Structure-Property Relationships for the Electronic Applications of Bis-Adduct Isomers of Phenyl-C61 Butyric Acid Methyl Ester

Higher adducts of a fullerene, such as the bis-adduct of PCBM (bis-PCBM), can be used to achieve shallower molecular orbital energy levels than, for example, PCBM or C60. Substituting the bis-adduct for the parent fullerene is useful to increase the open-circuit voltage of organic solar cells or achieve better energy alignment as electron transport layers in, for example, perovskite solar cells. However, bis-PCBM is usually synthesized as a mixture of structural isomers, which can lead to both energetic and morphological disorder, negatively affecting device performance. Here, we present a comprehensive study on the molecular properties of 19 pure bis-isomers of PCBM using a variety of characterization methods, including ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, single crystal structure, and (time-dependent) density functional theory calculation. We find that the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of such bis-isomers can be tuned to be up to 170 meV shallower than PCBM and up to 100 meV shallower than the mixture of unseparated isomers. The isolated bis-isomers also show an electron mobility in organic field-effect transistors of up to 4.5 × 10-2 cm2/(V s), which is an order of magnitude higher than that of the mixture of bis-isomers. These properties enable the fabrication of the highest performing bis-PCBM organic solar cell to date, with the best device showing a power conversion efficiency of 7.2%. Interestingly, we find that the crystallinity of bis-isomers correlates negatively with electron mobility and organic solar cell device performance, which we relate to their molecular symmetry, with a lower symmetry leading to more amorphous bis-isomers, less energetic disorder, and higher dimensional electron transport. This work demonstrates the potential of side chain engineering for optimizing the performance of fullerene-based organic electronic devices.

Influence of Backbone Curvature on the Organic Electrochemical Transistor Performance of Glycolated Donor-Acceptor Conjugated Polymers

Two new glycolated semiconducting polymers PgBT(F)2gT and PgBT(F)2gTT of differing backbone curvatures were designed and synthesised for application as p-type accumulation mode organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) materials. Both polymers demonstrated stable and reversible oxidation, accessible within the aqueous electrochemical window, to generate polaronic charge carriers. OECTs fabricated from PgBT(F)2gT featuring a curved backbone geometry attained a higher volumetric capacitance of 170 F cm-3 . However, PgBT(F)2gTT with a linear backbone displayed overall superior OECT performance with a normalised peak transconductance of 3.00×104  mS cm-1 , owing to its enhanced order, expediting the charge mobility to 0.931 cm2  V-1  s-1 .

Crucial Role of Fluorine in Fully Alkylated Ladder-Type Carbazole-Based Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells

Two fused ladder-type nonfullerene acceptors, DTCCIC and DTCCIC-4F, based on an electron-donating alkylated dithienocyclopentacarbazole core flanked by electron-withdrawing nonfluorinated or fluorinated 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (IC or IC-4F), are prepared and utilized in organic solar cells (OSCs). The two new molecules reveal planar structures and strong aggregation behavior, and fluorination is shown to red-shift the optical band gap and downshift energy levels. OSCs based on DTCCIC-4F exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 12.6%, much higher than that of DTCCIC-based devices (6.2%). Microstructural studies reveal that while both acceptors are highly crystalline, bulk heterojunction blends based on the nonfluorinated DTCCIC result in overly coarse domains, while blends based on the fluorinated DTCCIC-4F exhibit a more optimal nanoscale morphology. These results highlight the importance of end group fluorination in controlling molecular aggregation and miscibility.

High-Efficiency Fullerene Solar Cells Enabled by a Spontaneously Formed Mesostructured CuSCN-Nanowire Heterointerface

Fullerenes and their derivatives are widely used as electron acceptors in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells as they combine high electron mobility with good solubility and miscibility with relevant semiconducting polymers. However, studies on the use of fullerenes as the sole photogeneration and charge-carrier material are scarce. Here, a new type of solution-processed small-molecule solar cell based on the two most commonly used methanofullerenes, namely [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM) and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM), as the light absorbing materials, is reported. First, it is shown that both fullerene derivatives exhibit excellent ambipolar charge transport with balanced hole and electron mobilities. When the two derivatives are spin-coated over the wide bandgap p-type semiconductor copper (I) thiocyanate (CuSCN), cells with power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ≈1%, are obtained. Blending the CuSCN with PC70BM is shown to increase the performance further yielding cells with an open-circuit voltage of ≈0.93 V and a PCE of 5.4%. Microstructural analysis reveals that the key to this success is the spontaneous formation of a unique mesostructured p-n-like heterointerface between CuSCN and PC70BM. The findings pave the way to an exciting new class of single photoactive material based solar cells.

An Alkylated Indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene-Based Nonfullerene Acceptor with High Crystallinity Exhibiting Single Junction Solar Cell Efficiencies Greater than 13% with Low Voltage Losses

A new synthetic route, to prepare an alkylated indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene-based nonfullerene acceptor (C8-ITIC), is reported. Compared to the reported ITIC with phenylalkyl side chains, the new acceptor C8-ITIC exhibits a reduction in the optical band gap, higher absorptivity, and an increased propensity to crystallize. Accordingly, blends with the donor polymer PBDB-T exhibit a power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 12.4%. Further improvements in efficiency are found upon backbone fluorination of the donor polymer to afford the novel material PFBDB-T. The resulting blend with C8-ITIC shows an impressive PCE up to 13.2% as a result of the higher open-circuit voltage. Electroluminescence studies demonstrate that backbone fluorination reduces the energy loss of the blends, with PFBDB-T/C8-ITIC-based cells exhibiting a small energy loss of 0.6 eV combined with a high J_SC of 19.6 mA cm^-2 .