Fused nonacyclic electron acceptors for efficient polymer solar cells

Shuixing Dai, Fuwen Zhao, Qianqian Zhang, Tsz Ki Lau, Tengfei Li, Kuan Liu, Qidan Ling, Chunru Wang, Xinhui Lu, Wei You, Xiaowei Zhan

    Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

    841 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We design and synthesize four fused-ring electron acceptors based on 6,6,12,12-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-indacenobis(dithieno[3,2-b;2',3'-d]thiophene) as the electron-rich unit and 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanones with 0-2 fluorine substituents as the electron-deficient units. These four molecules exhibit broad (550-850 nm) and strong absorption with high extinction coefficients of (2.1-2.5) × 105 M-1 cm-1. Fluorine substitution downshifts the LUMO energy level, red-shifts the absorption spectrum, and enhances electron mobility. The polymer solar cells based on the fluorinated electron acceptors exhibit power conversion efficiencies as high as 11.5%, much higher than that of their nonfluorinated counterpart (7.7%). We investigate the effects of the fluorine atom number and position on electronic properties, charge transport, film morphology, and photovoltaic properties.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1336-1343
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
    Volume139
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 25 Jan 2017

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Catalysis
    • General Chemistry
    • Biochemistry
    • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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