among the designed molecules, DF5 proved to be the best due to its lowest H-L bandgap energy E g (1.82 eV), the highest value of λmax (844.58 nm) within dichloromethane, the lowest excitation energy (1.47 eV), and the lowest oscillator strength value. The newly designed molecule DF2 exhibited the highest dipole moment (21.98 D), while DF3 displayed the minimum binding energy (0.34 eV) and the highest V oc value (1.37 V) with HOMOdonor-LUMOacceptor. According to the partial density of states (PDOS) and transition density matrix (TDM) analysis, DF2 and DF5 exhibited the best results. Charge-transfer (CT) analysis of the blend DF5 and PTB7-Th confirmed the accepting nature of the DF5 molecule. These findings show that by modifying the end-capped units, we can create customized molecules with improved photovoltaic properties. These findings also show that when compared with R, all of the designed molecules DF1-DF5 have improved optoelectronic properties. As a result, it is strongly advised to employ these conceptualized molecules in the practical synthesis of organic solar cells (OSCs).
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Affiliation(s)
- Saleh S. Alarfaji
- Department
of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid
University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha61413, Saudi Arabia
- Research
center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, P. O. Box 9004, Abha61514, Saudi Arabia
| | - Doua Fatima
- Department
of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore32200, Pakistan
| | - Bakhat Ali
- Institute
of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of
Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan64200, Pakistan
| | - Abdul Sattar
- Department
of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore32200, Pakistan
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department
of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore32200, Pakistan
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara56300, Pakistan
| | - Khurshid Ayub
- Department
of Chemistry, COMSATS Institute of Information
Technology, Abbottabad22060, Pakistan
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26
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Usman Khan M, Hussain R, Yaqoob J, Fayyaz ur Rehman M, Adnan Asghar M, Demir Kanmazalp S, Assiri MA, Imran M, Lu C, Safwan Akram M. Theoretical design and prediction of novel fluorene-based non-fullerene acceptors for environmentally friendly organic solar cell. ARAB J CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.104374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
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27
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Morcillo-Arencibia MF, Alcaraz-Pelegrina JM, Sarsa AJ, Randazzo JM. An off-center endohedrally confined hydrogen molecule. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:22971-22977. [PMID: 36125249 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp03456e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we address the problem of a C60 endohedrally confined hydrogen molecule through a configuration-interaction approach to electronic dynamics. Modeling the confinement by means of a combination of two Woods-Saxon potentials, we analyze the stability of the system as a function of the nuclei position through the behavior of the electronic spectrum. After studying the convergence of two different partial wave expansions, one related to the molecular Coulomb centers and the other related to the off-centering of the C60 well, we found that the second approach provides a more accurate description of the system. Furthermore, we observed that the inter-atomic distance changes based on the position of the atoms inside the cavity. Thus, to obtain the most favourable energetic configuration for the molecule, it should be positioned inside the cavity next to the structure, where its size decreases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milagros F Morcillo-Arencibia
- Departamento de Física, Campus de Rabanales, Edif. C2. Universidad de Córdoba, E-14071 Córdoba, Spain. .,Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA and CONICET, S. C. de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | | | - Antonio J Sarsa
- Departamento de Física, Campus de Rabanales, Edif. C2. Universidad de Córdoba, E-14071 Córdoba, Spain.
| | - Juan M Randazzo
- Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA and CONICET, S. C. de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
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28
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High electron mobility due to extra π-conjugation in the end-capped units of non-fullerene acceptor molecules: a DFT/TD-DFT-based prediction. J Mol Model 2022; 28:278. [PMID: 36028595 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-022-05283-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
A combination of high open-circuit voltage (Voc) and short-circuit current density (Jsc) typically creates effective organic solar cells (OSCs). To enhance the open-circuit voltage, we have designed three new fullerene-free acceptor molecules with elongated π-conjugation in the end-capped units. Y-series-based newly designed molecules (CPSS-4F, CPSS-4Cl, CPSS-4CN) exhibited a narrow energy bandgap with high electron mobility. Red shift in the absorption spectrum with high intensities is also noted for designed molecules. Low binding and excitation energies of designed molecules favor easy excitation of exciton in the excited state. Further, CPSS-4F, CPSS-4Cl, and CPSS-4CN exhibited better open-circuit voltage with favorable molecular orbitals contributions. Transition density analysis (TDM) was also performed to locate the total transitions in the designed molecules. Outcomes of all analyses suggested that designed molecules are effective contributors to the active layer of organic solar cells.
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29
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Engineering of A-π-D-π-A system based non-fullerene acceptors to enhance the photovoltaic properties of organic solar cells; A DFT approach. Chem Phys Lett 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2022.139750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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30
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Theoretical designing of selenium heterocyclic non-fullerene acceptors with enhanced power conversion efficiency for organic solar cells: a DFT/TD-DFT-based prediction and understanding. J Mol Model 2022; 28:228. [DOI: 10.1007/s00894-022-05225-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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31
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Asif Iqbal MM, Mehboob MY, Arshad M. Quinoxaline based unfused non-fullerene acceptor molecules with PTB7-Th donor polymer for high performance organic solar cell applications. J Mol Graph Model 2022; 114:108181. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2022.108181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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32
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Shahzadi A, Iqbal J, Akram SJ, Rasool A, El-Badry YA, Khera RA. Symmetrical end-capped molecular engineering of star-shaped triphenylamine-based derivatives having remarkable photovoltaic properties for efficient organic solar cells. J Mol Model 2022; 28:132. [PMID: 35501509 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-022-05106-x] [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: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
In the present research work, four novel triphenylamine (TPA)-based acceptor molecules have been architectured to step up the solar efficiency of organic solar cells. The four designed molecules abbreviated as T1-T4 have a common TPA donor core and different strong electron pulling peripheral acceptor groups connected through thiophene spacers. Computational simulations of T1-T4 were performed to compute and compare their optoelectronic properties with well-known reference molecule S(TPA-DPP) designated as R in the current project. For geometric optimizations of designed molecules, MPW1PW91 functional along with a basis set of 6-31G (d, p) was enforced. Assessment of the optoelectronic features of newly reported 3-D molecules (T1-T4) has been executed through density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) computations. Transition density matrix (TDM) and density of state (DOS) evaluations were performed for the investigation of exciton dynamics and electronic contribution between two states. All the derived molecules exhibited admirable photovoltaic features when compared to that of the reference molecule. Amidst all these newly modified molecules, T3 manifested itself as the finest candidate having the least energy band gap (1.84 eV) and the highest λmax (865 nm) in dichloromethane solvent. Also, T1 molecule has the lowest hole reorganization energy (0.0036 eV) value. These designed candidates (T1-T4) confirm that peripheral acceptor tempering is an effectual approach for the attainment of the desirable optoelectronic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aneeza Shahzadi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Javed Iqbal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan. .,Punjab Bio-Energy Institute, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
| | - Sahar Javaid Akram
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Alvina Rasool
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Yaser A El-Badry
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Khurma, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rasheed Ahmad Khera
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
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33
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Efficient designing of half-moon-shaped chalcogen heterocycles as non-fullerene acceptors for organic solar cells. J Mol Model 2022; 28:125. [PMID: 35459976 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-022-05116-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
One key strategy to further improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs) is to incorporate various complementary functional groups in a molecule. Such strategies proved attractive for tuning the photovoltaic performances of the materials and can show a much higher absorption phenomenon with narrower band gaps. Despite the outstanding benefits, materials selection and their efficient modeling is also an extremely challenging job for the development of OSCs materials. In this manuscript, we proficiently developed an efficient series of small molecule-based non-fullerene acceptors (SM-NFAs) SN1-SN9 for OSCs and characterized by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT). The characteristics required to estimate electron and hole mobility, and open-circuit voltage (Voc) were investigated by optimizing the geometrical parameters, absorption spectra, exciton binding energy, frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), electronic structures, and charge transfer rates. The outcomes of these materials showed that all newly constructed small-molecule-based non-fullerene acceptors exhibit broader and better absorption efficiency (λmax = 761 to 778 nm) and exciton dissociation, while much lower LUMO energy levels which may help to enhance the reorganizational energies. Further, a narrow bandgap also offers better photovoltaic properties. Hence, the designed molecules exhibited narrow bandgap values (Eg = 2.82 to 2.98 eV) which are lower than that of the reference molecule (3.05 eV). High Voc and photocurrent density values with lower excitation and binding energies eventually increase the PCEs of the OSC devices. The obtained results have shown that designed molecules could be effective aspirants for high-performance OSCs.
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34
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Riaz S, Hussain R, Adnan M, Khan MU, Muhammad S, Yaqoob J, Alvi MU, Khalid M, Irshad Z, Ayub K. Ab Initio Study of Two-Dimensional Cross-Shaped Non-Fullerene Acceptors for Efficient Organic Solar Cells. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:10638-10648. [PMID: 35382331 PMCID: PMC8973122 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c00285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
In the present work, five novel non-fullerene acceptor molecules are represented to explore the significance of organic solar cells (OSCs). The electro-optical properties of the designed A-D-A-type molecules rely on the central core donor moiety associated with different halogen families such as fluorine, chlorine, and bromine atoms and acyl, nitrile, and nitro groups as acceptor moieties. Among these, M1 exhibits the maximum absorption (λmax) at 728 nm in a chloroform solvent as M1 has nitro and nitrile groups in the terminal acceptor, which is responsible for the red shift in the absorption coefficient as compared to R (716 nm). M1 also shows the lowest value of the energy band gap (2.07 eV) with uniform binding energy in the range of 0.50 eV for all the molecules. The transition density matrix results reveal that easy dissociation of the exciton is possible in M1. The highest value of the dipole moment (4.6 D) indicates the significance of M4 and M2 in OSCs as it reduces the chance of charge recombination. The low value of λe is given by our designed molecules concerning reference molecules, indicating their enhanced electron mobility. Thus, these molecules can serve as the most economically efficient material. Hence, all newly designed non-fullerene acceptors provide an overview for further development in the performance of OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saim Riaz
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara 5630, Pakistan
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara 5630, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Adnan
- Graduate
School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic
of Korea
| | | | - Shabbir Muhammad
- Department
of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid
University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia
| | - Junaid Yaqoob
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara 5630, Pakistan
| | | | - Muhammad Khalid
- Department
of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of
Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan 64200, Pakistan
| | - Zobia Irshad
- Department
of Chemistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea
| | - Khurshid Ayub
- Department
of Chemistry, COMSATS University, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
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35
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Depicting the role of end-capped acceptors to amplify the photovoltaic properties of benzothiadiazole core-based molecules for high-performance organic solar cell applications. COMPUT THEOR CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.comptc.2022.113669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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36
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Quantum chemical designing of novel fullerene-free acceptor molecules for organic solar cell applications. J Mol Model 2022; 28:67. [PMID: 35201436 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-022-05062-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) with bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structures consisting of electron-donor and electron-acceptor materials have achieved impressive progress over the past decade, demonstrating their great potential in practical applications. In this study, we have designed five fullerene-free acceptor-based molecules containing indaceno-dithiophene as a central core moiety. We studied the optoelectronic features of these newly architecture molecules by using DFT and TD-DFT approaches. For the investigation of the optoelectronic characteristics of the reference and newly designed molecules, we performed different parameters including FMO's, absorption maxima, excitation energy, transition density matrix (TDM) along with binding energy, dipole moment, the partial density of states, charge mobility, and charge transfer analysis. Among all engineered molecules, SK1 has proven to be the most efficient solar cell due to its promising optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties. SK1 reveals smaller band-gap (Egap = 1.959 eV) and lesser λh (0.0070 eV) and λe (0.0051 eV). SK1 illustrated comparable binding energy value (0.33 eV) and lowest excitation energy (1.62 eV) which will lead to improved power conversion efficiency values. The SK1 molecule demonstrated the highest λmax value (764 nm) in the solvent phase which could lead to redshift absorption for achieving the high efficiency of OSCs. This molecular modeling approves that the best working efficiency of organic solar devices can be achieved by terminal group modifications due to their promising photovoltaic and optoelectronic properties. It is evident from the current analysis that all the theoretically fabricated molecules (SK1-SK5) are fabulous and highly suggested to experimental workers for their synthesis and advancement of these highly competent solar devices in the future.
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In silico modelling of acceptor materials by End-capped and π-linker modifications for High-Performance organic solar Cells: Estimated PCE > 18%. COMPUT THEOR CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.comptc.2021.113555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Mehboob MY, Hussain R, Jamil S, Ahmed M, Khan MU, Haroon M, Janjua MRSA. Physical‐organic aspects along with linear and nonlinear optical properties of benzene sulfonamide compounds: In silico analysis. J PHYS ORG CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/poc.4313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department of Chemistry University of Okara Okara Pakistan
| | - Saba Jamil
- Super Light Materials and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry University of Agriculture Faisalabad Pakistan
| | - Mahmood Ahmed
- Division of Science and Technology University of Education Lahore Pakistan
| | | | - Muhammad Haroon
- Department of Chemistry King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) Dhahran Saudi Arabia
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39
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Designing benzothiadiazole based highly efficient non-fullerene acceptor molecules for organic solar cells. POLYMER 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2021.124405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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40
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Rafiq M, Salim M, Noreen S, Ahmad Khera R, Noor S, Yaqoob U, Iqbal J. End-capped modification of dithienosilole based small donor molecules for high performance organic solar cells using DFT approach. J Mol Liq 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2021.118138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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41
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Sarfaraz S, Yar M, Ans M, Gilani MA, Ludwig R, Hashmi MA, Hussain M, Muhammad S, Ayub K. Computational investigation of a covalent triazine framework (CTF-0) as an efficient electrochemical sensor. RSC Adv 2022; 12:3909-3923. [PMID: 35425404 PMCID: PMC8981076 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra08738j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In the current study, a covalent triazine framework (CTF-0) was evaluated as an electrochemical sensor against industrial pollutants i.e., O3, NO, SO2, SO3, and CO2. The deep understanding of analytes@CTF-0 complexation was acquired by interaction energy, NCI, QTAIM, SAPT0, EDD, NBO and FMO analyses. The outcome of interaction energy analyses clearly indicates that all the analytes are physiosorbed onto the CTF-0 surface. NCI and QTAIM analysis were employed to understand the nature of the non-covalent interactions. Furthermore, SAPT0 analysis revealed that dispersion has the highest contribution towards total SAPT0 energy. In NBO analysis, the highest charge transfer is obtained in the case of SO3@CTF-0 (−0.167 e−) whereas the lowest charge transfer is observed in CO2@CTF-0. The results of NBO charge transfer are also verified through EDD analysis. FMO analysis revealed that the highest reduction in the HOMO–LUMO energy gap is observed in the case of O3 (5.03 eV) adsorption onto the CTF-0 surface, which indicates the sensitivity of CTF-0 for O3 analytes. We strongly believe that these results might be productive for experimentalists to tailor a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor using covalent triazine-based frameworks (CTFs). In the current study, a covalent triazine framework (CTF-0) was evaluated as an electrochemical sensor against industrial pollutants i.e., O3, NO, SO2, SO3, and CO2.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Sehrish Sarfaraz
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University, Abbottabad Campus, KPK, Pakistan, 22060
| | - Muhammad Yar
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University, Abbottabad Campus, KPK, Pakistan, 22060
| | - Muhammad Ans
- Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, 38000, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Mazhar Amjad Gilani
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, 54600, Pakistan
| | - Ralf Ludwig
- Universität Rostock, Institut für Chemie, Abteilung für Physikalische Chemie, Dr.-Lorenz-Weg 1, 18059 Rostock, Germany
- Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse an der Universität Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 29a, 18059 Rostock, Germany
| | - Muhammad Ali Hashmi
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Science & Technology, University of Education, 54770 Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Masroor Hussain
- Department of Data Science, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi, KPK, Pakistan
| | - Shabbir Muhammad
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, P. O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khurshid Ayub
- Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University, Abbottabad Campus, KPK, Pakistan, 22060
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Janjua MRSA. Quantum design of transition metals decorated on boron phosphide inorganic nanocluster for Favipiravir adsorption: a possible treatment for COVID-19. NEW J CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d1nj04697g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Herein, a quantum drug delivery design of transition metals decorated on boron phosphide (B12P12) inorganic nanocage for favipiravir adsorption has been presented. Thus, these systems may facilitate us as COVID-19 therapy.
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Deciphering the role of end-capped acceptor units for amplifying the photovoltaic properties of donor materials for high-performance organic solar cell applications. COMPUT THEOR CHEM 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.comptc.2021.113454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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44
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Khalid M, Momina, Imran M, Rehman MFU, Braga AAC, Akram MS. Molecular engineering of indenoindene-3-ethylrodanine acceptors with A2-A1-D-A1-A2 architecture for promising fullerene-free organic solar cells. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20320. [PMID: 34645887 PMCID: PMC8514561 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99308-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Considering the increased demand and potential of photovoltaic devices in clean, renewable electrical and hi-tech applications, non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) chromophores have gained significant attention. Herein, six novel NFA molecules IBRD1-IBRD6 have been designed by structural modification of the terminal moieties from experimentally synthesized A2-A1-D-A1-A2 architecture IBR for better integration in organic solar cells (OSCs). To exploit the electronic, photophysical and photovoltaic behavior, density functional theory/time dependent-density functional theory (DFT/TD-DFT) computations were performed at M06/6-311G(d,p) functional. The geometry, electrical and optical properties of the designed acceptor molecules were compared with reported IBR architecture. Interestingly, a reduction in bandgap (2.528-2.126 eV), with a broader absorption spectrum, was studied in IBR derivatives (2.734 eV). Additionally, frontier molecular orbital findings revealed an excellent transfer of charge from donor to terminal acceptors and the central indenoindene-core was considered responsible for the charge transfer. Among all the chromophores, IBRD3 manifested the lowest energy gap (2.126 eV) with higher λmax at 734 and 745 nm in gaseous phase and solvent (chloroform), respectively due to the strong electron-withdrawing effect of five end-capped cyano groups present on the terminal acceptor. The transition density matrix map revealed an excellent charge transfer from donor to terminal acceptors. Further, to investigate the charge transfer and open-circuit voltage (Voc), PBDBT donor polymer was blended with acceptor chromophores, and a significant Voc (0.696-1.854 V) was observed. Intriguingly, all compounds exhibited lower reorganization and binding energy with a higher exciton dissociation in an excited state. This investigation indicates that these designed chromophores can serve as excellent electron acceptor molecules in organic solar cells (OSCs) that make them attractive candidates for the development of scalable and inexpensive optoelectronic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Khalid
- Department of Chemistry, Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
| | - Momina
- Department of Chemistry, Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Imran
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Ataualpa Albert Carmo Braga
- Departamento de Química Fundamental, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. LineuPrestes 748, São Paulo, 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Muhammad Safwan Akram
- School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, UK.
- National Horizons Centre, Teesside University, Darlington, DL1 1HG, UK.
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Mehboob MY, Hussain R, Irshad Z, Farwa U, Adnan M, Muhammad S. Designing and Encapsulation of Inorganic Al12N12 Nanoclusters with Be, Mg, and Ca Metals for Efficient Hydrogen Adsorption: A Step Forward Towards Hydrogen Storage Materials. JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL BIOPHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY 2021. [DOI: 10.1142/s2737416521500411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Nanoclusters such as [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] have received increased attention due to their diverse applications in the fields of optoelectronics and energy storage. In this paper, we have investigated a series of alkaline earth metal (AEM)-encapsulated [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] nanoclusters for hydrogen adsorption. Thermodynamic adsorption parameters, optical and nonlinear optical properties were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. Encapsulation of AEMs (Be, Mg and Ca) is an effective strategy to improve the NLO reaction and thermodynamic and adsorption properties of [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] nanoclusters. The adsorption energies ranging from [Formula: see text]26.57[Formula: see text]kJ/mol to [Formula: see text]213.33[Formula: see text]kJ/mol for the three guests (Be, Mg and Ca) capsulated [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] nanoclusters are observed. The adsorption energy is affected by the size of the nanocage. Therefore, Ca- and Mg-encapsulated cages show higher values of adsorption energy. Overall, an increase in adsorption energy ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]kJ/mol to [Formula: see text]91.06[Formula: see text]kJ/mol) is observed for (Be, Mg and Ca) encapsulated [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] nanoclusters compared to untreated [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] and H2-[Formula: see text][Formula: see text] cages. Moreover, adsorption of hydrogen on AEMs encapsulated in [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] leads to a decrease in the HOMO-LUMO energy gap with an enhancement of linear and nonlinear hyperpolarizability. All hydrogen-adsorbed AEMs [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] nanocages exhibit large [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] values, suggesting that these systems are potential candidates for optical materials. Various geometrical parameters such as frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), partial density of states, global quantum descriptor of reactivity, natural bond orbital testing and molecular electrostatic strength analyses were performed to investigate the thermodynamic stability of all the studied systems. The results obtained confirmed that the designed systems are suitable for hydrogen storage. Therefore, we recommend that these systems be investigated for their hydrogen storage and optical properties.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara 56300, Pakistan
| | - Zobia Irshad
- Graduate School, Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, 501-759, Republic of Korea
| | - Ume Farwa
- Department of Chemistry, Chonnam National University, 77 Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
| | - Muhammad Adnan
- Graduate School, Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, 501-759, Republic of Korea
| | - Shabbir Muhammad
- Department of Physics, College of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia
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Khalid M, Khan MU, -Razia ET, Shafiq Z, Alam MM, Imran M, Akram MS. Exploration of efficient electron acceptors for organic solar cells: rational design of indacenodithiophene based non-fullerene compounds. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19931. [PMID: 34620948 PMCID: PMC8497501 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99254-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The global need for renewable sources of energy has compelled researchers to explore new sources and improve the efficiency of the existing technologies. Solar energy is considered to be one of the best options to resolve climate and energy crises because of its long-term stability and pollution free energy production. Herein, we have synthesized a small acceptor compound (TPDR) and have utilized for rational designing of non-fullerene chromophores (TPD1-TPD6) using end-capped manipulation in A2-A1-D-A1-A2 configuration. The quantum chemical study (DFT/TD-DFT) was used to characterize the effect of end group redistribution through frontier molecular orbital (FMO), optical absorption, reorganization energy, open circuit voltage (Voc), photovoltaic properties and intermolecular charge transfer for the designed compounds. FMO data exhibited that TPD5 had the least ΔE (1.71 eV) with highest maximum absorption (λmax) among all compounds due to the four cyano groups as the end-capped acceptor moieties. The reorganization energies of TPD1-TPD6 hinted at credible electron transportation due to the lower values of λe than λh. Furthermore, open circuit voltage (Voc) values showed similar amplitude for all compounds including parent chromophore, except TPD4 and TPD5 compounds. These designed compounds with unique end group acceptors have the potential to be used as novel fabrication materials for energy devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Khalid
- Department of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
| | | | - Eisha-Tul -Razia
- Department of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, 64200, Pakistan
| | - Zahid Shafiq
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan
| | - Mohammed Mujahid Alam
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Imran
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Safwan Akram
- School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, UK.
- National Horizons Centre, Teesside University, Darlington, DL1 1HG, UK.
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Bary G, Ghani L, Jamil MI, Arslan M, Ahmed W, Ahmad A, Sajid M, Ahmad R, Huang D. Designing small organic non-fullerene acceptor molecules with diflorobenzene or quinoline core and dithiophene donor moiety through density functional theory. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19683. [PMID: 34608168 PMCID: PMC8490382 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97662-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The non-fullerene acceptors A1-A5 with diflourobenzene or quinoline core (bridge) unit, donor cyclopenta[1,2-b:3,4-b']dithiophene unit and 2-(2-methylene-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile as acceptor unit with additional phenyl, fulvene or thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidinyl 5-oxide groups have been designed through DFT calculations. The optimization of molecular geometries were performed with density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP 6-31G (d,p) level of theory. The frontier molecular orbital (FMO) energies, band gap energies and dipole moments (ground and excited state) have been calculated to probe the photovoltaic properties. The band gap (1.42-2.01 eV) and dipole moment values (5.5-18. Debye) showed that these designed acceptors are good candidates for organic solar cells. Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) results showed λmax (wave length at maximum absorption) value (611-837 nm), oscillator strength (f) and excitation energies (1.50-2.02 eV) in gas phase and in CHCl3 solvent (1.48-1.89 eV) using integral equation formalism variant (IEFPCM) model. The λmax in CHCl3 showed marginal red shift for all designed acceptors compared with gas phase absorption. The partial density of states (PDOS) has been plotted by using multiwfn which showed that all the designed molecules have more electronic distribution at the donor moiety and lowest at the central bridge. The reorganization energies of electron (λe) (0.0007 eV to 0.017 eV), and the hole reorganization energy values (0.0003 eV to - 0.0403 eV) were smaller which suggested that higher charged motilities. The blends of acceptors A1-A5 with donor polymer D1 provided open circuit voltage (Voc) and ∆HOMO off-set of the HOMO of donor and acceptors. These blends showed 1.04 to 1.5 eV values of Voc and 0 to 0.38 eV ∆HOMO off set values of the donor-acceptor bends which indicate improved performance of the cell. Finally, the blend of D1-A4 was used for the study of distribution of HOMO and LUMO. The HOMO were found distributed on the donor polymer (D1) while the A4 acceptor was found with LUMO distribution. Based on λmax values, and band gap energies (Eg), excitation energies (Ex), reorganization energies; the A3 and A4 will prove good acceptor molecules for the development of organic solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghulam Bary
- Faculty of Science, Yibin University, Yibin, 644000, Sichuan, China.
| | - Lubna Ghani
- Department of Bionanotechnology, Hanyang University, Ansan, 155-88, Korea
| | - Muhammad Imran Jamil
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Engineering Manufacture Technology, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Muhammad Arslan
- Department of Bionanotechnology, Hanyang University, Ansan, 155-88, Korea
| | - Waqar Ahmed
- Department of Bionanotechnology, Hanyang University, Ansan, 155-88, Korea.
- Chemistry Department, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
| | - Anees Ahmad
- Chemistry Department, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajid
- Faculty of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Yibin University, Yibin, 644000, Sichuan, China
| | - Riaz Ahmad
- Faculty of Science, Yibin University, Yibin, 644000, Sichuan, China
| | - Duohui Huang
- Faculty of Science, Yibin University, Yibin, 644000, Sichuan, China
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Hussain S, Chatha SAS, Hussain AI, Hussain R, Yasir Mehboob M, Mansha A, Shahzad N, Ayub K. A Theoretical Framework of Zinc-Decorated Inorganic Mg 12O 12 Nanoclusters for Efficient COCl 2 Adsorption: A Step Forward toward the Development of COCl 2 Sensing Materials. ACS OMEGA 2021; 6:19435-19444. [PMID: 34368531 PMCID: PMC8340102 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c01473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Gas sensors are widely explored due to their remarkable detection efficiency for pollutants. Phosgene is a toxic gas and its high concentration in the environment causes some serious health problems like swollen throat, a change in voice, late response of nervous systems, and many more. Therefore, the development of sensors for quick monitoring of COCl2 in the environment is the need of the time. In this aspect, we have explored the adsorption behavior of late transition metal-decorated Mg12O12 nanoclusters for COCl2. Density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level is used for optimization, frontier molecular orbital analysis, dipole moment, natural bonding orbitals, bond lengths, adsorption energies, and global reactivity descriptor analysis. Decoration of Zn on pure Mg12O12 delivered two geometries named as Y1 and Y2 with adsorption energy values of -388.91 and -403.11 kJ/mol, respectively. Adsorption of COCl2 on pure Mg12O12 also delivered two geometries (X1 and X2) with different orientations of COCl2. The computed adsorption energy values of X1 and X2 are -44.92 and -71.32 kJ/mol. However, adsorption of COCl2 on Zn-decorated Mg12O12 offered two geometries named as Z1 and Z2 with adsorption energy values of -455.22 and -419.04 kJ/mol, respectively. These adsorption energy values suggested that Zn decoration significantly enhances the adsorption capability of COCl2 gas. Further, the narrow band gap and large dipole moment values of COCl2-adsorbed Zn-decorated Mg12O12 nanoclusters suggested that designed systems are efficient candidates for COCl2 adsorption. Global reactivity indices unveil the great natural stability and least reactivity of designed systems. Results of all analyses suggested that Zn-decorated Mg12O12 nanoclusters are efficient aspirants for the development of high-performance COCl2 sensing materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahid Hussain
- Department
of Applied Chemistry, Government College
University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | | | - Abdullah Ijaz Hussain
- Department
of Applied Chemistry, Government College
University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara 56300, Punjab, Pakistan
| | | | - Asim Mansha
- Department
of Chemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Nabeel Shahzad
- Department
of Chemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Khurshid Ayub
- Department
of Chemistry, COMSATS University, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
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Muhammad Asif Iqbal M, Yasir Mehboob M, Hussain R, Adnan M, Irshad Z. Synergistic effects of fluorine, chlorine and bromine-substituted end-capped acceptor materials for highly efficient organic solar cells. COMPUT THEOR CHEM 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.comptc.2021.113335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Mehboob MY, Hussain R, Irshad Z, Adnan M. Role of acceptor guests in tuning optoelectronic properties of benzothiadiazole core based non-fullerene acceptors for high-performance bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells. J Mol Model 2021; 27:226. [PMID: 34259943 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-021-04843-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Recently, end-capped acceptors tailoring approach has attracted many researchers because of unceasing higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of resulted compounds. By keeping in view, the crucial role of NFAs in bulk-heterojunction OSCs, herein, we molecularly engineered five new non-fullerene acceptor materials (Y6A1-Y6A5) by modifying a recently synthesized Y6 molecule (R), having 18% power conversion efficiency when combined with D18 donor polymer. The structural-elemental connection, physical-chemical, optoelectronic, and photovoltaic characteristics of novel deigned and reference material (R) are studied with advanced quantum-chemical modulations. Density functional theory and time dependent-density functional theory has been employed through various basis sets to investigate the designed molecules theoretically. Interestingly, all of the newly modeled materials displayed lower excitation energies with lower HOMO-LUMO energy-gaps in-contrast with R molecule. Moreover, a red-shifted absorption and lower reorganizational energies of electron and hole are also a novel feature of these designed materials. The lower binding energy values of modeled materials offers better charge separation and high photo-current density (Jsc) as compared to R. Transition density analysis, open circuit voltage, and molecular electrostatic potential analysis suggested that end-capped acceptors alteration of R molecule is an efficient approach for tuning the optoelectronic properties of non-fullerene-based acceptor molecules (Y6A1-Y6A5). In last, composite study of donor: acceptor (D18:Y6A2) complex has also been carried-out to realize the charge transfer process at the donor-acceptor interface. After all investigations, we hope that our theoretical modeled materials are superior than Y6 molecule, therefore, we endorse these materials for the synthesis to prepare highly-efficient BHJ-OSCs devices.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Riaz Hussain
- Department of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara, 56300, Pakistan
| | - Zobia Irshad
- Graduate School, Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, Gwangju, 501-759, Republic of Korea.
| | - Muhammad Adnan
- Graduate School, Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, Gwangju, 501-759, Republic of Korea.
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