Quoc Viet Hoangab,
Chang Eun Songab,
In-Nam Kangc,
Sang-Jin Moonab,
Sang Kyu Leeab,
Jong-Cheol Leeab and
Won Suk Shin*ab
aEnergy Materials Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 141 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-343, Korea. E-mail: shinws@krict.re.kr
bDepartment of Nanomaterials Science and Engineering, University of Science & Technology (UST), 217 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-350, Korea
cDepartment of Chemistry, The Catholic University of Korea, Gyeonggido 90-2, Korea
First published on 11th March 2016
Two new low band gap small molecules BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 with different terminal side chain are designed and synthesized for bulk heterojunction solar cells. BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 is flanked by hexyl at head and tail of backbone while BDT(DPP-TT)2 is free attachment. Both small molecules exhibit similar optical, electrochemical properties and charge carrier mobilities. Nevertheless, BDT(DPP-TT)2 performs optimal film morphology leading to higher short circuit current (JSC) comparing with BDT(DPP-TTHex)2, thus 5.12% power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of BDT(DPP-TT)2 is achieved, higher than 2.36% PCE of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 under AM1.5G illumination (100 mW cm−2).
Solution processable conjugated small molecules (SMs) have recently been recognized as an efficient class of donor material for bulk heterojunction solar cells with several reports achieved 10% PCE.11,12 SMs which have advantages including intrinsic monodispersity, easily purification and characterization using standard organic chemistry protocols.6 However, almost small molecules often have a tendency to self-assemble into large domains, so that it is challenging to obtain the desired nanoscale morphology for efficient charge carrier generation and transport. The low fill factor (FF) of SMs due to hindered charge transfer through the external contacts is another issue.13 To try solving these problems, several device process techniques also employed to get ordered nanoscale morphology such as thermal annealing,6 solvent vapor annealing,14 choice of solvents,15 use of solvent additives,16–18 fine tuning active layer thickness and interfacial layer.13
To achieve high PCE of single OSCs, C. J. Brabec et al. reported that the band gap of organic semiconductors should be close to 1.5 eV.19 SMs based diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) unit is one of the most promising compounds to obtain band gap of 1.5 eV among all electron deficient moieties. SMs based on DPP normally exhibit high extinction coefficient in visible range, well-ordered molecular structure in solid state, and high hole mobility.20,21 It is essential to reach high short circuit current density (JSC) as well as good fill factor (FF) in OSCs. Generally, DPP based SMs are designed in two ways: D-DPP-D or DPP-D-DPP (D is electron-rich units). In the first case, some D units were employed such as dithiophene,22 benzofuran,6 benzodithiophene (BDT),23 triphenylamine (TPA),23 and pyrene.23 The resulting PCE devices with D-DPP-D SMs were often lower than 5%. The second way is link of two DPP units with central D unit. According to this design, Lin et al. and Huang et al. presented the same molecule with BDT as a central core and PCE was achieved 5.8%.24,25 However, this SM still has higher band gap (1.64 eV) comparing to the ideal band gap (∼1.50 eV).19 Very recently, Jung et al. introduced stronger electron-donating unit dithienopyran (DTP) as a central core to approach near optimized band gap (1.52 eV), and resulting PCE of 6.9% was reached due to high JSC.26 To extend light absorption, D2-DPP-D1-DPP-D2 framework is an effective way with D1 and D2 as electron-donating units.16 This strategy may also reduce self-assembly of SMs in active layer due to long π-conjugated system and therefore, nanoscale morphology and high JSC can be obtained. Following this design, Tang et al. recently reported DPA-diDPPBDT SM with a high JSC (15.64 mA cm−2), low band gap and optimized domain size (∼20 nm).27
Similar to polymers, side chain engineering is a clue to achieve high efficiency SMs. Side chains are necessary to make SMs solution processable and formation of optimized film morphology in active layer. Some groups reported that optical, crystalline, electrochemical properties and film morphology of SMs were affected by length,28 and position22,29 of side chains. Recently, VS Gevaerts et al. observed that the anchor side chain strongly influenced on crystallinity, film morphology as well as solar cell performance of SMs.22
In this paper, we report the synthesis of two new SMs based on D2-DPP-D1-DPP-D2 framework consisting of a 4,8-di(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b;4,5-b′]dithiophene as central core (D1) and dithiophene/2-hexyldithiophene as external donor moieties (D2). BDT was chosen as core donor moiety due to its excellent performance in both BHJ PSCs30–34 and SMs.11,27,35
:
PC71BM (w/w 1
:
1) (90–100 nm)/Ca (2 nm)/Al (100 nm). The ITO-coated glass substrates were first cleaned with detergent, ultrasonicated in water, acetone and isopropyl alcohol, and subsequently dried overnight at 130 °C in the oven. A filtered dispersion of PEDOT:PSS in water was spin-cast at the rate of 3000 rpm and baking for 30 min at 140 °C in air. A solution containing a mixture of SM
:
PC71BM in CF with SM and PC71BM concentrations of 16 mg ml−1 was spin-cast on top of PEDOT:PSS film at the rate of 2000 rpm. The thickness of the active layer is approximately 90 nm (using Alpha Step IQ Contact Surface Profile Meter). Annealing process was conducted at 120 °C for 10 min before the deposition of the top electrode. Finally, calcium (∼2 nm) and then aluminium (∼100 nm) were deposited through a shadow mask by thermal evaporation under a vacuum of about 3 × 10−6
Torr. The active area of the device was ∼9 mm2. During the measurement, the mask was used. Current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics were measured using a Keithley 236 Source Measure Unit. The solar cells were characterized using a Newport Air Mass 1.5 Global (AM 1.5G) full spectrum solar simulator with an irradiation intensity of 100 mW cm−2. IPCE spectra were measured using a QEW7 Solar Cell QE measurement system (PV Measurements). The integrated IPCE values are always in good agreement with the measured short-circuit current.
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) suggests that BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 exhibit good stability under N2 atmosphere with decomposition temperature (Td) of 412 and 417 °C, respectively (ESI-Fig. S1a†). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of two small molecules is showed in Fig. S1b (ESI†). Melting and crystalline temperature of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 are 276.7 and 249.5 °C, while those of BDT(DPP-TT)2 are 307.0 and 269.6 °C, respectively. BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 are lower in melting and crystalline temperature than BDT(DPP-TT)2 about 30 and 20 °C, respectively, due to its flexible hexyl side chain.
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| Fig. 1 (a) Absorption spectral of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 solution in CF (circle) and thin film cast from CF solution (triangle). (b) Energy band diagram relative to the vacuum level. | ||
Energy level alignment of SMs, PC71BM with cathode and anode buffer layers play an important role for a correct device operation in OPVs and thus necessary to characterize frontier energy level of SMs.37 To determine the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of both SMs, cyclic voltammetry (CV) is characterized by thin film in anhydrous acetonitrile with 0.1 M tetrabutyl ammonium hexafluorophosphate (ESI-Fig. S2†). HOMO, LUMO energy level and electrochemical band gap (Eecg) are calculated from the values of oxidation potential onset (Eoxo) and reduction potential onset (Eredo) after calibrated by the standard ferrocene/ferrocenium redox couple (Fc/Fc+).38 The results are summarized in Table 1 and energy band diagram of full device with 2 SMs is showed in Fig. 1b. The frontier energy level of 2 SMs indicate that they are suitable as donors of BHJ OSCs. By introducing hexyl group in BDT(DPP-TTHex)2, the HOMO and LUMO slightly reduce from −5.15 to −5.16 eV and −3.61 to −3.64 eV, respectively, comparing to BDT(DPP-TT)2 without terminal side chain. It indicates hexyl group has limited impact on electrochemical properties of these SMs. The result also shows that the electrical band gaps (Eecg) of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 are consistent with Eoptg.
| SM | Eoxo (V) | Eredo (V) | HOMO (eV) | LUMO (eV) | Eecg (eV) | Eoptg (eV) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 | 0.36 | −1.16 | −5.16 | −3.64 | 1.52 | 1.49 |
| BDT(DPP-TT)2 | 0.35 | −1.19 | −5.15 | −3.61 | 1.54 | 1.53 |
:
1 weight ratio was decayed due to the interruption of pristine network by PC71BM. Consequently, lamellar distances are slightly increase to 17.05 and 17.98 Å for BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2, respectively. By using 1-chloronaphthalene (CN) as additive, the change of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 films are different. The (100) peak of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 is slightly recovered and lamellar distance reduced to 16.72 Å because some pure SM parts are self-assembled. In contrast, the (100) peak sharpness of BDT(DPP-TT)2 is decreased and shift to 18.87 Å, and one more peak is appeared at 24.65 Å. It indicates that molecular packing of BDT(DPP-TT)2 and PC71BM changed.
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| Fig. 2 X-Ray diffraction of (a) BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and (b) BDT(DPP-TT)2 film spin-coated from CHCl3 onto glass substrate. | ||
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PC71BM/Ca/Al. Current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics under one sun (simulated AM 1.5G irradiation at 100 mW cm−2) are shown in Fig. 3a, and device performance parameters are summarized in Table 2.
| SM | Additive | VOC [V] | JSC [mA cm−2] | JSCa [mA cm−2] | FF [%] | PCEmax (ava)b [%] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
a Calculated from the EQE spectra.b Average values of eight devices. Active layer of SM : PC71BM (1 : 1) was fabricated with CF as host solvent. |
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| BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 | — | 0.65 | 2.52 | 2.23 | 60 | 0.97 (0.89) |
| 0.3% CN | 0.65 | 6.08 | 5.13 | 60 | 2.36 (2.12) | |
| BDT(DPP-TT)2 | — | 0.68 | 8.37 | 7.53 | 51 | 2.91 (2.73) |
| 0.5% CN | 0.69 | 13.39 | 12.32 | 56 | 5.12 (5.03) | |
The device based on BDT(DPP-TTHex)2
:
PC71BM exhibits a JSC of 2.52 mA cm−2, an open circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.65 V and FF of 60%, which yields a PCE of 0.97%. When using additive, the PCE of device is increased to PCE of 2.36% due to the enhancement of JSC to 6.08 mA cm−2. In the case BDT(DPP-TT)2
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PC71BM, the device exhibits JSC of 8.37 mA cm−2, VOC of 0.68 V and FF of 51%, leading a PCE of 2.91%. When using CN as an additive in BDT(DPP-TT)2
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PC71BM system, the enhancement of JSC to 13.39 mA cm−2 and FF to 56% is observed, leading the improvement of PCE to 5.12%. The relative photon energy loss (Eloss) of both BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 which is calculated by Eoptg − eVOC, is 0.84 eV (typical Eloss of 0.7–1.0 eV).39 This result indicates terminal hexyl group not influence on Eloss.
Fig. 3b shows the external quantum efficiency (EQE) spectra of devices based on BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2. The integral current density values calculated from the EQE spectra and the standard solar spectrum (AM 1.5G) agreed well with the JSC values obtained from the J–V curves. Both SMs exhibit efficient photoconversion efficiency over 800 nm and the significant enhanced EQEs are observed by using CN as additive which are consistent with the improvement of JSC.
The higher PCEs of BDT(DPP-TT)2 based devices compared to BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 cases are mainly due to improved JSC. The value of JSC in the PSCs was influenced by several factors, including the optical absorption, the charge carrier mobility, and the nanoscale morphology of active layer. Both SMs have similar optical absorption spectra, and therefore, to understand the reason for high JSC, morphology and charge carrier mobility of active layers are studied.
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PC71BM shows domains with diameter of ∼140 nm. By adding CN, the domain size becomes smaller with diameter ∼80 nm, which is still far from desired domain size (∼20 nm).40,41 This one leads to less efficient exciton separation, charge transport, and thus low JSC. It is consistent with OPVs' performance. In comparison, BDT(DPP-TT)2
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PC71BM blend film shows better morphology with reduction of domain size from ∼70 nm without CN to ∼20 nm with CN. Furthermore, some nanoscale fibril feature is observed from all SMs
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PC71BM blend films, which supports charge transportation in BHJ (ESI – Fig. S3†).42,43
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Fig. 4 TEM images of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 : PC71BM 1 : 1 (a) without and (b) with 0.5% CN. BDT(DPP-TT)2 : PC71BM 1 : 1 (c) without and (d) with 0.3% CN (scale bar: 200 nm). | ||
Fig. 5 represents phase and topographic AFM images of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 blend with PC71BM (1
:
1 weight ratio without and with CN as an additive). These films are prepared by spin-coating their CF solutions on top of the PEDOT:PSS layer. The surface phase images of the blend films obtained from AFM measurements are consistent with the morphologies observed in the TEM images. In topographic images, after adding CN, the surface roughnesses (rms) are reduced from 8.20 nm to 1.24 nm for BDT(DPP-TTHex)2, from 1.32 nm to 0.44 nm for BDT(DPP-TT)2. Smoother surface might help active layer have better contact with interlayer.
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1 wt ratio in CF without and with CN as additive are measured by the space charge limited current (SCLC) method, giving mobility values of 1.54 × 10−4, 1.01 × 10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1 for BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and 2.88 × 10−4, 1.28 × 10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1 for BDT(DPP-TT)2 as shown in Fig. S4 and Table S2 (ESI†). By using additive, the hole mobilities of both materials are reduced dramatically. It is possible due to changed molecular ordering. These results also indicate that hole mobilities of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 in both condition without or with additive has similar values of BDT(DPP-TT)2 blended film, respectively.
The electron mobility (μe) of two SMs blended with PC71BM is shown in Fig. S5 (ESI†). The low μe of the BDT(DPP-TTHex)2
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PC71BM film (7.22 × 10−8 cm2 V−1 s−1) at without additive condition might influence on the low JSC of device. The μe of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2
:
PC71BM is increased to 2.39 × 10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1 by adding 0.5% CN in CF solvent and the ratio μh/μe achieves 0.42. Meanwhile, BDT(DPP-TT)2 shows similar μe of 5.71 × 10−5 and 5.46 × 10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1 in both without and with additive case, respectively.
On the other hand, the hole mobilities of BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 pristine are measured by organic field effect transistor (OFETs) devices as shown in Fig. S6 and S7 (ESI†). BDT(DPP-TTHex)2 and BDT(DPP-TT)2 pristine show similar hole mobilities of 2.2 × 10−2 and 2.1 × 10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively. Consequently, the similar charge carrier mobilities of two SMs suggest that the high JSC of BDT(DPP-TT)2 is mainly caused by optimal morphology.
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PC71BM morphology. P(E, T) of two SMs at short circuit current condition is over 85% that indicate small barrier at donor–acceptor interface.
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| Fig. 6 (a) Photocurrent density (Jph) and (b) exciton dissociation probability [P(E, T)] versus effective bias (Veff). | ||
Footnote |
| † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6ra01103a |
| This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016 |