Synthesis of two-dimensional π-conjugated polymers pendent with benzothiadiazole and naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c]bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole moieties for polymer solar cells

Four new 2D donor–acceptor conjugated polymers were designed and synthesized.These new polymers comprised fluorenealt-triphenylamine or carbazole-alt-triphenylamine as the backbones,and pendants with 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole(BT)or naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c]bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole(NT)in a triphenylamine unit as the side groups.By changing the acceptor BT for a stronger electron-withdrawing unit of NT moiety in the side chain,the energy levels,absorption spectra,band gaps,and charge-transport abilities of the resultant polymers could be effectively tuned.Bulk heterojunction solar cells with these polymers as the electron donors and(6,6)-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester as the electron acceptor exhibited high open-circuit voltage(more than 0.8 e V).The power conversion efficiency can be improved from 1.37%to 3.52%by replacing the BT with an NT moiety,which indicates that introducing NT as the side-chain building block can be an effective strategy to construct efficient 2D conjugated polymers for PSCs.