Heavy metal complex containing organic/polymer materials for bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic devices

The application of heavy-metal complexes in bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells is a promising new research field which has attracted increasing attention, due to their strong spin-orbit coupling for efficient singlet to triplet intersystem crossing. This review article focuses on recent advances of heavy metal complex containing organic and polymer materials as photovoltaic donors in BHJ solar cells. Platinum-acetylide containing oligomersor and polymers have been firstly illustrated due to the good solubility, square planar structure, as well as the fairly strong Pt-Pt interaction. Then the cyclometalated Pt or Ir complex containing conjugated oligomers and polymers are presented in which the triplet organometallic compounds are embedded into the organic/polymer backbone either through cyclometalated main ligand or the auxiliary ligand. Pure triplet small molecular cyclometalated Ir complex are also briefly introduced. Besides the chemical modification, physical doping of cyclometalated heavy metal complexes as additives into the photovoltaic active layers is finally demonstrated.     

A Novel BODIPY‐Based Low‐Band‐Gap Small‐Molecule Acceptor for Efficient Non‐fullerene Polymer Solar Cells

We report herein an efficient A¹‐C≡C‐A²‐C≡C‐A¹ type small‐molecule 4,4'‐difluoro‐4‐bora‐3a,4a‐diaza‐s‐ indacene (BODIPY) acceptor (A¹=BODIPY and A²=diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)) by following the A‐to‐A excited electron delocalization via the BODIPY meso ‐position, the inherent directionality for the excited electron delocalization. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) delocalizes across over whole the two flanking A¹ and the central A², and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) localizes dominantly on the ‐C≡C‐DPP‐C≡C‐ segment. The excited electron upon light excitation of the DPP segment delocalizes over both the BODIPY and DPP segments. The acceptor in chloroform shows an unprecedented plateau‐like broad absorption between 550 and 700 nm with a large FWHM value of 195 nm. Upon transition into solid film, the acceptor shows absorption in the whole near ultraviolet‐visible‐near infrared wavelength region (300‐830 nm) with a low band gap of 1.5 eV and a maximum absorptivity of 0.85×10⁵ cm^‐1. Introduction of the ethynyl spacer between the A¹ and A² and the close BODIPY‐to‐DPP LUMO energy levels are crucial for the excited π−electron delocalization across over whole the conjugation backbone. A power conversion efficiency of 6.60% was obtained from the ternary non‐fullerene solar cell with PTB7‐Th:p ‐DTS(FBTTh₂)₂ (0.5 : 0.5) as the donor materials, which is the highest value among the non‐fullerene organic solar cells with BODIPY as the electron acceptor material.     

Charge separation in a nonfluorescent donor-acceptor dyad derived from boron dipyrromethene dye, leading to photocurrent generation

Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY), which is commonly used as an energy absorbing and transferring antenna molecule, has been modified to contain an electron donor moiety, 8-(2,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (MEOPHBDP). The photoinduced electron transfer from a 2,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl moiety to a BODIPY moiety of MEOPHBDP in acetonitrile was observed by femtosecond laser flash photolysis measurements. The lifetime of the charge-separated state of MEOPHBDP was 59 ps at 298 K. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were prepared using MEOPHBDP with carboxylic acid (MEOPHBDP-COOH) and a reference BODIPY dye having no electron donor moiety. The photovoltaic measurements were performed using a standard two-electrode system consisting of a working electrode and a Pt sputtered electrode in methoxyacetonitrile containing 0.5 M iodide and 0.05 M I(2). The photoelectrochemical properties of DSSC with MEOPHBDP are compared with those with a reference BODIPY dye.     

A simple structure copolymer donor based on carboxylated benzodithiophene for polymer solar cells

Science China Chemistry - The design and development of low-cost and efficient photovoltaic materials remain a major challenge for the research and application of polymer solar cells (PSCs)....     

Tailoring the photophysical and photovoltaic properties of boron-difluorodipyrromethene dimers

Five boron-difluorodipyrromethene(BODIPY) dimers have been designed and synthesized successfully via acid-catalysed condensation and Pd-catalysed cross-coupling reactions.The structural modification,including verifying the structures of the π-bridges,altering the positions the bridges link(meso-or β-positions),and regulating the molecular planarity,can modulate the photophysical properties and the aggregation behaviors of the five dimers efficiently.Solution-processed organic solar cells were fabricated to evaluate the photovoltaic properties of these molecules further either as acceptors or donors.When using as nonfullerene acceptor and blended with the polymer donor of PTB7,an opencircuit voltaic(V_(oc)) of 1.12 and 1.08 V was achieved from the thiophene and benzodithiophene bridged BODIPY dimers,respectively.This V_(oc) is among the top values achieved from the non-fullerene organic solar cells so far.     

基于金属配合物的下转换材料及其光伏应用研究进展

太阳能光伏作为一种把太阳光转换成电能的绿色可再生能源倍受青睐。通过下转换材料将太阳光谱中的紫外光转换为可见光后被太阳能电池更高效地利用,是提高电池光电转换效率的一条可行性途径,引起了科学界的广泛关注。本文将综述用于太阳能电池的下转换材料研究成果,重点介绍基于发光金属配合物的下转换材料及其光伏应用研究进展;同时展望基于太阳能电池用下转换材料开发的发展机遇,以及亟需解决的问题和途径。     

卟啉类光敏剂在染料敏化太阳能电池中的应用

染料敏化太阳能电池结合了染料光敏剂和无机半导体的优势，具有较宽的光谱响应范围，制造工艺简单、成本较低，对环境友好，应用前景广阔，因而备受人们的关注。本文以卟啉配合物为主线，介绍光敏太阳能电池的基本构造和光电原理，从改善电池性能的角度，综述了各种卟啉类光敏剂在染料太阳能电池中的应用，讨论了卟啉配合物及其超分子结构对光电转化率的影响机理。     

Two novel branched chain polymeric metal complexes based on Cd(II), Zn(II) with fluorene,thiophene, 8‐hydroxyquinoline,and 1,10‐phenathroline ligand: synthesis,characterization, photovoltaic properties,and their application in DSSCs

Two novel side chain polymeric metal complexes (PFT‐Cd and PFT‐Zn) have been designed, synthesized, and characterized. These polymers were found to be good thermally stable and high glass transitions temperature, which indicate that these polymers could be applied as photovoltaic materials for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The obtained polymers exhibited good photovoltaic property. The DSSCs based on the PFT‐Cd and PFT‐Zn exhibited a maximum solar‐to‐electricity conversion efficiency (η) up to 3.37% (J_sc = 7.27 mA/cm², V_oc = 0.67 V, and FF = 0.69) and 3.01% (V_oc = 0.72 V, J_sc = 6.10 mA/cm², FF = 0.69) under simulated AM 1.5 G solar irradiation (90–95 mW/cm²). The result shows that these novel materials are suitable for the dye‐sensitized solar cells. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent studies on small molecular and polymeric hole-transporting materials for high-performance perovskite solar cells

A decade of significant research has led to the emergence of photovoltaic solar cells based on perovskites that have achieved an exceptionally high-power conversion efficiency of 26.08%. A key breakthrough in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) occurred when solid hole-transporting materials (HTMs) replaced liquid electrolytes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), because HTMs play a crucial role in improving photovoltaic performance as well as cell stability. This review is mainly focused on the HTMs that are responsible for hole transport and extraction in PSCs, which is one of the crucial components for efficient devices. Here, we have reviewed small molecular as well as polymeric HTMs that have been reported in the last two years and discussed their performance based on the analysis of their molecular architectures. Finally, we include a perspective on the molecular engineering of new functional HTMs for highly efficient stable PSCs.     

Fluorinated Photovoltaic Materials for High‐Performance Organic Solar Cells

Over the past decade, organic solar cells (OSCs) have achieved a dramatic boost in their power conversion efficiencies from about 6 % to over 16 %. In addition to developments in device engineering, innovative photovoltaic materials, especially fluorinated donors and acceptors, have become the dominant factor for improved device performance. This minireview highlights fluorinated photovoltaic materials that enable efficient OSCs. Impressive OSCs have been obtained by developing some important molds of fluorinated donor and acceptor systems. The molecular design strategy and the matching principle of fluorinated donors and acceptors in OSCs are discussed. Finally, a concise summary and outlook are presented for advances in fluorinated materials to realize the practical application of OSCs.     

A‐D‐A Type Small Molecules Based on Boron Dipyrromethene for Solution‐Processed Organic Solar Cells

The unique properties of boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes including facile synthesis, high absorption coefficients, and delocalized molecular orbitals as well as excellent photochemical and thermal stability, make them promising as materials for organic solar cells. Accordingly, in this study three A‐D ‐A structural small molecules of BDTT‐BODIPY, FL‐BODIPY, and TT‐BODIPY have been synthesized, in which two BODIPY acceptor units are symmetrically conjugated to 4,8‐bis(5‐(2‐ethylhexyl) thiophen‐2‐yl)benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b]dithiophene (BDTT), 9,9‐dioctyl‐9H‐fluorene (FL), and thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene (TT) donor cores, respectively. The manipulation of the structural parameters significantly improves the performances of the BHJ OSCs, which show power conversion efficiencies of 4.75 %, 1.51 %, and 1.67 % based on [6,6]‐phenyl C₇₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) as the acceptor material and BDTT‐BODIPY, FL‐BODIPY, and TT‐BODIPY as the donor materials, respectively.     

卟啉/酞菁配合物修饰钙钛矿太阳能电池研究

为解决资源短缺和环境污染问题,太阳能电池应用研究引起了广泛的科学关注。在过去的十年间,钙钛矿太阳能电池作为一种新型的电池技术得到了快速发展,逐渐成为目前商业化硅基太阳能电池最有力的竞争对手之一。然而,钙钛矿薄膜在低温溶液制备过程中不可避免地形成缺陷,这些缺陷是严重制约钙钛矿太阳能电池光电转化效率与长期运行稳定性得到进一步提高的主要因素。利用功能化有机分子钝化钙钛矿薄膜表面及晶界处缺陷是提升电池性能及稳定性的有效手段。卟啉/酞菁金属配合物具有良好的稳定性和优异的光电特性,利用卟啉/酞菁金属配合物修饰钙钛矿薄膜是提高钙钛矿太阳能电池性能和稳定性的有效方法之一。本文综述了卟啉/酞菁金属配合物界面调控实现高效稳定钙钛矿太阳能电池组装的研究进展,并对其存在的问题及今后可能的发展方向进行了总结与展望。     

Platinum(II)-bis(aryleneethynylene) complexes for solution-processible molecular bulk heterojunction solar cells

Four new solution-processible small-molecular platinum(II)-bis(aryleneethynylene) complexes consisting of benzothiadiazole as the electron acceptor and triphenylamine and/or thiophene as the electron donor were conveniently synthesized and characterized by physicochemical and computational methods, and utilized as the electron-donor materials in the fabrication of solution-processed bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. The effect of different electron-donor groups in these small molecules on the optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties was also examined. The optical and time-dependent density functional theory studies showed that the incorporation of stronger electron-donor groups significantly enhanced the solar-absorption abilities of the complexes. These molecular complexes can serve as good electron donors for fabricating BHJ devices by blending them with the [6,6]-phenyl-C(71)-butyric acid methyl ester (PC(70)BM) as the electron acceptor. The best power conversion efficiency of 2.37% was achieved with the open-circuit voltage of 0.83 V, short-circuit current density of 7.10 mA cm(-2) and fill factor of 0.40 under illumination of an AM 1.5 solar-cell simulator. The spin-coated thin films showed p-channel field-effect charge transport with hole mobilities of up to 2.4×10(-4) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) for these molecules. The present work illuminates the potential of well-defined organometallic complexes in developing light-harvesting small molecules for efficient power generation in organic photovoltaics implementation.     

Recent progress towards fluorinated copolymers for efficient photovoltaic applications

This review paper summarizes the recent progress of highly efficient copolymers with the fluorination strategy for photovoltaic applications. We first present a brief introduction of the fundamental principles of polymer solar cells, and then the functions of fluorine atoms on the polymer donor materials. Finally, we review the research progress of the reported copolymers by classification of the fluorinated acceptor units and donor units, respectively. The resulting structure-property correlations of these copolymers are also discussed which shall certainly facilitate widespread utilization of this strategy for constructing high-performance photovoltaic copolymers in the future.     

Functionalized Paddle Wheel Complexes from BODIPY Carboxylic Acids

A series of BODIPY carboxylic acids carrying aromatic linking units between the luminophor and the carboxylate functional group was prepared using Sonogashira and Stille type coupling protocols. Ferrocene and hydroquinone units could be introduced by either of these methods. Metal complex formation of the BODIPY carboxylic acid ligands was investigated with the divalent metal ions of copper and rhodium. Copper forms insoluble material, which crystallized in one case. The X‐ray crystallographic analysis shows the presence of a BODIPY‐appended paddle wheel complex with typical Cu ··· Cu and Cu–O distances and four BODIPY units in a distance of 9.681 Å and 9.747 Å from the dinuclear center. Treatment with donor solvents results in the decomposition/monomerization of the compound, which could be shown crystallographically for pyridine. Rhodium(II) ions form soluble paddle wheel complexes with four different BODIPY carboxylates. The crystallographic analysis of one example shows the isostructural nature of the dirhodium and the dicopper derivatives. Optical spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry provide first insights into efficient intramolecular energy‐ and electron transfer pathways for the rhodium complexes.     

Tuning the absorption, charge transport properties, and solar cell efficiency with the number of thienyl rings in platinum-containing poly(aryleneethynylene)s

The synthesis, characterization, and photophysics of a series of solution-processable and strongly visible-light absorbing platinum(II) polyynes containing bithiazole-oligo(thienyl) rings were presented. Tuning the polymer solar cell efficiency, as well as optical and charge transport properties, in soluble, low-band gap PtII-based conjugated poly(heteroaryleneethynylene)s using the number of oligothienyl rings is described. These materials are highly soluble in polar organic solvents due to the presence of solubilizing bithiazole moieties and show strong absorptions in the solar spectra, rendering them excellent candidates for bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells. Their photovoltaic responses and power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) depend to a large extent on the number of thienyl rings along the main chain, and some of them can be used to fabricate highly efficient solar cells with PCEs of up to 2.7% and a peak external quantum efficiency to 83% under AM1.5 simulated solar illumination, which is comparable to that of poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based devices fabricated without additional processing (annealing or TiO(x) layer). The influence of the number of thienyl rings and the metal group on the performance parameters and optimization of solar cell efficiency was evaluated and discussed in detail. At the same blend ratio of 1:4, the light-harvesting ability and PCE increase sharply as the thienyl chain length increases. The present work provides an attractive approach to developing conjugated metallopolymers offering broad solar absorptions and tunable solar cell efficiency and demonstrates the potential of metalated conjugated polymers for efficient power generation.     

Synthesis and Properties of Symmetrical Aryl Linked BODIPY Dyads

Three novel symmetrical 4.4＇-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-sindacene（BODIPY） derivatives were synthesized via a general and efficient protocol. These BODIPY dyads bear a diverse aryl linker bridge in the middle and two BODIPY units at the termini. The photophysical properties of these dyads were investigated by ultravioletvisible（UV-Vis） absorption and emission spectroscopy. And their electrochemical properties were studied by cyclic voltammetry. The absorption of these dyads showed slightly blue shift and the intramolecular charge transfer（ICT） state under,vent ultrafast direct surface crossing to the ground state with high degree of rotational freedom. The results will be useful for the further functionalization of these novel symmetrical BODIPY derivatives.     

染料敏化纳米薄膜太阳电池中的染料敏化剂

简要介绍了化学太阳电池的原理和染料敏化剂的发展历史,将现有染料敏化纳米薄膜太阳电池(简称DSCs)中的染料敏化剂分为有机和无机两大类,详细介绍了其中的羧酸多吡啶钌、膦酸多吡啶钌、多核联吡啶钌染料和有机染料的研究进展;介绍了其它染料敏化剂和多种染料协同敏化的研究现状;评述了染料敏化剂在染料敏化纳米薄膜太阳电池中应用的研究进展。     

Novel carboxylated oligothiophenes as sensitizers in photoelectric conversion systems

Novel carboxylated oligothiophenes with different thiophene units were designed and synthesized as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) for efficient opto-electric materials. The introduction of -COOH into thiophene molecules can lead to a red shift of UV-visible absorption, increase light-harvesting efficiency, and enhance photoinduced charge transport by forming efficient covalent bonds to the substrate surface. A red shift of the absorption spectrum of oligothiophene is also achieved by the increase in the number of thiophene units. The DSSCs based on the oligomers have excellent photovoltaic performances. Under 100 mW cm(-2) irradiation a short-circuit current of 10.57 mA cm(-2) and an overall energy conversion efficiency of 3.36 % is achieved when pentathiophene dicarboxylated acid was used as a sensitizer. The incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) has a maximum as high as 80 %. In addition, photovoltage and photocurrent transients show that slow charge recombination in DSSCs is important for efficient charge separation and excellent photoelectric conversion properties of the oligomers. These initial and promising results suggest that carboxylated oligothiophenes are efficient photosensitizers.     

Halogen-Bonded BODIPY Frameworks with Tunable Optical Features**

The ability to tune the optical features of BODIPY materials in the solid state is essential for their photorelated application and requires efficient control of the crystal packing. In this study, such control of BODIPY supramolecular assemblies was achieved by deliberate design and synthesis of a BODIPY containing a strong halogen-bond (XB) acceptor (−NO₂) and donor (I, Br) to mediate XB interactions. The di-halogenated structures formed isostructural mono-coordinate motif B3 , B4 (1D tubular structure) and symmetric bifurcated motif B4-II (1D zigzag chains structure) through N−O⋅⋅⋅I, Br XB interactions. These XB interactions promote singlet-to-triplet intersystem crossing and triplet-to-singlet reverse intersystem crossing due to partial delocalization of oxygen electrons onto Br and I, which leads to unexpected fluorescence enhancement of B4-II . Finally, the indirect optical band gaps of B3 , B4 and B4-II were amenable to tuning in the range of 1.85–2.50 eV by XB-driven crystal packings.