Issue 15, 2018

Impact of helical organization on the photovoltaic properties of oligothiophene supramolecular polymers

Abstract

Helical self-assembly of functional π-conjugated molecules offers unique photochemical and electronic properties in the spectroscopic level, but there are only a few examples that demonstrate their positive impact on the optoelectronic device level. Here, we demonstrate that hydrogen-bonded tapelike supramolecular polymers of a barbiturated oligo(alkylthiophene) show notable improvement in their photovoltaic properties upon organizing into helical nanofibers. A tapelike hydrogen-bonded supramolecular array of barbiturated oligo(butylthiophene) molecules was directly visualized by STM at a liquid–solid interface. TEM, AFM and XRD revealed that the tapelike supramolecular polymers further organize into helical nanofibers in solution and bulk states. Bulk heterojunction solar cells of the helical nanofibers and soluble fullerene showed a power conversion efficiency of 4.5%, which is markedly high compared to that of the regioisomer of butyl chains organizing into 3D lamellar agglomerates.

Graphical abstract: Impact of helical organization on the photovoltaic properties of oligothiophene supramolecular polymers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
29 Nov. 2017
Accepted
11 Marts 2018
First published
12 Marts 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 3638-3643

Impact of helical organization on the photovoltaic properties of oligothiophene supramolecular polymers

H. Ouchi, T. Kizaki, M. Yamato, X. Lin, N. Hoshi, F. Silly, T. Kajitani, T. Fukushima, K. Nakayama and S. Yagai, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 3638 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC05093C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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