Diketopyrrolopyrrole-based acceptor polymers for photovoltaic application

Developing new acceptor materials as alternatives to fullerene acceptors remains a challenge in the field of organic photovoltaics. We report on the synthesis and optoelectronic properties of three acceptor polymers bearing diketopyrrolopyrrole units in the main chain (PA, PB and PC). Their performance as the acceptor material in bulk heterojunction solar cells using P3HT as the donor material has been tested. The solar cells show relatively high open-circuit voltages (≥0.9 V) but low fill factors and short-circuit current densities limit the photovoltaic device performance. Formation of free charge carriers and low electron mobility are identified as the major obstacles. In blends of P3HT with PA or PB charge formation is limited, while for the P3HT:PC blend photogenerated charges recombine into the PC triplet state before they can separate, unless assisted by a reverse electric field.     

A General Method for the Synthesis of N,N-Dialkylaminobutylamines

A general method for the synthesis of N,N-dialkylaminobutylamines 4 from readily available chloroacetamides 6 is described.     

Columnar benzoperylene-hexa- and tetracarboxylic imides and esters: synthesis, mesophase stabilisation and observation of charge-transfer interactions between electron-donating esters and electron-accepting imides

Benzo[ghi]perylene 1,2,4,5,10,11-hexacarboxylic trialkylimide and dialkylimido-dialkyl ester derivatives, displaying a thermodynamically stable hexagonal columnar liquid-crystalline phase at room temperature, have been obtained by the use of previously unexplored chiral racemic α-branched alkylimide functions. One of the trialkylimides described here is the first room temperature columnar solely oligo-alkylimide-substituted arene, and thus constitutes a prototype case of self-assembling organic acceptor materials. As the related hexacarboxylic hexaesters are found to exhibit only a weak tendency to form columnar mesophases, benzo[ghi]perylene 1,2,5,10-tetracarboxylic tetraalkyl esters have been synthesized by regioselective oxidative Diels-Alder addition of maleic anhydride to 3,10-dicyanoperylene, and a room temperature hexagonal columnar mesophase was obtained with branched alkyl chains. The acceptor-type electronic properties of the tri- and diimides have been found to be considerably more pronounced than those of the hexa- and tetracarboxylic esters, and to approach those of the prototype acceptor material C(60). The formation of bathochromically absorbing donor-acceptor complexes was observed with a di- or triimide as acceptor and a tetraester as donor, but not with a hexaester as donor. Exploiting the non-negligible differences in reduction and oxidation potentials between all four types of materials, the minimum HOMO energy difference necessary for charge-transfer-complex formation has been determined to lie between 0.29 and 0.35 eV.