萘并双噻二唑及其衍生稠环受体在D-A型聚合物太阳能电池给体材料中的应用

聚合物太阳能电池因其质量轻、柔性、可溶液制备成大面积器件等优点受到学术界和产业界的广泛关注。目前,聚合物太阳能电池仍然处于实验室研究阶段,研究重点依然集中在器件效率以及使用寿命的进一步提高上。开发新颖高效的聚合物太阳能电池材料是持续提高电池器件效率的原动力。给体(D)-受体(A)型共轭聚合物材料具有宽的光谱吸收、可调节的能级水平、强的分子内电荷转移过程等特征,成为聚合物太阳能电池材料设计的重要策略之一。众多的给体和受体结构单元已被筛选用来构建高性能的D-A型共轭聚合物光伏材料。其中,萘并双噻二唑及其衍生稠环受体结构单元因其具有刚性的共轭平面、强的吸电子能力等特点,被广泛用于设计高性能的聚合物太阳能电池给体材料。基于此,本文综述了萘并双噻二唑及其衍生稠环受体构筑单元在发展D-A型聚合物给体材料方面的应用,并对该类材料的发展方向和前景提出了展望。     

含二乙炔类共轭聚合物的合成及性能研究

在以CuCl和四甲基乙二胺(TMEDA)作为催化剂和邻二氯苯作溶剂条件下,以二-(4-乙炔苯基)-4-辛氧基苯胺(M1)和3, 6-双(乙炔基)-N-辛基咔唑(M2)作为单体,通过Glaser-Hay氧化偶联反应合成了含有咔唑和三苯胺结构单元的聚芳烃二乙炔共轭聚合物.采用红外光谱、核磁共振谱、热失重分析、紫外吸收光谱和荧光光谱等方法对聚合物进行结构表征与性能测试.所得到的聚合物都溶于普通的有机溶剂(如四氢呋喃、二氯甲烷、氯仿、甲苯等).结果表明,聚合物具有优异的热稳定性,热失重5 %时,分解温度在400℃以上;在光激发的条件下,聚合物在二氯甲烷溶液中发射蓝光.     

水热法制备非共轭聚集诱导发光聚合物及其在Fe^3+检测中的应用

以“自稳定沉淀聚合”制备的聚马来酸酐-醋酸乙烯酯线性交替共聚物(PMV)为原料,利用水热法制得3种新型非共轭聚集诱导发光(AIE)聚合物.通过荧光光谱、紫外-可见光光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、X射线光电子能谱分析(XPS)等表征方法,研究了3种聚合物的荧光和结构特性,并考察了其在Fe3+检测的应用.实验结果表明:3种PMV衍生物均具有AIE性质,随着水热时间的延长,聚合物的发光颜色从蓝色红移至黄色,且水热1 h所得产物固体的绝对量子产率最高,可达17.05%;所得非共轭AIE聚合物可用于Fe3+检测,当Fe3+浓度为5~200μmol/L时,猝灭效率与Fe3+浓度符合线性关系,调整确定系数为0.9922,最低检测限可低至1.22μmol/L.     

基于噻咯的聚合物给体光伏材料

聚合物太阳能电池由于具有结构简单、成本低、重量轻和可制成柔性器件等突出优点,近几年受到了越来越多的关注。但是,与传统的无机硅系太阳能电池相比,较低的能量转换效率一直是制约其发展的瓶颈。近年来大量的研究显示,噻咯结构单元被引入给-受体(D-A)型共轭聚合物光伏材料中,能有效地改善相应聚合物的结晶性能,并调节其能级结构(HOMO/LUMO),从而显著改善聚合物的光伏性能。本文综述了含有噻咯环的低能隙共轭聚合物给体光伏材料的研究进展,重点介绍了含有二噻吩并噻咯单元的窄带隙D-A共轭聚合物的最新研究,并进一步提出了给体材料的研究方向以及有待解决的问题。     

一种新型π-共轭聚合物的合成研究:苝酰亚胺的Stille偶联

苝酰亚胺衍生物是国内外近年来广泛研究的π-共轭低聚物,由于其独特的半导体传导性、高热稳定性、较高的电子亲和性和卓越的传输性能在众多领域具有潜在的应用价值。通过对其海湾位置进行结构修饰,可进一步改善其物理化学性能。本文利用苝酰亚胺的Stille偶联反应合成了一种新型的聚(N,N’-二(2-乙基己基)苝-3,4,9,10-四甲酸二酰亚胺),它具有近似石墨烯带状的规整结构和宽广的光谱吸收,成功将苝核四溴代的海湾位置用四丁基锡取代,对产品分别进行了IR、NMR和GPC-MALLS表征,并对这种具有特殊π-共轭结构的新型聚合物的光化学性能进行了研究。     

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.     

侧链含氨基的聚(对亚苯基亚乙炔基-对亚苯基-咔唑)三元共聚物的合成及其聚集态下荧光特性

通过Sonogashira偶联反应制备了含有4-[2-(对苯胺)乙烯基]苯(M1)、2,5-二戊烷氧基-1,4-二乙炔基苯(M2)和9-辛基咔唑(M3)3种结构单元的三元共轭聚合物PPEC,并通过核磁共振氢谱确定了3种结构单元的比例为0.54∶1.00∶0.46(M1∶M2∶M3).由于在PPEC的侧链中含有氨基基团,通过在PPEC的THF溶液中分别加入水、甲醇和正己烷,诱导其产生聚集,其聚集后的荧光性质表现出明显的不同,在THF与水的混合溶剂中,PPEC发光强度会随着水含量的增加先是急剧降低,而后在高水含量时发光强度又显著增强;在THF与甲醇的混合溶剂中,PPEC发光强度随着甲醇的加入只是逐渐降低;在THF与正己烷的混合溶剂中,PPEC的发光强度则会随着正己烷的增加而增强.该结果表明氨基通过与水,或者自身所形成氢键作用,改变了PPEC分子链之间的聚集态结构,降低了分子内旋转非辐射能量效率,从而有效改善共轭聚合物的主链发光性质,这为设计聚集态下(或固态下)高性能的荧光共轭聚合物提供了一种新思路.     

从导电聚吡咯到共轭聚合物光伏材料——我在中科院化学所30年共轭高分子研究历程

本文简要回顾了本人在中科院化学所30年的研究历程,重点介绍了在共轭高分子(包括导电聚吡咯电化学、聚合物发光电化学池(LEC)和共轭聚合物给体光伏材料)方面的研究成果。在导电聚吡咯电化学方面,对导电聚吡咯的电化学制备和电化学性质进行了深入研究,阐明了各种电化学聚合条件对制备的导电聚吡咯电导和力学强度等的影响,发现电解液溶剂给电子性(Donor number)对吡咯电化学聚合制备的导电聚吡咯电导的影响:溶剂Donor number越小制备的导电聚吡咯电导越高;使用非离子表面活性剂添加剂在水溶液中制备出表面非常光滑和高力学强度的导电聚吡咯薄膜;对于吡咯电化学聚合提出了电解液阴离子参与的阳离子自由基聚合机理,并推到出吡咯电化学聚合反应的动力学方程;发现在NaNO3水溶液中电化学聚合制备的导电聚吡咯除存在主链氧化、对阴离子掺杂结构外,还存在质子酸掺杂结构;阐明了导电聚吡咯在水溶液中电化学还原和再氧化的机理及其电化学过程的可逆性和稳定性,以及导电聚吡咯在有机电解液中特殊的第一次还原和再氧化的机理。在LEC方面,通过交流阻抗法确认了LEC的电化学掺杂机理和p-i-n结构,合成了多种适用于LEC的主链带离子导电单元的兼具离子导电性的发光嵌段共聚物,避免了LEC活性层中存在的发光聚合物和离子导电聚合物的分相问题;使用离子液体作为电解质制备了室温准冷冻p-i-n结LEC,改善了LEC的电致发光性能。在共轭聚合物给体光伏材料方面,我们提出了通过共轭侧链来拓宽聚合物吸收和提高空穴迁移率的分子设计思想,设计和合成了一系列带共轭侧链的二维共轭聚噻吩衍生物以及基于二噻吩取代苯并二噻吩的窄带隙高效二维共轭聚合物给体光伏材料。我们使用烷硫基取代进一步降低了这类二维共轭聚合物的HOMO能级从而进一步提高了其光伏性能。最后介绍了本组二维共轭聚合物给体光伏材料在非富勒烯聚合物太阳能电池方面的最新研究进展。     

水溶性荧光共轭聚合物MPS-PPV的聚合新方法及其荧光波长调控研究

在NaOH/C_2H_5OH/DMF液中,实现了水溶性阴离子荧光共轭聚合物聚-[5-甲氧基-2-(3-磺酰化丙氧基)-1,4-苯撑乙烯](MPS-PPV)单体的快速聚合并提高了聚合产率.通过改变溶液中NaOH的浓度,实现了聚合物荧光发射波长的调控.对聚合物进行了元素分析、红外光谱以及分子量的表征,并探讨了不同聚合条件下得到的MPS-PPV的荧光和紫外光谱变化.研究了过氧化氢对MPS-PPV荧光发射波长及强度的影响,据此可测定过氧化氢.与单纯依赖荧光强度变化的过氧化氢检测法比,此法具有更高的选择性,为基于荧光聚合物的新型传感器研制提供了新思路.     

含偶氮苯与噻吩结构单元的共轭聚合物合成及酸致变色性质

以1,3-二(二苯膦基)丙烷二氯化镍(Ⅱ)作催化剂[Ni(dpp)Cl2],通过2,5-二溴噻吩格式试剂与4,4′-二碘偶氮苯共聚得到了一种新型共轭聚合物.采用红外光谱、核磁共振氢谱对聚合物的结构进行表征并通过紫外-可见吸收光谱、荧光光谱、X-射线衍射、热失重分析(TGA)、差热分析(DTA)等测试手段对聚合物的性能进行了详细的研究.紫外可见光谱分析结果表明,聚合物在384 nm处显示了偶氮苯发色团的特征吸收峰,相对于单体红移34 nm.在聚合物的氯仿溶液中观察到酸致变色现象,即分别加入CF3COOH和CH3SO3H后,溶液颜色由黄色分别变成墨绿色和紫色,而加入三乙胺溶液后溶液恢复到初始颜色.在25℃下测得的特性粘数为0.53 dL/g.热失重分析结果显示,该聚合物具有较好的热稳定性.     

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of two-dimensional conjugated polythiophenes with bi(thienylenevinylene) side chains

Three two-dimensional (2-D) conjugated polythiophenes with bi(thienylenevinylene) side chains (biTV-PTs), P1, P2, and P3, were designed and synthesized for application in polymer solar cells. The absorption spectral, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties of the biTV-PTs were investigated and compared with those of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). The biTV-PTs show a broad absorption band from 350 to 650 nm; especially, the absorption spectrum of P3 displays a broad plateau and much stronger absorbance than that of P3HT in the wavelength range from 350 to 480 nm. Cyclic voltammograms reveal that the onset oxidation and reduction potentials of the biTV-PTs positively shifted by ca. 0.2 V in comparison with those of P3HT, indicating that the HOMO energy level of the biTV-PTs is ca. 0.2 eV lower than that of P3HT. Polymer solar cells (PSCs) were fabricated based on the blend of the polymers and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)propyl-1-phenyl-[6,6]-C-61 (PCBM) with a weight ratio of 1:1. The open circuit voltage of the PSCs based on the biTV-PTs is ca. 0.1 V higher than that of P3HT, which is benefited from the lower HOMO levels of the biTV-PTs. The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSCs based on P3 reached 3.18% under AM 1.5, 100 mW/cm2, which is 38% increased in comparison with that (2.41%) of the devices based on P3HT under the same experimental conditions. The results indicate that the 2-D conjugated biTV-PTs are promising polymer photovoltaic materials.     

Layer-by-layer assembled composite films of side-functionalized poly(3-hexylthiophene) and CdSe nanocrystals: electrochemical, spectroelectrochemical and photovoltaic properties

Regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) containing one diaminopyrimidine side group per ten repeat units (P3HT-co-P3(ODAP)HT) can form molecular composites with 1-(6-mercaptohexyl)thymine capped CdSe nanocrystals (CdSe(MHT)) via hydrogen bonds directed molecular recognition. Here we report complementary spectroscopic, electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical investigations of both the functionalized poly(thiophene) and its composite with the nanocrystals, the latter being fabricated using the layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition technique. UV-Vis-NIR and Raman spectroelectrochemical investigations unequivocally show that the onset of the first anodic peak in the cyclic voltammogram of the copolymer can be attributed to the oxidation of the pi-conjugated backbone in the polymer chains. For this reason, it is possible to determine the width and the position of its band gap (corresponding to the pi-pi* transition) by UV-Vis spectroscopy combined with cyclic voltammetry. These studies show that the polymer exhibits a slightly larger band gap with the HOMO level insignificantly lower in energy (by 0.03 eV) as compared to the case of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) of comparable degree of polymerization. Hydrogen bond interactions of the polymer with CdSe(MHT) in the molecular composite result in a hypsochromic shift of the band corresponding to the pi-pi* transition from 504 nm to 488 nm. This can be taken as a spectroscopic manifestation of the conformational changes induced by shortening of the conjugation length. The observed spectral modifications are consistent with electrochemically determined lowering of the polymer HOMO level (from -4.91 eV in the pure polymer to -4.99 eV in the composite). Cyclic voltammetry studies supported by spectroelectrochemistry also show that the redox stability of CdSe(MHT) in the molecular composite with P3HT-co-P3(ODAP)HT is lower than that determined for stearate-capped nanocrystals. Their irreversible oxidation starts at E = +0.7 V vs. Ag/0.1 M Ag(+)i.e. at potentials by ca. 0.3 V lower than the oxidation of stearate stabilized CdSe nanocrystals of the same size. We show that-despite these modifications-the alignment of the HOMO and LUMO levels of the composite components remains appropriate for its use in hybrid solar cells, which is demonstrated by the photovoltaic effect observed for the LbL-processed composite sandwiched between two electrodes.     

Synthesis, Structure and Photophysical Properties of Silole-Oxadiazole Copolymers

A new conjugated copolymer (PTST‐DyOXD) derived from 1,1‐dimethyl‐3,4‐diphenyl‐2,5‐bis(5‐bromo‐2‐thienyl)‐silole (TST) and 2,5‐bis(4‐ethynylphenyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole (DyOXD) was synthesized by Pd(0)‐catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reaction. For comparison, another copolymer without acetenyl group (PTST‐OXD) was also synthesized by Pd(0)‐catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction. Chemical structures and optoelectronic properties of the copolymers were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR, UV‐vis absorption, photoluminescence and cyclic voltammetry. The number‐average molecular weight (M_n) is 4010 Da for PTST‐DyOXD and 3890 Da for PTST‐OXD, respectively. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements show that they have good thermal stability with decomposition temperature at 312 and 318°C, respectively. The optical band gap is 2.21 eV for PTST‐DyOXD and 2.10 eV for PTST‐OXD based on the absorption onset. CV analysis revealed the LUMO level of PTST‐DyOXD is ?3.04 eV, lower than that of PTST‐OXD (about ?2.89 eV), which is attributed to the introduction of acetylene group in PTST‐DyOXD, increasing the system of the conjugate chain length.     

喷涂法制备大面积倒置聚合物光伏器件

采用喷涂工艺制备了结构为ITO/ZnO/P3HT∶PCBM/V2O5/Ag(P3HT:聚噻吩;PCBM:6,6-苯基-C61-丁酸甲酯)的大面积倒置光伏器件,有效面积为1.0×1.1 cm2。 光谱测试结果表明,退火处理后,P3HT∶PCBM薄膜吸收显著增强,并且产生一定程度的红移。 采用ZnO和V2O5代替LiF和PEDOT∶PSS(聚(3,4-乙撑二氧噻吩)∶聚苯乙烯磺酸盐)作为器件修饰层,避免了PEDOT∶PSS对ITO的腐蚀和LiF潮解,采用Ag代替Al作为金属背电极避免了Al被氧化。 经过后退火处理器件的效率从1.1%提升至1.65%。 器件的稳定性相对于传统结构有了大幅提升,8周后器件效率只衰减10%。     

Conjugated polymer‐functionalized graphite oxide sheets thin films for enhanced photovoltaic properties of polymer solar cells

In this study, the maleimide‐thiophene copolymer‐functionalized graphite oxide sheets (PTM21‐GOS) and carbon nanotubes (PTM21‐CNT) were developed for polymer solar cell (PSC) applications. The grafting of PTM21‐OH onto the CNT and GO sheets was confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy. PTM21‐CNT and PTM21‐GOS exhibited excellent dispersal behavior in organic solvents. Better thermal stability was observed for PTM21‐CNT and PTM21‐GOS as compared with that for PTM21‐OH. In addition, the optical band gaps of PTM21‐GOS and PTM21‐CNT were lower than that of PTM21‐OH. We incorporated PTM21‐GOS and PTM21‐CNT individually into poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT)/[6,6]‐phenyl‐C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blends for use as photoconversion layers of PSCs. Good distributional homogeneity was observed for PTM21‐GOS or PTM21‐CNT in the P3HT/PCBM blend film. The UV–vis absorption peaks of the blend films red‐shifted slightly upon increasing the content of PTM21‐GOS or PTM21‐CNT. The band gap energies and LUMO/HOMO energy levels of the P3HT/PTM21‐GOS and P3HT/PTM21‐CNT blend films were slightly lower than those of the P3HT film. The conjugated polymer‐functionalized PTM21‐GOS and PTM21‐CNT behaved as efficient electron acceptors and as charge‐transport assisters when incorporated into the photoactive layers of the PSCs. PV performance of the PSCs was enhanced after incorporating PTM21‐GOS or PTM21‐CNT in the P3HT/PCBM blend. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2013     

Sn类钙钛矿太阳电池薄膜的掺杂改性研究

采用一步法分别制备了Sn类CH3NH3Sn I3和Pb类CH3NH3Pb I3钙钛矿太阳电池薄膜材料,并对其表面形貌、微观结构、吸收光谱和电池器件性能进行了表征和测试。研究结果表明:Sn类钙钛矿材料的吸收光谱相对于Pb类钙钛矿材料发生了明显的红移,吸收截止波长从800 nm上升到950 nm左右,光学带隙由1.45 e V降低至1.21 e V左右;Sn类钙钛矿材料的光谱吸收范围明显扩大,但吸收强度有所降低,相应太阳电池器件的光电转换效率也明显低于Pb类钙钛矿太阳电池,分别为2.05%和6.71%。而Br的掺杂可使Sn类钙钛矿材料带隙变宽,吸收光子能量增大,电池器件的开路电压也相应提高。当Br含量由0增加至完全替代I时,Sn类钙钛矿材料逐渐由黑褐色转变为黄色,光学带隙增大至1.95 e V,但吸收截止波长由950 nm降低至650nm。值得提及的是当Br含量为0.5时,电池器件的光电转换效率可由最初的2.05%提升至2.94%。     

Random poly(3‐hexylthiophene‐co‐3‐cyanothiophene‐co‐3‐(2‐ethylhexyl)thiophene) copolymers with high open‐circuit voltage in polymer solar cells

For the purpose of developing poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) based copolymers with deep‐lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels for polymer solar cells with high open‐circuit voltage (V_oc), we report a combined approach of random incorporation of 3‐cyanothiophene (CNT) and 3‐(2‐ethylhexyl)thiophene (EHT) units into the P3HT backbone. This strategy is designed to overcome CNT content limitations in recently reported P3HT‐CNT copolymers, where incorporation of more than 15% of CNT into the polymer backbone leads to impaired polymer solubility and raises the HOMO level. This new approach allows incorporation of a larger CNT content, reaching even lower‐lying HOMO levels. Importantly, a very low HOMO level of ?5.78 eV was obtained, representing one of the lowest HOMO values for exclusively thiophene‐based polymers. Lower HOMO levels result in higher V_oc and higher power conversion efficiencies (PCE) compared to the previously reported P3HT‐CNT copolymers containing only 3‐hexylthiophene and CNT units. As a result, solar cells based on P3HT‐CNT‐EHT(15:15) , which contains 70% of P3HT, 15% of CNT and 15% of EHT, yield a V_oc of 0.83 V in blends with PC₆₁BM while preserving high fill factor (FF) and high short‐circuit current density (J_sc), resulting in 3.6% PCE. Additionally, we explored the effect of polymer number‐average molecular weight (M_n) on the optoelectronic properties and solar cell performance for the example of P3HT‐CNT‐EHT(15:15). The organic photovoltaic (OPV) performance improves with polymer M_n increasing from 3.4 to 6.7 to 9.6 kDa and then it declines as M_n further increases to 9.9 and to 16.2 kDa. The molecular weight study highlights the importance of not only the solar cell optimization, but also the significance of individual polymer properties optimization, in order to fully explore the potential of any given polymer in OPVs. The broader ramification of this study lies in potential application of these high band gap copolymers with low‐lying HOMO level in the development of ternary blend photovoltaics as well as tandem OPV. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1526–1536     

一种新型低带隙共轭聚合物的合成及其光学性质

在钯催化剂作用下, 通过4,7-二(5-溴-2-噻吩基)[2,1,3]苯并噻二唑与2,5-二乙炔基-3-辛基噻吩的偶联反应, 合成了一种新的共轭高分子聚4,7-二(2-噻吩基)苯并噻二唑-3-辛基噻吩二炔(PTE-DTBT). 通过紫外可见吸收光谱及荧光光谱对其光学性质进行了研究. 紫外-可见吸收谱结果表明, PTE-DTBT的固体膜光学带隙为1.71 eV; 电化学测试其带隙为1.88 eV. TiO₂/PTE-DTBT共混固体膜的荧光发射谱结果表明电子供体PTE-DTBT分子与电子受体TiO₂分子间存在有效的电子转移.     

Pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,3‐dione‐based large band gap polymers containing benzodithiophene derivatives for highly efficient simple structured polymer solar cells

Pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,3(2H,5H)‐dione (DPPD)‐based large band gap polymers, P(BDT‐TDPPDT) and P(BDTT‐TDPPDT), are prepared by copolymerizing electron‐rich 4,8‐bis(2‐ethylhexyloxy)benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene (BDT) or 4,8‐bis(5‐(2‐ethylhexyl)thiophen‐2‐yl)benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene (BDTT) unit with novel electron deficient 2,5‐dioctyl‐4,6‐di(thiophen‐2‐yl)pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,3(2H,5H)‐dione (TDPPDT) unit. The absorption bands of polymers P(BDT‐TDPPDT) and P(BDTT‐TDPPDT) cover the region from 300 to 600 nm with an optical band gap of 2.11 eV and 2.04 eV, respectively. The electrochemical study illustrates that the highest occupied/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of P(BDT‐TDPPDT) and P(BDTT‐TDPPDT) are ?5.39 eV/?3.28 eV and ?5.44 eV/?3.40 eV, respectively. The single layer polymer solar cell (PSC) fabricated with a device structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P(BDT‐TDPPDT) or P(BDTT‐TDPPDT):PC70BM+DIO/Al offers a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.74% and 6.57%, respectively. The high photovoltaic parameters such as fill factor (～72%), open circuit voltage (V_oc, ～0.90 V), incident photon to collected electron efficiency (～76%), and PCE obtained for the PSCs made from polymers P(BDT‐TDPPDT) and P(BDTT‐TDPPDT) make them as promising large band gap polymeric candidates for PSC application. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 3564–3574     

Orthogonal solubility in fully conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers: Compatibilizers for polymer/fullerene bulk-heterojunction solar cells

Donor-acceptor (D-A) type fully conjugated block copolymer systems have been rarely reported due to the challenges in synthetic approaches to prepare well-defined low-polydispersity products. In this work, fully conjugated block copolymers are synthesized in a one-pot reaction through Stille coupling polycondensation, by utilizing the end-functional polymer copolymerization method. End-functional P3HT are copolymerized with AA (2,7-dibromo-9-(heptadecan-9-yl)-9H-carbazole) and BB (4,7-bis(5-(trimethylstannyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole, TBT) type monomers, respectively. The orthogonal solubility between the very soluble P3HT donor and the insoluble PCDTBT acceptor block improves the purity of block copolymers as well as distinct nano-scale phase-separation compared with other reports on miscibility of donor and acceptor polymer block. Further purification via preparative GPC is carried out to remove the excess of unreacted P3HT and free PCDTBT as well as to achieve low polydispersity of block copolymers. The chemical structure of the P3HT-b-PCDTBT block copolymers are verified via ¹H-NMR, and further confirmed by FTIR spectra. The block copolymer shows broad absorption and moderate optical band gap of 1.8 eV. Furthermore, the fully conjugated block copolymer films exhibit significant fine structures, much smoother film morphology compared to P3HT/PCDTBT polymer blends. By adding a small amount of block copolymer P3HT-b-PCDTBT as a compatibilizer into the bulk-heterojunction of P3HT:PC₆₁BM blends, polymer solar cells with an 8% increase of short circuit current (J _sc and 10% increase of power conversion efficiency (PCE) are achieved owing to the improvement of the active-layer film morphology. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on donor-acceptor type fully conjugated block copolymer as an effective ternary additive in polymer: fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells.