A new polymer acceptor containing naphthalene diimide and 1,3,4‐thiadiazole for all‐polymer solar cells

A n‐type conjugated polymer containing naphthalene diimide (NDI) and 1,3,4‐thiadiazole (TZ) moieties, named PNTZ, has been synthesized and applied for all‐polymer solar cells (all‐PSCs). By the incorporation of TZ unit into the polymer main chains, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level of this polymer has been adjusted effectively. In addition, the electron‐acceptor PNTZ shows a broad absorption spectrum in the range of 300–700 nm, and possesses complementary absorption spectrum with the electron‐donor PTB7‐Th. On the basis of PNTZ as the acceptor and PTB7‐Th as the donor, the all‐PSCs are fabricated. After optimization, the well blend morphologies with a continuous D/A interpenetrating network are observed and the best all‐PSC device exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 4.35% with a high short‐circuit current density of 13.26 mA cm^?2. This research demonstrates that the TZ‐containing polymer PNTZ is a promising non‐fullerene acceptor for high efficiency all‐PSCs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55 , 990–996     

One donor–two acceptor (D–A1)‐(D–A2) random terpolymers containing perylene diimide,naphthalene diimide,and carbazole units

A series of one donor–two acceptor (D–A₁)‐(D–A₂) random terpolymers containing a 2,7‐carbazole donor and varying compositions of perylene diimide (PDI) and naphthalene diimide (NDI) acceptors was synthesized via Suzuki coupling polymerization. The optical properties of the terpolymers are weighted sums of the constituent parent copolymers and all show strong absorption over the 400 to 700 nm range with optical bandgaps ranging from 1.77 to 1.87 eV, depending on acceptor composition. The copolymers were tested as acceptor materials in bulk heterojunction all‐polymer solar cells using poly[(4,8‐bis‐(2‐ethylhexyloxy)‐benzo[1,2‐b;4,5‐b′]dithiophene)‐2,6‐diyl‐alt‐(4‐(2‐ethylhexanoyl)‐thieno[3,4‐b]thiophene)‐2,6‐diyl] (PBDTTT‐C) as the donor material. In contrast to the optoelectronic properties, the measured device parameters are not composition dependent, and rather depend solely on the presence of the NDI unit, where the devices containing any amount of NDI perform half as well as those using the parent polymer containing only carbazole and PDI. Overall this is the first example of a one donor–two acceptor random terpolymer system containing perylene diimide (PDI) and naphthalene diimide (NDI) acceptor units, and demonstrates a facile method of tuning polymer optoelectronic properties while minimizing the need for complicated synthetic and purification steps. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 3337–3345     

Side chain engineering of naphthalene diimide–bithiophene‐based polymer acceptors in all‐polymer solar cells

Two novel polymeric acceptors based on naphthalene diimide (NDI) and 2.2′‐bithiophene, named as P(NDI2THD‐T2) and P(NDI2TOD‐T2), were designed and synthesized for all polymer solar cells application. The structural and electronic properties of the two acceptors were modulated through side‐chain engineering of the NDI units. The optoelectronic properties of the polymers and the morphologies of the blend films composed of the polymer acceptors and a donor polymer PTB7‐Th were systemically investigated. With thiophene groups introduced into the side chains of the NDI units, both polymers showed wider absorption from 350 nm to 900 nm, compared with the reference polymer acceptor of N2200. No redshift of absorption spectra from solutions to films indicated reduced aggregation of the polymers due to the steric hindrance effect of thiophene rings in the side chains. The photovoltaic performance were characterized for devices in a configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PTB7‐Th:acceptors/2,9‐bis(3‐(dimethylamino)propyl)anthra[2,1,9‐def:6,5,10‐def]diisoquinoline‐1,3,8,10(2H,9H)‐tetraone (PDIN)/Al. With the addition of diphenyl ether as an additive, the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 2.73% and 4.75% for P(NDI2THD‐T2) and P(NDI2TOD‐T2) based devices were achieved, respectively. The latter showed improved J_sc, Fill Factor (FF), and PCE compared with N2200 based devices. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 3679–3689     

Perylene and naphthalene diimide copolymers for all-polymer solar cells: Effect of perylene/naphthalene ratio

We report the synthesis of a series of copolymers, having 2,2′-bithiophene as electron-donating moiety, and perylene diimide (PDI) and/or naphthalene diimide (NDI) as electron-accepting moiety, and employed as non-fullerene acceptors in polymer solar cells (PSCs). All the copolymers show wide absorption varying from 300 to 850 nm in the visible and NIR spectrum. When changing the PDI/NDI ratio in the polymer backbone, The LUMO energy levels vary in the range of −3.90 to −3.80 eV and the HOMO energy levels vary in the range of −6.10 to −5.85 eV. Among PSCs based on PTB7-Th donor and these polymer acceptors, the devices based on PTB7-Th/NDI100 yield the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.67%, while the PTB7-Th/PDI100-based devices yield a PCE of 1.03%. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 682–689     

An acceptor‐acceptor conjugated copolymer based on perylene diimide for high mobility n‐channel transistor in air

A new solution‐processable acceptor‐acceptor conjugated copolymer ( P1 ) based on perylene diimide (PDI) incorporating planar electron‐deficient fluorenone was synthesized by palladium(0)‐catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction. Relative to the donor‐acceptor conjugated copolymer ( P2 ) of PDI and dithienothiophene, polymer P1 exhibits 0.1 eV down shift of lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level, 70 nm blue shift of low‐energy absorption band, and 0.36 eV increase of optical band gap. Polymer P1 in top‐contact bottom‐gate organic field‐effect transistors exhibits a saturation electron mobility of 0.01 cm²/(V s) in air, while P2 does not function in the same device in air. The better air stability of P1 is attributed to a more dense packing of the polymer chains excluding oxygen or water and lower LUMO level of P1 . © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Dye‐Incorporated Polynaphthalenediimide Acceptor for Additive‐Free High‐Performance All‐Polymer Solar Cells

All‐polymer solar cells (all‐PSCs) can offer unique advantages for applications in flexible devices, and naphthalene diimide (NDI)‐based polymer acceptors are the widely used polymer acceptors. However, their power conversion efficiency (PCE) still lags behind that of state‐of‐the‐art polymer solar cells, due to low light absorption, suboptimal energy levels and the strong aggregation of the NDI‐based polymer acceptor. Herein, a rhodanine‐based dye molecule was introduced into the NDI‐based polymer acceptor by simple random copolymerization and showed an improved light absorption coefficient, an up‐shifted lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level and reduced crystallization. Consequently, additive‐free all‐PSCs demonstrated a high PCE of 8.13 %, which is one of the highest performance characteristics reported for all‐PSCs to date. These results indicate that incorporating a dye into the n‐type polymer gives insight into the precise design of high‐performance polymer acceptors for all‐PSCs.     

Regioirregular ambipolar naphthalenediimide‐based alternating polymers: Synthesis,characterization, and application in field‐effect transistors

In this work, we report the synthesis, characterization, and application of two regioirregular naphthalenediimide (NDI)‐based alternating conjugated polymers, namely P1 and P2 , in which nitrile‐substituted moiety, 2,3‐bis(thiophen‐2‐yl)acrylonitrile and NDI moiety act as donor and acceptor unit, respectively. The two regioirregular polymers possess low‐lying LUMO energy levels of ?3.92 eV for P1 and ?3.96 eV for P2 . Both polymers possess typical dual‐band UV?Vis?NIR absorption profiles of NDI‐based polymers, and show broadened and red‐shifted absorption spectra in the solid state compared with those in solutions. Field‐effect transistor devices with top‐gate bottom‐contact configuration were used to evaluate the polymers' semiconducting properties. The two polymers exhibited promising and air‐stable ambipolar charge transport characteristics. Thin film microstructure investigations (AFM and 2D‐GIXRD) suggest both polymers formed continuous and smooth thin films, and adopted predominantly face‐on molecular packing in the solid state. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 3627–3635     

n‐Type Conjugated Polymer Based on Dicyanodistyrylbenzene and Naphthalene Diimide Units for All‐Polymer Solar Cells

All polymer solar cells (all‐PSCs), possessing superior mechanical strength and flexibility, offer the commercialization opportunity of the PSCs for flexible and portable devices. In this work, we designed and synthesized two copolymer acceptors based on dicyanodistyrylbenzene (DCB) and naphthalene diimide (NDI) units. The corresponding copolymer acceptors are denoted as PDCB‐NDI812 and PDCB‐NDI1014. The medium band gap copolymer PBDB‐T was selected as donor material for investigation of the photovoltaic performance. Two all‐PSCs devices showed power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 4.26% and 3.43% for PDCB‐NDI812 and PDCB‐NDI1014, respectively. The improved PCE was ascribed to the higher short‐circuit current (J_SC), greater charge carrier mobility and higher exciton dissociation probability of the PBDB‐T:PDCB‐NDI812 blend film. These results suggest that DCB unit and NDI unit based copolymer acceptors are promising candidates for high performance all‐PSCs.     

Tuning the frontier molecular orbital energy levels of n‐type conjugated copolymers by using angular‐shaped naphthalene tetracarboxylic diimides,and their use in all‐polymer solar cells with high open‐circuit voltages

An angular‐shaped naphthalene tetracarboxylic diimide (NDI) was designed and synthesized as a new building block for n‐type conjugated polymers to tune their energy levels. Three n‐type copolymers incorporating this angular‐shaped NDI as the acceptor moiety were obtained by Stille coupling reactions and had number average molecular weights of 18.7–73.0 kDa. All‐polymer bulk‐heterojunction solar cells made from blends of these polymers with poly(3‐hexylthiophene) gave a power conversion efficiency up to 0.32% and exhibited an open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) up to 0.94 V due to their relative high‐lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels. The high V_oc of 0.94 V is higher than that of solar cells based on linear‐shaped NDI‐containing polymers (<0.6 V). The results indicate that the angular‐shaped NDI is a promising building block for constructing nonfullerene polymer acceptors for solar cells with high open‐circuit voltages. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Poly(thienylene‐vinylene‐thienylene) with cyano substituent: Synthesis and application in field‐effect transistor and polymer solar cell

A novel conjugated polymer, poly(thienylene‐vinylene‐thienylene) with cyano substituent ( CN‐PTVT ) was synthesized via Stille coupling for the application in air stable field‐effect transistor and polymer solar cell. The polymer was characterized by ¹H NMR, elemental analysis, UV‐vis absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy, TGA, cyclic voltammetry and XRD analysis. CN‐PTVT exhibits a good thermal stability with 5% weight loss at 306 °C. The FET hole mobility of the polymer reached 5.9 × 10^?3 cm² V^?1 s^?1 with I_on/I_off ratio of 4.9 × 10⁴, which is one of the highest performance among the air‐stable amorphous polymers. The polymer solar cell based on CN‐PTVT as donor and PCBM as acceptor shows a relatively high open‐circuit voltage of 0.82 V and a power conversion efficiency of 0.3% under the illumination of AM1.5, 100 mW/cm². © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4028–4036, 2009     

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.     

Dithienosilole–phenylquinoxaline‐based copolymers with A‐D‐A‐D and A‐D structures for polymer solar cells

Two copolymers having D‐A‐D‐A ( P1 ) and D‐A ( P2 ) structures with quinoxaline acceptor unit and dithienosilole donor unit were synthesized and their optical and electrochemical (both experimental and theoretical) properties were investigated. The optical properties showed that these copolymers P1 and P2 exhibit optical bandgaps of 1.54 and 1.62 eV, respectively, with broader absorption profiles extending up to 800 nm and 770 nm, respectively. The electrochemical investigation of these two copolymers indicates that they exhibit suitable highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels for efficient exciton dissociation and high open circuit voltage in the resultant polymer solar cells (PSCs). These copolymers were used as donors along with the PC₇₁BM as acceptor for the fabrication of solution processed bulk heterojunction PSCs. The optimized P1 :PC₇₁BM and P2 :PC₇₁BM active layers treated with solvent vapor treatment showed overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.16% and 6.57%, respectively. The higher PCE of P1 ‐based device as compared to P2 might be attributed to higher crystallinity of P1 and good hole mobility resulting more balanced charge transport. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 376–386     

Low band‐gap modulation of isoindigo‐based copolymers toward high open‐circuit voltage of polymer solar cells

Designing low band‐gap‐conjugated polymers coupled with low HOMO levels attracts great attention in the field of polymer solar cells (PSCs). By using donor–acceptor (D‐A) copolymerization strategy, we designed and synthesized a series of low band‐gap copolymers with deep HOMO levels via introducing an isoindigo (IID) acceptor unit in the copolymers with the donor unit of fluorene (F) (PIID‐F), carbazole (Cz) (PIID‐Cz), thiophene (Th) (PIID‐Th), dithiophene (DTh) (PIID‐DTh), or dithienosilole (DTS) (PIID‐DTS). The HOMO level of the copolymers, measured by electrochemical cyclic voltammetry, varies from ?5.3 eV to ?5.8 eV, depending on different donor units in the copolymers. However, the LUMO levels of all the copolymers are fixed at about ?3.6 eV, which is mainly determined by IID acceptor unit due to its strong electron‐withdrawing ability. The new results will provide an effect help in designing IID based molecular structures. Among the copolymers, PIID‐DTS has a low band gap of 1.58 eV and possesses a low‐lying HOMO energy level of ?5.33 eV. The PSCs based on PIID‐DTS as donor and PC₇₀BM as acceptor exhibited a high open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.93 V and a primary power conversion efficiency of 2.45%. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 3477–3485     

Effects of donor unit and π‐bridge on photovoltaic properties of D–A copolymers based on benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐c']‐dithiophene‐4,8‐dione acceptor unit

A series of donor‐π‐acceptor (D‐π‐A) conjugated copolymers ( PBDT‐AT, PDTS‐AT, PBDT‐TT , and PDTS‐TT ), based on benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐c']dithiophene‐4,8‐dione (BDD) acceptor unit with benzodithiophene (BDT) or dithienosilole (DTS) as donor unit, alkylthiophene (AT) or thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene (TT) as conjugated π‐bridge, were designed and synthesized for application as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs). Effects of the donor unit and π‐bridge on the optical and electrochemical properties, hole mobilities, and photovoltaic performance of the D‐π‐A copolymers were investigated. PSCs with the polymers as donor and PC₇₀BM as acceptor exhibit an initial power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.46% for PBDT‐AT , 2.62% for PDTS‐AT , 0.82% for PBDT‐TT , and 2.38% for PDTS‐TT . After methanol treatment, the PCE was increased up to 5.91%, 3.06%, 1.45%, and 2.45% for PBDT‐AT, PDTS‐AT, PBDT‐TT , and PDTS‐TT , respectively, with significantly increased FF. The effects of methanol treatment on the photovoltaic performance of the PSCs can be ascribed to the increased and balanced carrier transport and the formation of better nanoscaled interpenetrating network in the active layer. The results indicate that both donor unit and π‐bridge are crucial in designing a D‐π‐A copolymer for high‐performance photovoltaic materials. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1929–1940     

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of two‐dimensional D‐A copolymers with conjugated side chains

Four novel two‐dimensional (2D) donor–acceptor (D‐A) type copolymers with different conjugated side chains, P1 , P2 , P3 , and P4 (see Fig. 1 ), are designed and synthesized for the application as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs). To the best of our knowledge, there were few reports to systematically study such 2D polymers with D‐A type main chains in this area. The optical energy band gaps are about 2.0 eV for P1 – P3 and 1.67 eV for P4 . PSC devices using P1 – P4 as donor and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester as acceptor in a weight ratio of 1:3 were fabricated and characterized to investigate the photovoltaic properties of the polymers. Under AM 1.5 G, 100 mA/cm² illumination, a high open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.9 V was recorded for P3 ‐based device due to its low HOMO level, and moderate fill factor was obtained with the best value of 58.6% for P4 ‐based device, which may mainly be the result of the high hole mobility of the polymers (up to 1.82 × 10^?3 cm²/V s). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Novel two‐dimensional donor–acceptor conjugated polymers containing quinoxaline units: Synthesis,characterization, and photovoltaic properties

Novel two‐dimensional donor–acceptor (D–A) structured conjugated polymers, P1–P4, were designed and synthesized by introducing electron‐deficient quinoxaline as core and electron‐rich alkoxyl‐phenylenevinylene in side chains and p‐phenylenevinylene, triphenylamine, or thiophene in main chain. Benefited from the D–A structures, the polymers possess low bandgaps of 1.75 eV, 1.86 eV, 1.59 eV, and 1.58 eV for P1, P2, P3, and P4, respectively, and show broad absorption band in the visible region: the shorter wavelength absorption peak at ～400 nm ascribed to the conjugated side chains and the longer wavelength absorption peak between 500 nm and 750 nm belonging to the absorption of the conjugated main chains. Especially, the absorption band of P4 film covers the whole visible range from 300 nm to 784 nm. The power conversion efficiencies of the polymer solar cells based on P1–P4 as donor and PCBM as acceptor are 0.029%, 0.14%, 0.46%, and 0.57%, respectively, under the illumination of AM 1.5, 100 mW/cm². The polymers with the low bandgap and broad absorption band are promising photovoltaic materials. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 4038–4049, 2008     

New alternating D–A1–D–A2 copolymer containing two electron‐deficient moieties based on benzothiadiazole and 9‐(2‐Octyldodecyl)‐8H‐pyrrolo[3,4‐b]bisthieno[2,3‐f:3',2'‐h]quinoxaline‐8,10(9H)‐dione for efficient polymer solar cells

A novel D–A₁–D–A₂ copolymer denoted as P1 containing two electron withdrawing units based on benzothiadiazole (BT) and 9‐(2‐octyldodecyl)?8H‐pyrrolo[3,4‐b] bisthieno[2,3‐f:3′,2′‐h]quinoxaline‐8,10(9H)–dione (PTQD) units was synthesized and characterized. The resulting copolymer exhibits a broad‐absorption spectrum, relatively deep lying HOMO energy level (?5.44 eV) and narrow optical bandgap (1.50 eV). Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on P1 as donor and PC₇₁BM as acceptor with optimized donor to acceptor weight ratio of 1:2 and processed with DIO/CB solvent showed good photovoltaic performance with power conversion efficiency of 6.21% which is higher than that of the device processed without solvent additive (4.40%). The absorption and morphology investigations of the active layers indicated that structural and morphological changes were induced by the solvent additive. This higher power conversion efficiency could be mainly attributed to the absorption enhancement and improved charge transported in the active layer induced by the better nanoscale morphology of the active layer. This study demonstrated that a copolymer with two different acceptor moieties in the backbone may be promising candidate as donor copolymer for solution processed BHJ PSCs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 155–168     

Synthesis and characterization of thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene‐isoindigo‐based copolymers as electron donor and hole transport materials for bulk‐heterojunction polymer solar cells

A novel class of thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene (TT) and isoindigo based copolymers were synthesized and evaluated as electron donor and hole transport materials in bulk‐heterojunction polymer solar cells (BHJ PSCs). These π‐conjugated donor‐acceptor polymers were derived from fused TT and isoindigo structures bridged by thiophene units. The band‐gaps and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels of the polymers were tuned using different conjugating lengths of thiophene units on the main chains, providing band‐gaps from 1.55 to 1.91 eV and HOMO levels from ?5.34 to ?5.71 eV, respectively. The corresponding lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels were appropriately adjusted with the isoindigo units. Conventional BHJ PSCs (ITO/PEDOT:PSS/active layer/interlayer/Al) with an active layer composed of the polymer and PC₇₁BM were fabricated for evaluation. Power conversion efficiency from a low of 1.25% to a high of 4.69% were achieved with the best performing device provided by the D?π?A polymer with a relatively board absorption spectrum, high absorption coefficient, and more uniform blend morphology. These results demonstrate the potential of this class of thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene‐isoindigo‐based polymers as efficient electron donor and hole transport polymers for BHJ PSCs. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Modulation of electronic properties of π‐conjugated copolymers derived from naphtho[1,2‐b:5,6‐b′]dithiophene donor unit: A structure‐property relationship study

A set of three donor‐acceptor conjugated (D‐A) copolymers were designed and synthesized via Stille cross‐coupling reactions with the aim of modulating the optical and electronic properties of a newly emerged naphtho[1,2‐b:5,6‐b′]dithiophene donor unit for polymer solar cell (PSCs) applications. The PTNDTT‐BT , PTNDTT‐BTz , and PTNDTT‐DPP polymers incorporated naphtho[1,2‐b:5,6‐b′]dithiophene ( NDT ) as the donor and 2,2′‐bithiazole ( BTz ), benzo[1,2,5]thiadiazole ( BT ), and pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,4(2H,5H)‐dione ( DPP ), as the acceptor units. A number of experimental techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, X‐ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy were used to determine the thermal, optical, electrochemical, and morphological properties of the copolymers. By introducing acceptors of varying electron withdrawing strengths, the optical band gaps of these copolymers were effectively tuned between 1.58 and 1.9 eV and their HOMO and LUMO energy levels were varied between ?5.14 to ?5.26 eV and ?3.13 to ?3.5 eV, respectively. The spin‐coated polymer thin film exhibited p‐channel field‐effect transistor properties with hole mobilities of 2.73 × 10^?3 to 7.9 × 10^?5 cm² V^?1 s^?1. Initial bulk‐heterojunction PSCs fabricated using the copolymers as electron donor materials and [6,6]‐phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) as the acceptor resulted in power conversion efficiencies in the range of 0.67–1.67%. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2948–2958     

Donor–acceptor copolymers for red‐ and near‐infrared‐emitting polymer light‐emitting diodes

We report a comparative study of two organic soluble, vinylene‐based, alternating donor–acceptor copolymers with 1,4‐(2,5‐dihexadecyloxyphenylene) as the donor; the acceptor is either a 2,5‐linked pyridine or a 5,8‐linked 2,3‐diphenylpyrido[3,4‐b]pyrazine. The polymers are synthesized via a Heck coupling methodology from a dihalo monomer and a divinyl monomer to yield number‐average molecular weights of 16,000 g/mol for the pyridine polymer (PPyrPV) and 6500 g/mol for the pyridopyrazine polymer (PPyrPyrPV), with high solubility in common chlorinated solvents and lower solubility in less polar solvents (e.g., tetrahydrofuran). Thin‐film measurements show band gaps of 2.2 and 1.8 eV for PPyrPV and PPyrPyrPV, respectively. Both polymers exhibit photoluminescence in solution and in the solid state and exhibit electroluminescence when incorporated into light‐emitting diodes. In this case, a broad red emission centered at 690 nm for PPyrPV and a near‐infrared emission centered at 800 nm for PPyrPyrPV have been observed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1417–1431, 2005