11 research outputs found
Effect of Chalcogen Atom Substitution on the Optoelectronic Properties in Cyclopentadithiophene Polymers
We
report the synthesis and characterization of a series of cyclopentadithiophene
polymers containing thiophene, selenophene, and tellurophene as comonomers.
The effect of the chalcogen atom has been studied by a range of techniques,
including thermal, optical, electrochemical, and computational. The
results showed that by increasing the size of the chalcogen atom,
the optical band gap is reduced mainly due to a downshift in the LUMO
energy level. In addition, the larger size also increases the intermolecular
heteroatom–heteroatom interactions facilitating the formation
of polymer aggregates. This led to not only a stronger red-shifted
band in the UV–vis absorption spectrum as well as raise in
the HOMO energy level but also a potential solubility issue for higher
molecular weight polymers containing particularly tellurophene units
Dithienosilolothiophene: A New Polyfused Donor for Organic Electronics
We report the synthesis of a novel
pentacyclic donor moiety, dithienosilolothiophene,
and its incorporation into low bandgap semiconducting polymers. The
unique geometry of this new donor allowed attaching four solubilizing
side chains on the same side of the fused ring system, thus ensuring
sufficient solubility when incorporated into conjugated polymers while
simultaneously reducing the steric hindrance between adjacent polymer
chains. The optoelectronic properties of three new polymers comprising
the novel pentacyclic donor were investigated and compared to structurally
similar thienoÂ[3,2-<i>b</i>]ÂthienobisÂ(silolothiophene) polymers.
Organic solar cells were fabricated in order to evaluate the new materials’
potential as donor polymers in bulk heterojunction solar cells and
gain further insight into how the single-sided side-chain arrangement
affects the active layer blend morphology
Benzotrithiophene Copolymers: Influence of Molecular Packing and Energy Levels on Charge Carrier Mobility
The
planar benzotrithiophene unit (<b>BTT</b>) was incorporated
into four different donor polymers, and by systematically changing
the nature and positioning of the solubilizing alkyl side chains along
the conjugated backbone, the polymers’ frontier energy levels
and optoelectronic properties were controlled. Reducing the steric
hindrance along the polymer backbone lead to strong interchain aggregation
and highly ordered thin films, achieving hole mobilities of 0.04 cm<sup>2</sup>/(V s) in organic thin film transistors. In an attempt to
increase the polymer’s processability and reduce chain aggregation,
steric hindrance between alkyl side chains was exploited. As a result
of the increased solubility, the film forming properties of the polymer
could be improved, but at the cost of reduced hole mobilities in OFET
devices, due to the lack of long-range order in the polymer films
Influence of Side-Chain Regiochemistry on the Transistor Performance of High-Mobility, All-Donor Polymers
Three novel polythiophene isomers
are reported whereby the only
difference in structure relates to the regiochemistry of the solubilizing
side chains on the backbone. This is demonstrated to have a significant
impact on the optoelectronic properties of the polymers and their
propensity to aggregate in solution. These differences are rationalized
on the basis of differences in backbone torsion. The polymer with
the largest effective conjugation length is demonstrated to exhibit
the highest field-effect mobility, with peak values up to 4.6 cm<sup>2</sup> V<sup>–1</sup> s<sup>–1</sup>
Charge Separation in Intermixed Polymer:PC<sub>70</sub>BM Photovoltaic Blends: Correlating Structural and Photophysical Length Scales as a Function of Blend Composition
A key challenge in achieving control
over photocurrent generation
by bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells is understanding how the
morphology of the active layer impacts charge separation and in particular
the separation dynamics <i>within</i> molecularly intermixed
donor–acceptor domains versus the dynamics <i>between</i> phase-segregated domains. This paper addresses this issue by studying
blends and devices of the amorphous silicon–indacenodithiophene
polymer SiIDT-DTBT and the acceptor PC<sub>70</sub>BM. By changing
the blend composition, we modulate the size and density of the pure
and intermixed domains on the nanometer length scale. Laser spectroscopic
studies show that these changes in morphology correlate quantitatively
with the changes in charge separation dynamics on the nanosecond time
scale and with device photocurrent densities. At low fullerene compositions,
where only a single, molecularly intermixed polymer–fullerene
phase is observed, photoexcitation results in a ∼ 30% charge
loss from geminate polaron pair recombination, which is further studied
via light intensity experiments showing that the radius of the polaron
pairs in the intermixed phase is 3–5 nm. At high fullerene
compositions (≥67%), where the intermixed domains are 1–3
nm and the pure fullerene phases reach ∼4 nm, the geminate
recombination is suppressed by the reduction of the intermixed phase,
making the fullerene domains accessible for electron escape
Improved Field-Effect Transistor Performance of a Benzotrithiophene Polymer through Ketal Cleavage in the Solid State
A benzotrithiophene
polymer with a new thermally cleavable ketal substituent is reported.
It is shown how this functional group can be used to facilitate solvent
processing and, subsequently, how it can be removed by a thermal annealing
process to generate a structurally ordered and crystalline thin film
with significantly improved field-effect transistor properties
On the Energetic Dependence of Charge Separation in Low-Band-Gap Polymer/Fullerene Blends
The energetic driving force required to drive charge
separation
across donor/acceptor heterojunctions is a key consideration for organic
optoelectronic devices. Herein we report a series of transient absorption
and photocurrent experiments as a function of excitation wavelength
and temperature for two low-band-gap polymer/fullerene blends to study
the mechanism of charge separation at the donor/acceptor interface.
For the blend that exhibits the smallest donor/acceptor LUMO energy
level offset, the photocurrent quantum yield falls as the photon excitation
energy is reduced toward the band gap, but the yield of bound, interfacial
charge transfer states rises. This interplay between bound and free
charge generation as a function of initial exciton energy provides
key evidence for the role of excess energy in driving charge separation
of direct relevance to the development of low-band-gap polymers for
enhanced solar light harvesting
Photocurrent Enhancement from Diketopyrrolopyrrole Polymer Solar Cells through Alkyl-Chain Branching Point Manipulation
Systematically moving the alkyl-chain
branching position away from
the polymer backbone afforded two new thienoÂ[3,2-<i>b</i>]Âthiophene–diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPPTT-T) polymers. When used
as donor materials in polymer:fullerene solar cells, efficiencies
exceeding 7% were achieved without the use of processing additives.
The effect of the position of the alkyl-chain branching point on the
thin-film morphology was investigated using X-ray scattering techniques
and the effects on the photovoltaic and charge-transport properties
were also studied. For both solar cell and transistor devices, moving
the branching point further from the backbone was beneficial. This
is the first time that this effect has been shown to improve solar
cell performance. Strong evidence is presented for changes in microstructure
across the series, which is most likely the cause for the photocurrent
enhancement
Chalcogenophene Comonomer Comparison in Small Band Gap Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Based Conjugated Polymers for High-Performing Field-Effect Transistors and Organic Solar Cells
The design, synthesis,
and characterization of a series of diketopyrrolopyrrole-based
copolymers with different chalcogenophene comonomers (thiophene, selenophene,
and tellurophene) for use in field-effect transistors and organic
photovoltaic devices are reported. The effect of the heteroatom substitution
on the optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties and charge
carrier mobilities of these polymers is discussed. The results indicate
that by increasing the size of the chalcogen atom (S < Se <
Te), polymer band gaps are narrowed mainly due to LUMO energy level
stabilization. In addition, the larger heteroatomic size also increases
intermolecular heteroatom–heteroatom interactions facilitating
the formation of polymer aggregates leading to enhanced field-effect
mobilities of 1.6 cm<sup>2</sup>/(V s). Bulk heterojunction solar
cells based on the chalcogenophene polymer series blended with fullerene
derivatives show good photovoltaic properties, with power conversion
efficiencies ranging from 7.1–8.8%. A high photoresponse in
the near-infrared (NIR) region with excellent photocurrents above
20 mA cm<sup>–2</sup> was achieved for all polymers, making
these highly efficient low band gap polymers promising candidates
for use in tandem solar cells
Benzocarborano[2,1‑<i>b</i>:3,4‑<i>b</i>′]dithiophene Containing Conjugated Polymers: Synthesis, Characterization, and Optoelectronic Properties
We
report the stannylation of a benzocarboranoÂ[2,1-<i>b</i>:3,4-<i>b</i>′]Âdithiophene monomer and its polymerization
by Stille polycondensation with solubilized cyclopentadithiophene
and diketopyrrolopyrrole derivatives. The physical, material, and
optoelectronic properties of the resultant conjugated copolymers are
reported, demonstrating that benzocarboranodithiophene acts as a mildly
electron-withdrawing monomer