Issue 12, 2020

Simple organic donors based on halogenated oligothiophenes for all small molecule solar cells with efficiency over 11%

Abstract

Recent work has emphasized the pivotal role of halogen substituents in the development of polymer donors or small-molecule (SM) acceptors for efficient bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. However, the application of –F or –Cl substitutions in the design of SM donors is yet to receive similar considerations. In this contribution, we report a set of oligothiophene derivatives (2F7T and 2Cl7T) with halogenation at the central thienyl moiety. Such halogenation is shown to induce a sufficient increase in ionization potential (IP; i.e. deeper HOMO) to modify the electron-donating and -transporting characteristics of the molecules. When combined with a low-bandgap SM acceptor (Y6), the devices with 2Cl7T achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of up to ca. 11.5% (vs. ca. 2.5% for non-halogenated donor DRCN7T based devices), representing the best photovoltaic performance of oligothiophene donors.

Graphical abstract: Simple organic donors based on halogenated oligothiophenes for all small molecule solar cells with efficiency over 11%

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
05 jan 2020
Accepted
11 feb 2020
First published
12 feb 2020

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 5843-5847

Simple organic donors based on halogenated oligothiophenes for all small molecule solar cells with efficiency over 11%

T. Duan, J. Gao, T. Xu, Z. Kan, W. Chen, R. Singh, G. P. Kini, C. Zhong, D. Yu, Z. Xiao, Z. Xiao and S. Lu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 5843 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA00159G

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