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Issue 2, 2017
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Thienothiophene-based copolymers for high-performance solar cells, employing different orientations of the thiazole group as a π bridge

Dangqiang Zhu,a  Xichang Bao,*ab  Qianqian Zhu,a  Chuantao Gu,a  Meng Qiu,a  Shuguang Wen,a  Junyi Wang,a  Bilal Shahida  and  Renqiang Yang*ac 
Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

a CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-based Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
E-mail: baoxc@qibebt.ac.cn, yangrq@qibebt.ac.cn

b Key Laboratory of Infrared Imaging Materials and Detectors, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083, China

c State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China

Abstract

In this work, a thiazole moiety was employed as a π bridge incorporated into the backbone of quinoid polymers. The new strategy combined the characteristics of a thiazole unit with a deep HOMO energy level and a thieno[3,4-b]thiophene moiety (TT) with broad absorption. Two isomeric D–A copolymers, PTBTz-2 and PTBTz-5, were synthesized, with different orientations of the thiazole to the TT moiety. Interestingly, in comparison with PTBTz-5, PTBTz-2 exhibited an even lower HOMO energy level, a higher dipole moment, and a more planar molecular configuration, together with preferable phase domains and good intermixing with PC71BM. Thus, a superior PCE of 9.72% for the photovoltaic device was obtained, with a remarkable JSC of 16.84 mA cm−2, which is among the highest values for a single-junction solar cell. This is an increase of ∼40% in PCE in comparison with PTBTz-5 (PCE = 6.91%) and twice as much as for PBT-0F with thiophene as the π-bridge (PCE = 4.5%). This work not only provides a promising high-performance thiazole-containing system, but also reveals that the orientation of the asymmetric unit along the polymer backbone plays a crucial role and should be taken into account in future molecule design.

Graphical abstract: Thienothiophene-based copolymers for high-performance solar cells, employing different orientations of the thiazole group as a π bridge

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Publication details

The article was received on 31 Oct 2016, accepted on 03 Jan 2017 and first published on 03 Jan 2017


Article type: Paper
DOI: 10.1039/C6EE03186B
Citation: Energy Environ. Sci., 2017,10, 614-620
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    Thienothiophene-based copolymers for high-performance solar cells, employing different orientations of the thiazole group as a π bridge

    D. Zhu, X. Bao, Q. Zhu, C. Gu, M. Qiu, S. Wen, J. Wang, B. Shahid and R. Yang, Energy Environ. Sci., 2017, 10, 614
    DOI: 10.1039/C6EE03186B

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