Tyrian purple : an ancient natural dye for cross-conjugated n-type charge transport

Herein, we present two novel organic semiconducting polymers synthesised from an ancient dye. By employing cross-conjugation within the polymer backbone as a synthetic strategy, we are able to engineer optical gaps such that the novel materials absorb over the entire visible spectrum. The cross-conjugated polymers exhibited relatively high n-type charge transport performance in organic field-effect transistors, a rare characteristic for this type of polymer. Quantum chemical calculations provide insight into this behaviour, suggesting that, whilst conjugation along the HOMO is indeed inhibited via molecular design, these materials possess highly delocalized LUMOs, facilitating high n-type charge transport

Assessing the suitability of copper thiocyanate as a hole-transport layer in inverted CsSnI3 perovskite photovoltaics

We report the fndings of a study into the suitability of copper (I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) as a hole-transport layer in inverted photovoltaic (PV) devices based on the black gamma phase (B-γ) of CsSnl3 perovskite. Remarkably, when B-γ-CsSnI3 perovskite is deposited from a dimethylformamide solution onto a 180–190nm thick CuSCN flm supported on an indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrode, the CuSCN layer is completely displaced leaving a perovskite layer with high uniformity and coverage of the underlying ITO electrode. This fnding is confrmed by detailed analysis of the thickness and composition of the film that remains after perovskite deposition, together with photovoltaic device studies. The results of this study show that, whilst CuSCN has proved to be an excellent hole-extraction layer for high performance lead-perovskite and organic photovoltaics, it is unsuitable as a hole-transport layer in inverted B-γCsSnI3 perovskite photovoltaics processed from solution

A Nature-Inspired Conjugated Polymer for High Performance Transistors and Solar Cells

A novel, highly soluble chromophore for use in organic electronics based on an indigoid structure is reported. Copolymerization with thiophene affords an extremely narrow band gap polymer with a maximum absorption at ∼800 nm. The novel polymer exhibits high crystallinity and high ambipolar transport in OFET devices of 0.23 cm² V^–1 s^–1 for holes and 0.48 cm² V^–1 s^–1 for electrons. OPV device efficiencies up to 2.35% with light absorbance up to 950 nm demonstrate the potential for this novel chromophore in near-IR photovoltaics

Effect of Alkyl Chain Branching Point on 3D Crystallinity in High N-Type Mobility Indolonaphthyridine Polymers

© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Herein, this study investigates the impact of branching-point-extended alkyl chains on the charge transport properties of three ultrahigh n-type mobility conjugated polymers. Using grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, analysis of the crystallinity of the series shows that while π–π interactions are increased for all three polymers as expected, the impact of the side-chain engineering on polymer backbone crystallinity is unique to each polymer and correlates to the observed changes in charge transport. With the three polymers exhibiting n-type mobilities between 0.63 and 1.04 cm2 V−1 s−1, these results ratify that the indolonaphthyridine building block has an unprecedented intrinsic ability to furnish high-performance n-type organic semiconductors

Indolo-naphthyridine-6,13-dione thiophene building block for conjugated polymer electronics: Molecular origin of ultrahigh n-type mobility

Herein, we present the synthesis and characterization of four conjugated polymers containing a novel chromophore for organic electronics based on an indigoid structure. These polymers exhibit extremely small band gaps of ∼1.2 eV, impressive crystallinity, and extremely high n-type mobility exceeding 3 cm2 V s–1. The n-type charge carrier mobility can be correlated with the remarkably high crystallinity along the polymer backbone having a correlation length in excess of 20 nm. Theoretical analysis reveals that the novel polymers have highly rigid nonplanar geometries demonstrating that backbone planarity is not a prerequisite for either narrow band gap materials or ultrahigh mobilities. Furthermore, the variation in backbone crystallinity is dependent on the choice of comonomer. OPV device efficiencies up to 4.1% and charge photogeneration up to 1000 nm are demonstrated, highlighting the potential of this novel chromophore class in high-performance organic electronics