High-performance polymer solar cells based on a 2D-conjugated polymer with an alkylthio side-chain

Chaohua Cui; Zhicai He; Yue Wu; Xiao Cheng; Hongbin Wu; Yongfang Li; Yong Cao; Wai Yeung Wong

doi:10.1039/c5ee03684d

High-performance polymer solar cells based on a 2D-conjugated polymer with an alkylthio side-chain

Chaohua Cui, Zhicai He^*, Yue Wu, Xiao Cheng, Hongbin Wu, Yongfang Li^*, Yong Cao, Wai Yeung Wong^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

167 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Two new two-dimension (2D)-conjugated copolymers (PBDTT-S-TT-CF and PBDTT-O-TT-CF) were designed and synthesized for the application as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs) and for further investigation of the effect of alkylthio side chains on the photovoltaic performance of 2D-conjugated polymers. The two copolymers were prepared by the copolymerization of alkylthio- or alkoxy-thienyl-benzodithiophene (BDTT-S or BDTT-O) and thienothiophene with carbonyl and fluorine substituents (TT-CF), and they demonstrated strong and broad absorption spectra in the wavelength region from 450 nm to ca. 800 nm. The HOMO energy level of PBDTT-S-TT-CF was further down-shifted to -5.44 eV by alkylthio substitution on thiophene conjugated side chain of BDT unit and the carbonyl and fluorine substitution on TT unit. The inverted-structured PSCs based on PBDTT-S-TT-CF:PC₇₀BM exhibited a high PCE of 9.58% with a remarkably high V_oc of 0.89 V and a high FF of 71.0%. The PCE of the PSCs based on PBDTT-O-TT-CF also reached a high value of 8.68% with a V_oc = 0.78 V and a higher J_sc = 16.5 mA cm^-2, which is benefited from the broad absorption of PBDTT-O-TT-CF. The results further confirm the unique advantages of the alkylthio side chain in the design of state-of-the-art polymer donor materials for high performance PSCs with high V_oc.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	885-891
Number of pages	7
Journal	Energy and Environmental Science
Volume	9
Issue number	3
Early online date	14 Jan 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ee03684d
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2016

Scopus Subject Areas

Environmental Chemistry
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Nuclear Energy and Engineering
Pollution

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This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1039/c5ee03684d

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@article{d7b70c31905446ec8ed2c0864b3d639d,

title = "High-performance polymer solar cells based on a 2D-conjugated polymer with an alkylthio side-chain",

abstract = "Two new two-dimension (2D)-conjugated copolymers (PBDTT-S-TT-CF and PBDTT-O-TT-CF) were designed and synthesized for the application as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs) and for further investigation of the effect of alkylthio side chains on the photovoltaic performance of 2D-conjugated polymers. The two copolymers were prepared by the copolymerization of alkylthio- or alkoxy-thienyl-benzodithiophene (BDTT-S or BDTT-O) and thienothiophene with carbonyl and fluorine substituents (TT-CF), and they demonstrated strong and broad absorption spectra in the wavelength region from 450 nm to ca. 800 nm. The HOMO energy level of PBDTT-S-TT-CF was further down-shifted to -5.44 eV by alkylthio substitution on thiophene conjugated side chain of BDT unit and the carbonyl and fluorine substitution on TT unit. The inverted-structured PSCs based on PBDTT-S-TT-CF:PC70BM exhibited a high PCE of 9.58% with a remarkably high Voc of 0.89 V and a high FF of 71.0%. The PCE of the PSCs based on PBDTT-O-TT-CF also reached a high value of 8.68% with a Voc = 0.78 V and a higher Jsc = 16.5 mA cm-2, which is benefited from the broad absorption of PBDTT-O-TT-CF. The results further confirm the unique advantages of the alkylthio side chain in the design of state-of-the-art polymer donor materials for high performance PSCs with high Voc.",

author = "Chaohua Cui and Zhicai He and Yue Wu and Xiao Cheng and Hongbin Wu and Yongfang Li and Yong Cao and Wong, {Wai Yeung}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Areas of Excellence Scheme, University Grants Committee of HKSAR (project no. AoE/P-03/08), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (HKBU203313), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91333204, 91433117, 91333206, and 51403066), the priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. BK20150327), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (973 Project No. 2014CB643501) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB12030200), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015PT028) and Guangdong Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar (No. 2015A030306012). Publisher copyright: {\textcopyright} The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016",

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doi = "10.1039/c5ee03684d",

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volume = "9",

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T1 - High-performance polymer solar cells based on a 2D-conjugated polymer with an alkylthio side-chain

AU - Cui, Chaohua

AU - He, Zhicai

AU - Wu, Yue

AU - Cheng, Xiao

AU - Wu, Hongbin

AU - Li, Yongfang

AU - Cao, Yong

AU - Wong, Wai Yeung

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Areas of Excellence Scheme, University Grants Committee of HKSAR (project no. AoE/P-03/08), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (HKBU203313), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91333204, 91433117, 91333206, and 51403066), the priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. BK20150327), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (973 Project No. 2014CB643501) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB12030200), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015PT028) and Guangdong Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar (No. 2015A030306012). Publisher copyright: © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016

PY - 2016/3/1

Y1 - 2016/3/1

N2 - Two new two-dimension (2D)-conjugated copolymers (PBDTT-S-TT-CF and PBDTT-O-TT-CF) were designed and synthesized for the application as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs) and for further investigation of the effect of alkylthio side chains on the photovoltaic performance of 2D-conjugated polymers. The two copolymers were prepared by the copolymerization of alkylthio- or alkoxy-thienyl-benzodithiophene (BDTT-S or BDTT-O) and thienothiophene with carbonyl and fluorine substituents (TT-CF), and they demonstrated strong and broad absorption spectra in the wavelength region from 450 nm to ca. 800 nm. The HOMO energy level of PBDTT-S-TT-CF was further down-shifted to -5.44 eV by alkylthio substitution on thiophene conjugated side chain of BDT unit and the carbonyl and fluorine substitution on TT unit. The inverted-structured PSCs based on PBDTT-S-TT-CF:PC70BM exhibited a high PCE of 9.58% with a remarkably high Voc of 0.89 V and a high FF of 71.0%. The PCE of the PSCs based on PBDTT-O-TT-CF also reached a high value of 8.68% with a Voc = 0.78 V and a higher Jsc = 16.5 mA cm-2, which is benefited from the broad absorption of PBDTT-O-TT-CF. The results further confirm the unique advantages of the alkylthio side chain in the design of state-of-the-art polymer donor materials for high performance PSCs with high Voc.

AB - Two new two-dimension (2D)-conjugated copolymers (PBDTT-S-TT-CF and PBDTT-O-TT-CF) were designed and synthesized for the application as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs) and for further investigation of the effect of alkylthio side chains on the photovoltaic performance of 2D-conjugated polymers. The two copolymers were prepared by the copolymerization of alkylthio- or alkoxy-thienyl-benzodithiophene (BDTT-S or BDTT-O) and thienothiophene with carbonyl and fluorine substituents (TT-CF), and they demonstrated strong and broad absorption spectra in the wavelength region from 450 nm to ca. 800 nm. The HOMO energy level of PBDTT-S-TT-CF was further down-shifted to -5.44 eV by alkylthio substitution on thiophene conjugated side chain of BDT unit and the carbonyl and fluorine substitution on TT unit. The inverted-structured PSCs based on PBDTT-S-TT-CF:PC70BM exhibited a high PCE of 9.58% with a remarkably high Voc of 0.89 V and a high FF of 71.0%. The PCE of the PSCs based on PBDTT-O-TT-CF also reached a high value of 8.68% with a Voc = 0.78 V and a higher Jsc = 16.5 mA cm-2, which is benefited from the broad absorption of PBDTT-O-TT-CF. The results further confirm the unique advantages of the alkylthio side chain in the design of state-of-the-art polymer donor materials for high performance PSCs with high Voc.

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DO - 10.1039/c5ee03684d

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EP - 891

JO - Energy and Environmental Science

JF - Energy and Environmental Science

IS - 3

ER -

High-performance polymer solar cells based on a 2D-conjugated polymer with an alkylthio side-chain

Abstract

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