Non-equivalent D-A copolymerization strategy towards highly efficient polymer donor for polymer solar cells

D-A copolymerization is a broadly utilized molecular design strategy to construct high efficiency photovoltaic materials for polymer solar cells (PSCs),and all the D-A copolymer donors reported till now are the alternate D-A copolymers with equal D-and A-units.Here,we first propose a non-equivalent D-A copolymerization strategy with unequal D-and A-units,and develop three novel non-equivalent D-A copolymer donors (PM6-D1,PM6-D2 and PM6-D3 with D/A unit ratio of 1.1:0.9,1.2:0.8 and1.3:0.7,respectively) by inserting more D units into the alternate D-A copolymer PM6 backbone to finely tune the physicochemical and photovoltaic properties of the polymers.The three non-equivalent D-A copolymers show the down-shifted highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels,higher hole mobility,higher degree of molecular self-assembly and higher molecular crystallinity with the increase of D-unit ratio in comparison with the alternate D-A copolymer PM6.As a result,all the three non-equivalent D-A copolymer-based PSCs with Y6 as acceptor achieve improved power conversion efficiency (PCE)with higher V_(oc),larger J_(sc)and higher FF simultaneously.Particularly,the PM6-D1:Y6 based PSC achieved a high PCE of17.71%,which is significantly higher than that (15.82%) of the PM6:Y6 based PSC and is one of the highest performances in the binary PSCs.     

Different donor-acceptor structures of dithiafulvalene-fused semiconducting polymers with different band gaps

Two similar dithiafulvalene-fused conjugated polymers, with different donor-acceptor (D-A) structures, were synthesised. The polymers have different band gaps and stacking structures, as proven by the experimental results and computational studies.     

Near-IR Intramolecular Charge Transfer in Strongly Interacting Diphenothiazene-TCBD and Diphenothiazene-DCNQ Push-Pull Triads

Three types of phenothiazines dimers (PTZ-PTZ, 1 – 3 ), covalently linked with one or two acetylene linkers, were synthesized by copper-mediated Eglinton and Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reactions in excellent yields. The dimers 1 – 3 were further engaged in [2+2] cycloaddition-retroelectrocyclization reactions with strong electron acceptors, tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) to yield tetracyanobutadiene (TCBD, 1 a – 3 a ), and dicyanoquinodimethane (DCNQ, 1 b – 3 b ) functionalized donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugates, respectively. The conjugates were examined by a series of spectral, computational, and electrochemical studies. Strong ground state polarization leading to new optical transitions was witnessed in both series of D-A conjugates. In the case of DCNQ derived D-A system 1 b , the optical coverage extended until 1200 nm in benzonitrile, making this a rare class of D-A ICT system. Multiple redox processes were witnessed in these D-A systems, and the frontier orbitals generated on DFT optimized structures further supported the ICT phenomenon. Photochemical studies performed using femtosecond pump-probe studies confirmed solvent polarity dependent excited state charge transfer and separation in these novel multi-modular D-A conjugates. The charge-separated states lasted up to 70 ps in benzonitrile while in toluene slightly prolonged lifetime of up to 100 ps was witnessed. The significance of phenothiazine dimer in wide-band optical capture all the way into the near-IR region and promoting ultrafast photoinduced charge transfer in the D-A-D configured multi-modular systems, and the effect of donor-acceptor distance and the solvent polarity was the direct outcome of the present study.     

Triplet Acceptors with a D-A Structure and Twisted Conformation for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Triplet acceptors have been developed to construct high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs) as the long lifetime and diffusion range of triplet excitons may dissociate into free charges instead of net recombination when the energy levels of the lowest triplet state (T₁) are close to those of charge-transfer states (³CT). The current triplet acceptors were designed by introducing heavy atoms to enhance the intersystem crossing, limiting their applications. Herein, two twisted acceptors without heavy atoms, analogues of Y6, constructed with large π-conjugated core and D-A structure, were confirmed to be triplet materials, leading to high-performance OSCs. The mechanism of triplet excitons were investigated to show that the twisted and D-A structures result in large spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and small energy gap between the singlet and triplet states, and thus efficient intersystem crossing. Moreover, the energy level of T₁ is close to ³CT, facilitating the split of triplet exciton to free charges.     

Photoinduced intra- and intermolecular electron transfer in solutions and in solid organized molecular assemblies

The present paper highlights results of a systematic study of photoinduced electron transfer, where the fundamental aspects of the photochemistry occurring in solutions and in artificially or self-assembled molecular systems are combined and compared. In photochemical electron transfer (ET) reactions in solutions the electron donor, D, and acceptor, A, have to be or to diffuse to a short distance, which requires a high concentration of quencher molecules and/or long lifetimes of the excited donor or acceptor, which cannot always be arranged. The problem can partly be avoided by linking the donor and acceptor moieties covalently by a single bond, molecular chain or chains, or rigid bridge, forming D-A dyads. The covalent combination of porphyrin or phthalocyanine donors with an efficient electron acceptor, e.g. fullerene, has a two-fold effect on the electron transfer properties. Firstly, the electronic systems of the D-A pair result in a formation of an exciplex intermediate upon excitation both in solutions and in solid phases. The formation of the exciplex accelerates the ET rate, which was found to be as fast as >10(12) s(-1). Secondly, the total reorganization energy can be as small as 0.3 eV, even in polar solvents, which allows nanosecond lifetimes for the charge separated (CS) state. Molecular assemblies can form solid heterogeneous, but organized systems, e.g. molecular layers. This results in more complex charge separation and recombination dynamics. A distinct feature of the ET in organized assemblies is intermolecular interactions, which open a possibility for a charge migration both in the acceptor and in the donor layers, after the primary intramolecular exciplex formation and charge separation in the D-A dyad. The intramolecular ET is fast (35 ps) and efficient, but the formed interlayer CS states have lifetimes in microsecond or even second time domain. This is an important result considering possible applications.     

Two-dimensional Supramolecular Polymers Based on Selectively Recognized Aromatic Cation-π and Donor-Acceptor Motifs for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Two-dimensional (2D) organic polymers have recently received considerable interest, especially those whose architectures are held together via supramolecular engineering. However, current approaches toward supramolecular 2D structures usually suffer from mutual interference of noncovalent interactions and lack of intrinsic functions. Herein, we report well-regulated 2D supramolecular polymers (2DSPs) through an aromatics-selective recognition strategy of cation-π and donor-acceptor (D-A) motifs, which are derived from C₄-symmetric cationic monomers and electron-withdrawing molecules. By subtly designing the strength and direction of noncovalent driving forces, the mutual interference between cation-π and D-A interactions is effectively avoided, enabling the construction of 2DSPs in aqueous solution. On this basis, the resultant 2DSPs possess boosted photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity at a rate of 600 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which is mainly ascribed to the specific stacking mode of cation-π/D-A motifs and the ordered 2D structures.     

受体型有机光伏材料苝二酰亚胺*

苝二酰亚胺作为一种典型的n型材料,具有可见光区强吸收、光和热稳定性较高等突出优点,近年来应用到有机光伏达电池中。本文介绍了苝二酰亚胺及其各种衍生物的结构和性质,综述了其用作有机光伏受体材料（包括小分子型苝二酰亚胺材料、含苝二酰亚胺受体单元的给体-受体双功能分子和含苝二酰亚胺受体单元的给体-受体双缆型聚合物材料）的最新研究进展。     

非富勒烯聚合物太阳电池研究进展

综述了以p-型共轭聚合物为给体、n-型有机半导体为受体的非富勒烯聚合物太阳电池光伏材料最新研究进展,包括n-型共轭聚合物和可溶液加工小分子n-型有机半导体(n-OS)受体光伏材料,以及与之匹配的p-型共轭聚合物给体光伏材料.介绍的n-型共轭聚合物受体光伏材料包括基于苝酰亚胺(BDI)、萘酰亚胺(NDI)以及新型硼氮键连受体单元的D-A共聚物受体光伏材料,目前基于聚合物给体(J51)和聚合物受体(N2200)的全聚合物太阳电池的能量转换效率最高达到8.26%.n-OS小分子受体光伏材料包括基于BDI和NDI单元的有机分子、基于稠环中心给体单元的A-D-A型窄带隙有机小分子受体材料等.给体光伏材料包括基于齐聚噻吩和苯并二噻吩(BDT)给体单元的D-A共聚物,重点介绍与窄带隙A-D-A结构小分子受体吸收互补的、基于噻吩取代BDT单元的中间带隙二维共轭聚合物给体光伏材料.使用中间带隙的p-型共轭聚合物为给体、窄带隙A-D-A结构有机小分子为受体的非富勒烯聚合物太阳电池能量转换效率已经突破12%,展示了光明的前景.最后对非富勒烯聚合物太阳电池将来的发展进行了展望.     

Molecular engineering on all ortho-linked carbazole/oxadiazole hybrids toward highly-efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials in OLEDs

All ortho-linked D-A and D-A-D molecules exhibit non-TADF feature due to broad spatial overlap at triplet excited state for large △E_ST,while A-D-A compounds show strong TADF property owing to efficient spatial separation for small △E_ST.     

Constructing Charge-Transfer Excited States Based on Frontier Molecular Orbital Engineering: Narrowband Green Electroluminescence with High Color Purity and Efficiency

The design and synthesis of organic materials with a narrow emission band in the longer wavelength region beyond 510 nm remain a great challenge. For constructing narrowband green emitters, we propose a unique molecular design strategy based on frontier molecular orbital engineering (FMOE), which can integrate the advantages of a twisted donor–acceptor (D-A) structure and a multiple resonance (MR) delayed fluorescence skeleton. Attaching an auxiliary donor to a MR skeleton leads to a novel molecule with twisted D-A and MR structure characteristics. Importantly, a remarkable red-shift of the emission maximum and a narrowband spectrum are achieved simultaneously. The target molecule has been employed as an emitter to fabricate green organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.23, 0.69) and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 27.0 %.     

分子整流的实验与理论研究进展*

分子电子器件的思想始于20世纪70年代,分子整流的研究在30多年中取得了显著进展,包括分子结构设计、实验测量以及理论模拟。本文简述了分子整流的发展历程,介绍了被广泛研究的分子整流体系以及分子水平整流机理,包括D-σ-A型、D-π-A型、D-A型、构象转变和界面引起的整流,以及负微分电阻现象。最后提出了分子整流研究中存在的一些问题,并展望了分子整流的研究和发展方向。     

含氮D-A加合物的自然杂化轨道研究

采用无参数Fenske-Hall资洽场分子轨道方法计算了氨的三类给予-接受型(D-A)加合物:氢键和锂键型H~3N-AX(A=H,Li;X=F,CI).孤对-空位型H~3N-BX~3(X=H,F,CI,Br)和孤对-σ型H~3N-XX'(X,X'=F,CI)的电子结构. 利用所得波函数对上述体系进行了自然杂轨道分析,给出了三类加合物D-A作用的定域图象. 将分子价的概念推广D-A作用体系的研究,结果表明,在形成D-A加合物时,氨分子价的增量与D-A作用强度呈单调变化,进而提出了用分子价来衡量加合物中D-A相互作用的强弱, 指出了它们相互作用的共通特征在于使分子价的不饱和性得到补偿.     

Syntheses and spectroscopic and quadratic nonlinear optical properties of extended dipolar complexes with ruthenium(II) ammine electron donor and N-methylpyridinium acceptor groups

In this paper, we describe the extremely unusual optical properties of Ru(II)-based electron donor-acceptor (D-A) polyene and some closely related chromophores. For three different polyene series, the intense, visible d-->pi* metal-to-ligand charge-transfer bands unexpectedly blue-shift as the number of E-ethylene units (n) increases from 1 to 3, and the static first hyperpolarizabilities beta(0) determined via hyper-Rayleigh scattering and Stark spectroscopy maximize at n = 2, in marked contrast to other known D-A polyenes in which beta(0) increases steadily with n. Time-dependent density-functional theory and finite field calculations verify these empirical trends, which arise from the orbital structures of the complexes. This study illustrates that transition metal-based nonlinear optical chromophores can show very different behavior when compared with their more thoroughly studied purely organic counterparts.     

Molecular engineering on all ortho-linked carbazole/oxadiazole hybrids toward highly-efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials in OLEDs

The highest efficiency thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF) emitters in OLEDs are mostly based on twisted donor/acceptor(D/A) type organic molecules.Herein,we report the rational molecular design on twisted all ortho-linked carbazole/oxadiazole(Cz/OXD) hybrids with tunable D-A interactions by adjusting the numbers of donor/acceptor units and electron-donating abilities.Singlet-triplet energy bandgaps(ΔE_(ST)) are facilely tuned from～0.4,0.15 to～0 eV in D-A,D-A-D to A-D-A type compounds.This variation correlates well with triplet-excited-state frontier orbital spatial separation efficiency.NonTADF feature with solid state photoluminescence quantum yield(PLQY)10% is observed in D-A type2 CzOXD and D-A-D type 4 CzOXD.Owing to the extremely low ΔE_(ST) for efficient reverse intersystem crossing,strong TADF with PLQY of 71%-92% is achieved in A-D-A type 4 CzDOXD and 4 tCzDOXD.High external quantum efficiency from 19.4% to 22.6% is achieved in A-D-A typed 4 CzDOXD and 4 tCzDOXD.     

Halogenated benzothiadiazole-based conjugated polymers as efficient photocatalysts for dye degradation and oxidative coupling of benzylamines

Donor-acceptor(D-A) conjugated polymers are widely used in photovoltaic applications and heterogeneous catalysis due to their tunable building block and pre-designable structures. Here, a series of adjustable Donor-acceptor(D-A) benzothiodiazole-based conjugated polymers were designed and synthesized. The photocatalytic performance could be improved by fine-tuning the chemical structure by halogen substitution(F or Cl). The polymers exhibited excellent optoelectronic properties and were effectiv...     

Recent advances of intermolecular Diels–Alder reaction in bio-inspired synthesis of natural products

The Diels–Alder(D–A)reaction is one of the most powerful reactions in organic synthesis.The intermolecular D–A reaction attracts much less attentions than its intramolecular counterpart in natural product synthesis,possibly due to the issues of reactivity and selectivity.In the past decade,the intermolecular D–A reaction has been increasingly utilized in the total synthesis of structurally complex natural products.In this article,we present a few examples for the elegant applications of the intermolecular D–A reaction that are inspired by biosynthetic hypotheses of the target natural products.These examples demonstrate that D–A reaction is not only useful for preparing building blocks but also powerful for coupling structurally complicated and sterically demanding segments in a highly chemo-and stereo-controlled fashion,which may inspire further developments of intermolecular D–A reaction from both strategy and methodology perspectives.     

Complexes of Oxygenated trans-Azoalkanes and Tetracyanoethylene. The Interaction of pi Oxygen Dipoles with an Electron Poor Alkene

The N-oxide and N,N'-dioxide (1ao and 1ado) of trans-1,1'-azonorbornane (1) associate with TCNE in solution and in the solid state. The solution complexes are characterized by charge-transfer optical absorptions at lambda(m) 364 and 540 nm in CH(2)Cl(2) for 1ao/TCNE and 1ado/TCNE, respectively. These complexes are weakly bound, with K(f) values of 0.5-3.0 M(-)(1). Crystals of (1ao)(2)/TCNE and 1ado/TCNE are isolable, and their structures have been determined by X-ray diffraction. Local donor-acceptor (DA) interactions between the pi dipolar donors and the electron poor TCNE are found. Crystals of (1ao)(2)/TCNE are composed of discrete D-A-D triads in which the 1ao oxygen approaches one of the olefinic C atoms (C(1), 2.86 ?) of TCNE more closely than the other (C(2), 3.07 ?). The O-C(1)-C(2) angle is 87 degrees, and the azooxide molecular plane lies perpendicular to the molecular plane of TCNE. 1ado/TCNE crystals are composed of extended -D-A-D-A- strands in which both oxygen poles of the azodioxide simultaneously interact with alternate TCNE acceptors. The D-A geometry here is structurally analogous to that in the (1ao)(2)/TCNE crystal. PM3 calculations of 1:1 and 1:2 trans HN(O)NH(O)/TCNE complexes constrained to have D-A (O-C) distances of 2.88 ?, but which are otherwise geometry optimized, reproduce the DA topology observed in the crystalline samples.     

Tuning Local Charge Distribution in Multicomponent Covalent Organic Frameworks for Dramatically Enhanced Photocatalytic Uranium Extraction

Optimizing the electronic structure of covalent organic framework (COF) photocatalysts is essential for maximizing photocatalytic activity. Herein, we report an isoreticular family of multivariate COFs containing chromenoquinoline rings in the COF structure and electron-donating or withdrawing groups in the pores. Intramolecular donor-acceptor (D-A) interactions in the COFs allowed tuning of local charge distributions and charge carrier separation under visible light irradiation, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic performance. By optimizing the optoelectronic properties of the COFs, a photocatalytic uranium extraction efficiency of 8.02 mg/g/day was achieved using a nitro-functionalized multicomponent COF in natural seawater, exceeding the performance of all COFs reported to date. Results demonstrate an effective design strategy towards high-activity COF photocatalysts with intramolecular D-A structures not easily accessible using traditional synthetic approaches.     

Local and nonlocal contributions to molecular first-order hyperpolarizability: a Hirshfeld partitioning analysis

Based on first-principles calculations, a decomposition scheme is proposed to investigate the molecular site-specific first-order hyperpolarizability (β) responses by means of Hirshfeld population analysis and finite field method. For a molecule, its β is decomposed into local and nonlocal contributions of individual atoms or groups. The former describes the response within the atomic sphere, while the latter describes the contributions from interatomic charge transfer. This scheme is then applied to six prototypical donor-acceptor (D-A) or D-π-A molecules for which the local and nonlocal hyperpolarizabilities are evaluated based on their MP2 density. Both the local and nonlocal parts exhibit site-specific characteristics, but vary differently with molecular structures. The local part depends mainly on the atomic attributes such as electronegativity and charge state, as well as its location in the molecule, while the nonlocal part relates to the ability and distance of charge delocalization within the molecule, increasing rapidly with molecular size. The proposed decomposition scheme provides a way to distinguish atomic or group contributions to molecular hyperpolarizabilities, which is useful in the molecular design for organic nonlinear optical materials.     

Some properties of networks produced by the Diels-Alder reaction between poly(styrene-co-furfuryl methacrylate) and bismaleimide

Poly (styrene-co-furfuryl methacrylate) networks were prepared by the Diels-Alder (D-A) reaction in solution at 25 °C between the linear copolymer and bismaleimide (BM). The resultant crosslinked polymers were swollen to equilibrium in toluene at 25 °C and swelling properties were studied by gravimetric and dimensional measurements. The swelling behaviour of these organogels depended on the composition of the copolymer and the concentration of BM used. Shear and Young’s moduli and the effective crosslinking densities (ν_e) were determined by compression (stress)-strain measurements. The theoretical crosslinking density was higher than the ν_e for all the crosslinked copolymers. An endothermic peak without T_g was observed on the DSC curve on heating the dry crosslinked polymer. On reheating a T_g at ≈98 °C was found, which is attributed to presence of linear copolymer produced by the retro D-A reaction in the first heating. The thermal stability of a crosslinked copolymer under nitrogen and air showed differences with the stability of the linear copolymer. The increase in viscosity of the solution during the D-A reaction was followed with time, for initial linear copolymers of different molecular weights. It was found that onset of gelation increased to longer reaction times the lower the molecular weight of copolymer.