Heteroatom-Bridged Benzothiazolyls for Organic Solar Cells: A Theoretical Study

Cross-over from pyrene to acene optical and electronic properties: a theoretical investigation of a series of pyrene derivatives fused with N-, S, and O-containing heterocycles

Pyrene and acene derivatives are an important source of materials for optoelectronic device applications both as emitters and organic semiconductors. The mobility of major charge carriers is correlated with the coupling constants of the respective major charge carrier as well as the relaxation energies. Herein, we have applied range-separated density functionals for the estimation of said values. A series of five alkylated derivatives of pyrene laterally extended by heteroaromatic or phenyl groups were explored and contrasted to nascent pyrene, alkylated pyrene and tetracene. The ground state geometries along with absorption properties and relaxation energies are presented as well as a discussion of the suitability of the material toward hole and electron transport materials.

Functionalized Phenanthrene Imide-Based Polymers for n-Type Organic Thin-Film Transistors

High-performing n-type polymers are crucial for the advance of organic electronics field, however strong electron-deficient building blocks with optimized physicochemical properties for constructing them are still limited. The imide-functionalized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with extended π-conjugated framework, high electron deficiency and good solubility serve as promising candidates for developing high-performance n-type polymers. Among the PAHs, phenanthrene (PhA) features a well-delocalized aromatic π-system with multiple modifiable active sites . However, the PhA-based imides are seldom studied, mainly attributed to the synthetic challenge. Herein, we report two functionalized PhAs, CPOI and CPCNI, by simultaneously incorporating imide with carbonyl or dicyanomethylene onto PhA. Notably, the dicyanomethylene-modified CPCNI exhibits a well stabilized LUMO energy level (-3.84 eV), attributed to the synergetic inductive effect from imide and cyano groups. Subsequently, based on CPOI and CPCNI, two polymers PCPOI-Tz and PCPCNI-Tz were developed. Applied to organic thin-film transistors, owing to the strong electron-deficiency of CPCNI, polymer PCPCNI-Tz shows an improved electron mobility and largely decreased threshold voltage compared with PCPOI-Tz. This work affords two structurally novel electron-deficient building blocks and highlights the effectiveness of dual functionalization of PhAs with strong electron-withdrawing groups for devising n-type polymers.

Electronic and Optical Properties of Polythiophene Molecules and Derivatives

The electronic and optical properties of polythiophene (PT) for polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) were calculated using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT. We calculated the electronic and optical properties of thiophene and PT polymers with degrees of polymerization (DP) from 2 to 30 monomers (T1–T30) and their derivatives. The associated highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy, band gaps, electron orbitals, and molecular structures were determined. As the DP increased, the LUMO energy gradually decreased, and the HOMO energy gradually increased. The band gap of PT approached 2 eV as the DP of the PT polymer increased from 1 to 30. The calculations and exchange–correlation functional were verified against values in the literature and experimental data from cyclic voltammetry (redox potential) and ultraviolet-visible, photoluminescence, and ultraviolet photoelectron spectra. The color of PT PLEDs can be adjusted by controlling the DP of the polymer and the substituents.

The structural properties of silicon-doped DBrTBT/ZnSe solar cell materials: a theoretical study

A new molecular design for solar cell materials is reported for the silicon-doped 4,7-di(5-bromothiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole adsorbed on ZnSe(100) and ZnSe(111) surfaces.

Heteroatom-bridged heterofluorenes: a theoretical study on molecular structures and optoelectronic properties

A double heteroatom introduction strategy was proposed and theoretically investigated to construct highly rigid π-conjugated small molecules and polymers for optoelectronic applications.

Novel adamantane-based hole transport materials for perovskite solar cells: a computational approach

Adamantane derivatives have been subjected to quantum mechanical calculations to determine their capabilities as potential hole transport materials (HTMs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Adamantane has been modified in two ways: multiple arm substitution and outermost substituent variation. It has been shown that tetra-substitution of adamantane gave the best characteristics as a HTM. Further modification showed tetra-ethyl substituted adamantane (ad-EtTPA) has the lowest HOMO, a small hole reorganization energy (λh), absorption in the UV region, and good stability. These appropriate properties mean that ad-EtTPA could be a promising HTM in PSCs. In addition, the relationship between λh and the electrostatic potential (ESP) maps of the cationic geometry has been studied. Three outcomes were drawn from the investigation: (1) the high positive potential in the ESP map is the region where more geometric distortions are occurring in going from the neutral to the cationic state, (2) large geometric distortions in this region lead to high λh, and (3) for tetra-substituted adamantane derivatives, delocalization of the positive potential leads to lower λh. The results showed that ESP maps can give insight into the molecular engineering of HTMs.

Rhodium-catalyzed ortho-heteroarylation of phenols: directing group-enabled switching of the electronic bias for heteroaromatic coupling partner

The directed oxidative C-H/C-H cross-coupling reactions between a functionalized arene and a heteroarene typically exhibit an electronic bias for the heteroaromatic coupling partner. Disclosed herein is a conception of directing group enabled-switching of the electronic bias for coupling partner from the electron-deficient to electron-rich heteroarene, demonstrating that the modification of the directing group may match the latent reactivity of heteroarene substrates caused by the distinctly different electronic nature. In this work, we develop a Rh(iii)-catalyzed ortho-heteroarylation of phenols with greatly important electron-rich heteroarenes such as benzothiophene, benzofuran, thiophene, furan and pyrrole via two-fold C-H activation, which presents broad substrate scopes of both phenols and electron-rich heteroarenes and shows the advantage of tolerance of reactive functional groups, especially halogen. This work also provides a new strategy for the construction of π-conjugated furan-fused heteroacenes prevalent in materials science in dramatically simplified procedures, which makes the protocol highly applicable.

Effect of π-bridge units on properties of A–π–D–π–A-type nonfullerene acceptors for organic solar cells

We theoretically designed efficient nonfullerene acceptors (P2 and P5) with lower LUMO energies and higher electron transport abilities for OSCs.

A New Nonfullerene Electron Acceptor with a Ladder Type Backbone for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells

Nonfullerene acceptor FDICTF (2,9-bis(2methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)indanone))-7,​12-​dihydro-​4,​4,​7,​7,​12,​12-​hexaoctyl-​4H-​cyclopenta[2″,​1″:5,​6;3″,​4″:5',​6']​diindeno[1,​2-​b:1',​2'-​b']dithiophene) modified by fusing the fluorene core in a precursor, yields 10.06% high power conversion efficiency, and demonstrates that the ladder and fused core backbone in A-D-A structure molecules is an effective design strategy for high-performance nonfullerene acceptors.

Efficient small molecule photovoltaic donor based on 2,3-diphenyl-substituted quinoxaline core for solution-processed organic solar cells

An excellent PCE of 6.25% was achieved based on a novel OSM (TPACN)2Qx containing 2,3-diphenyl-substituted quinoxaline (Qx) as electrophilic core.

Effect of organic cathode interfacial layers on efficiency and stability improvement of polymer solar cells

Simultaneously enhanced efficiency and stability can be achieved by using an organic cathode interfacial layer with high mobility and coarse morphology.

Controlling Intramolecular Conformation through Nonbonding Interaction for Soft-Conjugated Materials: Molecular Design and Optoelectronic Properties

To address the intrinsic contradiction between high optoelectronic properties and good processability in organic π-conjugated molecules, we propose that soft-conjugated molecules (SCMs), conformationally locked by intramolecular nonbonding interactions, can benefit from both nonplanar molecular structures in solution for processing and rigid coplanar structures in the solid state for enhanced optoelectronic properties. Computational results reveal that nonbonding pairs of S···N, N···H, and F···S are strong enough to prevail over thermal fluctuations, steric effects, and other repulsive interactions to force the adjacent aromatic rings to be planar; thus, constructed SCMs display delocalized frontier molecular orbitals with frontier orbital energy levels, band gaps, reorganization energies, and photophyscial properties comparable to those of rigid-conjugated molecules because of their stable planar soft-conjugation at both ground and excited states. The understanding gained from the theoretical investigations of SCMs provides keen insights into construction and modification of soft-conjugations to harmonize the optoelectronic property and processability in conjugated molecules for advanced optoelectronic applications.

Efficient synthesis and photovoltaic properties of highly rigid perylene-embedded benzothiazolyls

Perylene-embedded benzothiazolyls, designed by 2D-fusing of dithienylbenzothiadiazoles, have been synthesized and characterized as new electron-accepting building-blocks for organic photovoltaic applications.