Issue 40, 2023

Positional effects of alkyl chains on the photovoltaic performances of quinoxaline-based polymers

Abstract

Controlling the alkyl chains is an efficient and simple method for modifying various aspects of conjugated polymers. In particular, we focused on the positioning effects of the alkyl chains on the photovoltaic features of p-type polymer donors. To achieve this, two D–A-type quinoxaline-based polymers with the same chemical composition, except for the location of the alkyl chains, were designed and synthesized. A basic D–A-type polymeric structure was generated by assembling electron-donating benzodithiophene (BDT) and monocyanated quinoxaline-based monomers through a thiophene bridge. Subsequently, the selective incorporation of branched 2-butyloctyl chains into either the thiophene bridges or thiophene side groups at the 2,3-positions of the quinoxaline unit afforded two target polymers, PBT-dQxCN and PBT-uQxCN, respectively. Most of all, changing the position of the alkyl chains leads to a significant alteration in the molecular planarity, thereby making a difference in the diverse properties of the polymers. Owing to the favorable optical, electrochemical, and morphological properties of PBT-uQxCN caused by the more planar conformation, the conventional nonfullerene acceptor-based device made from PBT-uQxCN exhibited higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.51%, compared to that based on PBT-dQxCN (9.11%). These results clearly reveal the importance of controlling the alkyl chain positions to enhance the photovoltaic characteristics of quinoxaline-based polymers.

Graphical abstract: Positional effects of alkyl chains on the photovoltaic performances of quinoxaline-based polymers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Jul 2023
Accepted
15 Sep 2023
First published
18 Sep 2023

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023,11, 14009-14017

Positional effects of alkyl chains on the photovoltaic performances of quinoxaline-based polymers

D. F. Nugraha, Y. Yu, J. W. Yoon, H. Ahn, J. A. Prayogo, D. R. Whang, J. Lee, H. Choi and D. W. Chang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 14009 DOI: 10.1039/D3TC02514D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements