Spectroscopic study of a synthesized Alq3 end-capped oligothiophene applied in organic solar cells†
Abstract
In this paper, we report the spectroscopic properties of a synthetically tailored Alq3 end-capped oligothiophene ((Alq3)2-OT) studied by steady state and time resolved spectroscopic methods in chloroform and solid films. In chloroform a photo-induced intramolecular electron transfer from the oligothiophene backbone to the Alq3 moiety was observed. When (Alq3)2-OT was mixed with a fullerene derivative (PCBM) in chloroform, we demonstrate that (Alq3)2-OT donates an electron to PCBM. With that in mind, (Alq3)2-OT was applied as a dopant molecule to improve the efficiency of P3HT:PCBM bulk hetero junction (BHJ) solar cells.