Molecular Design of TPD-based Organic A-π-D-π-A Dyes for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

An interesitng class of organic A-π-D-π-A dyes based on an N,N,N′,N′-tetraphenylbenzidine(TPD) unit as donor was designed and synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). TPD-4-based DSSCs gave a short circuit photocurrent density(J_sc) of 16.67 mA/cm², a open circuit voltage(V_oc) of 0.635 V and a fill factor(ff) of 0.68, achieving a solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency(η) of 7.22% in preliminary tests. The N3-sensitized device gave an η value of 8.02% with a J_sc of 18.81 mA/cm², a V_oc of 0.630 V and an ff of 0.68 under the same conditions. The incident photo-to-current efficiency(IPCE) values above 70% observed in a range of 460 to 600 nm with a maximum value of 80% at 500 nm indicate that the TPD-4-based DSSC shows a high performance. Under the same conditions, the DSSC based on N3 provided the IPCE values above 70% in a range of 490 to 580 nm with a maximum value of 76% at 500 nm. Both further optimization of the device processing and structural modification of these dyes are anticipated to make the device give even better performances.     

Side chain engineering and conjugation enhancement of benzodithiophene and phenanthrenequnioxaline based conjugated polymers for photovoltaic devices

A series of donor‐acceptor conjugated polymers incorporating benzodithiophene (BDT) as donor unit and phenanthrenequnioxaline as acceptor unit with different side chains have been designed and synthesized. For polymer P1 featuring the BDT unit and alkoxy chains substituted phenanthrenequnioxaline unit in the backbone, serious steric hindrance resulted in quite low molecular weight. The implementation of thiophene ring spacer in polymer P2 greatly suppressed the interannular twisting to extend the effective conjugation length and consequently gave rise to improved absorption property and device performance. In addition, utilizing the alkylthienyl side chains to replace the alkyl side chains at BDT unit in polymer P3 further enhanced the photovoltaic performance due to the increased conjugation length. For polymer P4, translating the alkoxy side chains at the phenanthrenequnioxaline ring into the alkyl side chains at thiophene linker group enhanced molecular planarity and strengthened π?π stacking. Consequently improved absorption property and increased hole mobility were achieved for polymer P4. Our results indicated that side chain engineering not only can influence the solubility of polymer but also can determine the polymer backbone planarity and hence the photovoltaic properties. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1915–1926     

Modulation of terminal alkyl chain length enables over 15%efficiency in small-molecule organic solar cells

In small-molecule organic solar cells(SM-OSCs), it remains a big challenge to obtain favorable bulk heterojunction morphology by donor material design. Herein, we design and synthesize three small-molecule donors BPF3T-C4, BPF3T-C6 and BPF3T-C8,with different terminal alkyl chains. Although they possess similar absorption profiles and molecular energy levels, their crystallinity gradually decreases with the chain length of the terminal alkyl chains. After blending with an electron acceptor of BO-4Cl, the crystallinity is suppressed and the packing orientations of these donors changed from edge-on to face-on. Simultaneously, the crystallinity of BO-4Cl is gradually weakened with the chain length of the terminal alkyl chain of donor materials. Finally, The BPF3T-C6 with moderate crystallinity exhibits the best phase-separation morphology among these blend films. As a result, the BPF3T-C6:BO-4Cl-based SM-OSC shows an impressive power conversion efficiency of 15.1%.     

基于非富勒烯受体的溶液加工型全小分子太阳能电池研究进展

有机太阳能电池(OPV),具有质量轻、可成本低制备等优势,是一种具有实际应用潜力的光伏技术。有机太阳能电池活性层可以由共轭聚合物或溶液可加工的小分子材料(给体与受体)共混组成。由于小分子材料具有明确的分子结构,纯度可控及无批次差别影响的特点;并结合近年来非富勒烯小分子受体的快速发展,使得非富勒烯全小分子(NF-SM-OPV)电池研究受到广泛关注。由于大部分A-D-A型非富勒烯受体分子具有各向异性的特点,这使激子解离和电荷传输,很大程度上受分子间堆积方式的影响,导致非富勒烯全小分子电池活性层形貌调控更加复杂。虽然非富勒烯小分子太阳能电池具有非富勒烯受体材料和小分子材料的双重优势,但高效率非富勒烯小分子太阳能电池的制备,仍具有很大挑战。因此,本文总结近年来高性能非富勒烯小分子太阳能电池的相关进展。着重介绍针对非富勒烯受体的给体小分子材料设计工作,并在此基础上近一步讨论非富勒烯小分子太阳能电池面临的挑战与展望。     

含有咪唑生色团系列树型有机分子二阶非线性光学性质的密度泛函理论研究

应用密度泛函理论(DFT)B3LYP/6-31G*方法计算研究了系列树型含有咪唑生色团的有机分子的结构和非线性光学性质.计算结果表明:该系列分子具有A- -D- -A(A:受体,D:给体)结构,分子基态的偶极矩、极化率、二阶NLO系数( )随共轭链的增长及吸电子基的增强而增大;同时,前线轨道能级差值越小此类分子的二阶极化率总有效值( )越大.计算的吸收光谱显示此系列树型分子在低能区域247.79nm-419.87nm都有一个最强吸收,并且均是最高占据轨道与最低空轨道之间的跃迁.     

Modulating the assembly of organic dye molecules on titania nanocrystals via alkyl chain elongation for efficient mesoscopic cobalt solar cells

Through elongating the end or side alkyl chains of dye molecules, we decorate anatase nanocrystals with a thicker organic assembly featuring a smaller tilt angle of the D-π-A backbone with respect to the surface normal, which retards the interfacial charge recombination and confers a higher photovoltage output on mesoscopic cobalt solar cells displaying an over 10% power conversion efficiency at the AM1.5G conditions.     

Effects of alkyl side chains positioning and presence of fused aromatic units in the backbone of low‐bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole copolymers on the optoelectronic properties of organic solar cells

The systematic optimization of the chemical structure of low‐bandgap (LBG) donor‐acceptor polymeric semiconductors is a challenging task for which accurate guidelines are yet to be determined. Several different structural and molecular parameters are crucial ingredients for obtaining LBG polymers that simultaneously possess high power conversion efficiencies, good processability in common organic solvents, and enhanced stability in organic photovoltaic devices. In this work, we present an extensive structure–optoelectronic properties–solar cell performance study on the emerging class of diketopyrrolopyrrole‐based LBG polymers. In particular, we investigate alkyl side chain positioning by introducing linear alkyl side chains into two different positions (α‐ and β‐), and the distance of the electron rich and electron deficient monomers within the repeat units of the polymer chain. We demonstrate that anchoring linear alkyl side chains to the α‐positions and introducing fused moieties into the polymer backbone, can be beneficial toward maintaining photocurrents similar to the unsubstituted derivative, and concurrently exhibit better processabiliy in common organic solvents. These results can provide a design rationale towards further optimization of semiconducting polymers. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 138–146     

含有噻唑生色团的Y-型有机分子的二阶非线性光学性质

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)B3LYP/6-31G*方法优化了一系列含有噻唑生色团的Y-型有机杂环分子的几何构型, 在此基础上结合有限场(FF)方法和含时密度泛函理论(TD-DFT)对分子的非线性光学(NLO)活性和电子光谱进行计算分析. 结果表明, 这些分子具有A-π-D-π-A(A: 受体, D: 给体)结构, 分子基态偶极矩、极化率和二阶NLO系数(β)随支链共轭桥的增长及生色团共轭效应的增大而增大. 同时, 该系列有机杂环分子的二阶极化率总的有效值(βtot)与其前线分子轨道能级相关, 分子的前线分子轨道能级差越小, βtot值越大.     

Double Asymmetric Core Optimizes Crystal Packing to Enable Selenophene-based Acceptor with Over 18 % Efficiency in Binary Organic Solar Cells

Side-chain tailoring is a promising method to optimize the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, asymmetric alkyl chain-based small molecular acceptors (SMAs) are still difficult to afford. Herein, we adopted a novel asymmetric n-nonyl/undecyl substitution strategy and synthesized two A-D₁A′D₂-A double asymmetric isomeric SMAs with asymmetric selenophene-based central core for OSCs. Crystallographic analysis indicates that AYT9Se11-Cl forms a more compact and order intermolecular packing compared to AYT11Se9-Cl , which contributed to higher electron mobility in neat AYT9Se11-Cl film. Moreover, the PM6 : AYT9Se11-Cl blend film shows a better morphology with appropriate phase separation and distinct face-on orientation than PM6 : AYT11Se9-Cl . The OSCs with PM6 : AYT9Se11-Cl obtain a superior PCE of 18.12 % compared to PM6 : AYT11Se9-Cl (17.52 %), which is the best efficiency for the selenium-incorporated SMAs in binary BHJ OSCs. Our findings elucidate that the promising double asymmetric strategy with isomeric alkyl chains precisely modulates the crystal packing and enhances the photovoltaic efficiency of selenophene-incorporated SMAs.     

Synthesis of new-type donor–acceptor π-conjugated benzofuro[2,3-c]oxazolo[4,5-a]carbazole fluorescent dyes and their photovoltaic performances of dye-sensitized solar cells

New-type donor–acceptor π-conjugated benzofuro[2,3-c]oxazolo[4,5-a]carbazole fluorescent dyes with various lengths of non-conjugated alkyl chains containing a carboxyl group at the end position have been developed and their photovoltaic performances of dye-sensitized solar cells are investigated. It is found that in spite of the lengths of the alkyl chains, due to flexibility of alkyl chain, the cyano group of the dyes is located in close proximity to TiO₂ surface and thus a good electron communication between the dyes and TiO₂ surface is established.     

带有噻吩侧基的有机硼小分子电子受体光伏材料

有机小分子电子受体材料的侧基能够影响异质结有机太阳能电池的给体/受体匹配和器件性能。我们设计并合成了一个硼原子带有噻吩侧基的有机硼小分子(MBN-Th)。该分子的LUMO离域在整个骨架上,HOMO定域在中心核上,其独特的电子结构使该分子具有两个强的吸收峰(波长分别为490和726nm),因此分子具有宽的吸收光谱和强的太阳光吸收能力。与苯基侧基相比,噻吩侧基使分子的HOMO能级下移0.1 eV,LUMO能级保持不变,进而引起分子带隙减小和吸收光谱蓝移20nm。基于该有机硼小分子受体材料的异质结有机太阳能电池,实现了4.21%的能量转化效率和300–850nm的宽响应光谱。实验结果表明,硼原子上的噻吩侧基是调控有机硼小分子光电性质的有效方法,可以用于有机硼小分子受体材料的设计。     

Structure-property relationships of organic dyes with D-π-A structure in dye-sensitized solar cells

Organic dyes with a D-π-A structure have drawn increasing attention as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), due to their rich photophysical properties, easy molecular tailoring, and low-cost production. This review mainly focuses on the relationship between dye structure and photovoltaic properties for organic dyes containing cyanoacrylic acid as both an anchor and an acceptor. This review also introduces different donors and π-conjugation units as building blocks for sensitizer synthesis.     

General Synthesis and Physicochemical Characterisation of a Series of Peptide‐Mimic Lysine‐Based Amino‐Functionalised Lipids

A series of novel malonic acid diamides (second generation) with two long hydrophobic alkyl chains and an alkaline polar head group was synthesised and characterised as a new class of amino‐functionalised lipids. These peptide‐mimic lipids are suitable for polynucleotide transfer. The lipids bear a novel backbone consisting of a lysine unit and a malonic acid unit. Six different head‐group structures, which vary in size and number of amino groups that can be protonated, were attached to the backbone structure. Furthermore, different alkyl chains were used to build the lipophilic part (namely tetradecyl, hexadecyl, and oleyl). Phase transitions of the new compounds in aqueous dispersions at pH 10 were analysed and discussed in terms of head group and alkyl chain variations. The shape and size of the formed aggregates of selected lipid dispersions were investigated by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy.     

3,6‐Dialkylthieno[3,2‐b]thiophene moiety as a soluble and electron donating unit preserving the coplanarity of photovoltaic low band gap copolymers

It has been shown recently, that the presence of alkyl side chains at the 3‐positions on the thiophene rings placed next to 2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole core in the backbone of several conjugated polymers results in severe steric hindrance and prevents efficient planarity of the thiophene‐2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole‐thiophene (TBzT) segment. Both properties have a strong influence on the optoelectronic properties of the polymer and need to be considered when the polymer is to be used for organic electronics applications. In this work, we modified a previously synthesized oligothiophene copolymer, consisting of two 3,4′‐dialkyl‐2,2′‐bithiophene units attached to a 2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole unit (TBzT segment) and a thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene unit, by optimizing the lateral alkyl side chains following a density functional theory investigation. It is demonstrated that eliminating the alkyl side chains from the 3‐positions of the TBzT segment and anchoring them onto the thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene, using an efficient synthesis of the 3,6‐dihexylthieno[3,2‐b]thiophene unit, allows us to reduce the energy band gap. In addition, the chemical modification leads to a better charge transport and to an enhanced photovoltaic efficiency of polymer/fullerene blends. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Selection of side groups on simple non-fullerene acceptors for the application in organic solar cells: From flexible to rigid

The side chains on non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) can affect greatly the photovoltaic performances of the resulting organic solar cells (OSCs) by regulating the molecular packing and orientation of NFAs. To explore suitable side groups for asymmetric simple NFAs, in this work, we design and synthesize two A-D₁-A′-D₂-A type NFAs, NTC-4Cl, and PhNTC-4Cl, which own flexible alkyloxy and rigid aryloxy side chains on the A′ cores, respectively. Due to the same molecular backbone (A′: benzotriazole; D₁: thiophene; D₂: cyclopentadithiophene; A: dichlorodicyanoindanone), NTC-4Cl and PhNTC-4Cl have similar absorptions and energy levels. However, the PhNTC-4Cl-based OSC gives a higher power conversion efficiency than that of the NTC-4Cl-based one (11.09% vs. 10.82%) because PhNTC-4Cl shows more compact π–π stacking and dominant face-on orientation, enhancing charge transport and mitigating charge recombination. Therefore, this work provides a new insight into the molecular design of high-performance NFAs, especially the rational choice of side groups on asymmetric simple NFAs.     

Effect of side‐chain positions on morphology and photovoltaic properties of phenazine‐based donor–acceptor copolymers

Two phenazine donor–acceptor‐conjugated copolymers (P1 and P2) with the same polymer backbone but different anchoring positions of alkoxy chain on the phenazine unit were investigated to identify the effect of changing the position of alkoxy chains on their optical, electrochemical, blend film morphology, and photovoltaic properties. Although the optical absorption and frontier orbital energy levels were insensitive to the position of alkoxy chains, the film morphologies and photovoltaic performances changed significantly. P1/PC₇₁BM blend film showed the formation of phase separation with large coarse aggregates, whereas P2/PC₇₁BM blend film was homogeneous and smooth. Accordingly, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of photovoltaic devices increased from 1.50% for P1 to 2.54% for P2. In addition, the PCE of the polymer solar cell based on P2/PC₇₁BM blend film could be further improved to 3.49% by using solvent vapor annealing treatment. These results clearly revealed that tuning the side‐chain position could be an effective way to adjust the morphology of the active layer and the efficiency of the photovoltaic device. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2910–2918     

Synthesis, Photophysics and Morphology of a Conjugated Polymer with Azobenzene Building Block in the Backbone

A conjugate polymer poly[p‐(phenyleneethylene)‐alt‐(phenyleneazophenyleneethylene)] (PPEPAPE) containing azobenzene building block in the polymer backbone was synthesized via Sonogashira cross‐coupling of 4,4′‐diiodoazobenzene and 1,4‐diethynyl‐2,5‐didodecyloxybenzene. All the monomers and the resulting polymer were well characterized. The polymer had a relatively high molecular weight and showed very good solubility (≧10 mg/mL) in common organic solvents. The photophysics of this polymer in solution and in film was investigated. The surface morphology of the films was studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the relationship between the morphology and absorbance was discussed. This polymer has good film‐forming property, broad absorbance and no emission, which might make it a good candidate for the photovoltaic material in the solar cell.     

Pronounced Dependence of All-Polymer Solar Cells Photovoltaic Performance on the Alkyl Substituent Patterns in Large Bandgap Polymer Donors

For all-polymer solar cells which are composed of polymer donors and polymer acceptors, the effect of alkyl side chains on photovoltaic performance is a matter of some debate, and this effect remains difficult to forecast. In this concise contribution, we demonstrate that three alkyls namely branched alkyl 2-butyloctyl (2BO), long linear alkyl n-dodecyl (C12), and double-short linear alkyl n-hexyls (DC6) incorporated into the side chains of large bandgap polymer donor PBDT-TTz can induce considerable, of significance, and different electronic, optical, and morphological parameters. Systematic studies shed light on the critical role of the double-short linear alkyl n-hexyls (DC6) in (i) producing large ionization potential value, (ii) increasing propensity of the polymer to order along the π-stacking direction, (iii) generating polymer crystallites with more preferential “face-on” orientation, consequently, (iv) improvement of carriers transportation, (v) suppression of charge recombination, (vi) reduction of energy loss in all-polymer devices. In parallel, we unearth that the PBDT-TTz with double-short linear alkyl n-hexyls (DC6) represents the highest efficiency of 8.3 %, whereas, the other two PBDT-TTz analogues (2BO, C12) yield efficiencies of less than 3 % in optimized all-polymer solar cells. Though branched or long linear alkyl side chains (2BO, C12) have been applied to provide the solution processability of conjugated polymers, motifs bearing multiple short linear alkyl substituents (DC6) are proved critical to the development of high performing polymers.     

Systematic Analysis of Polymer Molecular Weight Influence on the Organic Photovoltaic Performance

The molecular weight of an electron donor‐conjugated polymer is as essential as other well‐known parameters in the chemical structure of the polymer, such as length and the nature of any side groups (alkyl chains) positioned on the polymeric backbone, as well as their placement, relative strength, the ratio of the donor and acceptor moieties in the backbone of donor–acceptor (D–A)‐conjugated polymers, and the arrangement of their energy levels for organic photovoltaic performance. Finding the “optimal” molecular weight for a specific conjugated polymer is an important aspect for the development of novel photovoltaic polymers. Therefore, it is evident that the chemistry of functional conjugated polymers faces major challenges and materials have to adopt a broad range of specifications in order to be established for high photovoltaic performance. In this review, the approaches followed for enhancing the molecular weight of electron‐donor polymers are presented in detail, as well as how this influences the optoelectronic properties, charge transport properties, structural conformation, morphology, and the photovoltaic performance of the active layer.

     

Highly efficient organic indolocarbazole dye in different acceptor units for optoelectronic applications—a first principle study

A series of novel organic dyes (ICZA1, ICZA2, ICZA3, ICZA4) with D-π-A structural configuration incorporating indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole moiety as donor (D) unit, thiophene as π-linker and 2-cyanoacrylic acid as acceptor unit were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) methods. Indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole-based D-π-A dyes composed of different acceptor groups were designed. By modulating acceptor unit, the efficiency of D-π-A dye-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can be further improved. In the present work, four novel push-pull organic dyes only differing in electron acceptor, have been designed based on the experimental literature value of IC-2. In order to further improve the light harvesting capability of indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole dyes, the acceptor influence on the dye performance were examined. The NLO property of the designed dye molecules can be derived as polarizability and hyperpolarizability. The calculated value of ICZA2 dye is the best candidate for NLO properties. Furthermore, the designed organic dyes exhibit good photovoltaic performance of charge transfer characteristics, driving force of electron injection, dye regeneration, global reactivity, and light harvesting efficiency (LHE). From the calculated value of ICZA4 dye, it has been identified as a good candidate for DSSCs applications. Finally, it is concluded that the both ICZA2 and ICZA4 dyes theoretically agrees well with the experimental value of IC-2 dye. Hence, the dyes ICZA2 and ICZA4 can serve as an excellent electron withdrawing groups for NLO and DSSCs applications.