Issue 46, 2018

Overcoming the morphological and efficiency limit in all-polymer solar cells by designing conjugated random copolymers containing a naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c′]bis([1,2,5]thiadiazole)] moiety

Abstract

The ternary concept based on two electron donors and one electron acceptor has been deployed to extend the absorption as well as photovoltaic performance of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). However, it is still challenging to achieve the delicate morphology of ternary blended bulk-heterojunction films through rational molecular design. To overcome these issues, herein, we designed and synthesized a series of narrow bandgap conjugated copolymers by combining two conjugated polymers with various molar ratios of the naphthobis[1,2,5]thiadiazole (NT) unit (namely, NT00–NT100). All-PSCs were constructed by integrating these resultant copolymers with a commercially available electron-accepting copolymer N2200. The resultant all-PSCs based on the ternary copolymers NT40 exhibited an impressively high power conversion efficiency over 8.0%, which was clearly superior to that obtained for devices based on the NT00 : NT100 : N2200 blended films. Further characterization of the morphology of the films revealed that the incorporation of the NT unit improved π–π stacking and a degree of phase separation, which are conducive to exciton diffusion and charge transport.

Graphical abstract: Overcoming the morphological and efficiency limit in all-polymer solar cells by designing conjugated random copolymers containing a naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c′]bis([1,2,5]thiadiazole)] moiety

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
27 Sept. 2018
Accepted
06 Nov. 2018
First published
06 Nov. 2018

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 23295-23300

Author version available

Overcoming the morphological and efficiency limit in all-polymer solar cells by designing conjugated random copolymers containing a naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c′]bis([1,2,5]thiadiazole)] moiety

R. Xie, Z. Li, W. Zhong, L. Ying, Q. Hu, F. Liu, N. Li, T. P. Russell, F. Huang and Y. Cao, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 23295 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA09356C

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