Understanding the side-chain effects on A–D–A acceptors: in-plane and out-of-plane

Abstract

Systematic side-chain engineering on nonacyclic acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) nonfullerene acceptors, NNFA[n, m], was carried out. “n” and “m” stand for the number of alkyl carbon atoms in the in-plane and out-of-plane side chains, respectively. Five acceptors, NNFA[0, 6], NNFA[6, 3], NNFA[6, 6], NNFA[12, 3] and NNFA[12, 6], were prepared and applied in organic solar cells by blending with a wide-bandgap copolymer donor (FTAZ). The alkyl chains substantially affect the NNFAs’ solubility and photovoltaic performance. The solubility varies from 23 mg mL⁻¹ to 226 mg mL⁻¹ in chloroform when changing the total alkyl carbons (2n + 4m). If the total alkyl carbons are equal, the NNFA with longer out-of-plane alkyl chains (higher “m”) shows higher solubility than that with longer in-plane alkyl chains (higher “n”). NNFA[6, 6] and NNFA[12, 3] with medium solubility (∼100 mg mL⁻¹) present suitable miscibility with FTAZ, and afford more favorable morphology and higher device performance than other NNFAs. FTAZ:NNFA[12, 3] solar cells gave the highest power conversion efficiency of 10.81%.