Design Principles in Polymer-Fullerene BHJ Solar Cells: "What Can We Learn from PBDTTPD & Wide-Bandgap Analogs?"

Pierre Beaujuge^a

^aKing Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) - Saudi Arabia, 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics 2015 (HOPV15)

Roma, Italy, 2015 May 11th - 13th

Organizer: Filippo De Angelis

Oral, Pierre Beaujuge, presentation 031
Publication date: 5th February 2015

In recent years, great headway has been made in the development of efficient polymer donors across the community, with published power conversion efficiencies (PCE) >8% in bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells with fullerene acceptors (single cells), and PCEs >10% in tandem devices. In most reports, the polymer donor involves elaborate repeat unit and side chain patterns, and deviating from those patterns induces substantial drops in device PCE. While the range of polymer design parameters that impact BHJ solar cell performance remains a matter of some debate, our recent developments indicate that the combination of side-chain substituents and the functional groups appended to the main chain critically impacts polymer performance. These effects are particularly pronounced in poly(benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]dithiophene–thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione) (PBDTTPD) and wide-bandgap analogs blended with phenyl-C61/71-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM).[1-11] Furthering our understanding of how the main chain substitution pattern mediates the interplay between donor and acceptor is a critical step as we look to continue improving BHJ solar cell efficiencies.

[1] Beaujuge, P. M.; Fréchet, J. M. J. Molecular Design and Ordering Effects in π-Functional Materials for Transistor and Solar Cell Applications. JACS 2011, 133, 20009-20029. [2] Piliego, C.; Holcombe, T. W.; Douglas, J. D.; Woo, C. H.; Beaujuge, P. M.; Fréchet; J. M. J. Synthetic Control of Structural Order in N-Alkylthieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione-Based Polymers for Efficient Solar Cells. JACS 2010, 132, 7595-7597. [3] Cabanetos, C.; El Labban, A.; Bartelt, J. A.; Douglas, J. D.; Mateker, W. R.; Fréchet, J. M. J.; McGehee, M. D.; Beaujuge, P. M. Linear Side-Chains in Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]dithiophene–Thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione Polymers Direct Self-Assembly & Solar Cell Performance. JACS 2013, 135, 4656–4659. [4] Bartelt, J. A.; Douglas, J. D.; Mateker, W. R.; El Labban, A.; Tassone, C. J.; Toney, M. F.; Fréchet, J. M. J.; Beaujuge, P. M.; McGehee, M. D. Controlling Solution-Phase Polymer Aggregation with Molecular Weight and Solvent Additives to Optimize Polymer-Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 2014, 4, 1301733. [5] Warnan, J.; Cabanetos, C.; Bude, R.; El Labban, A.; Li, L.; Beaujuge, P. M. Electron-Deficient N-Alkyloyl Derivatives of Thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione Yield Efficient Polymer Solar Cells with Open-Circuit Voltages >1V. Chem. Mater. 2014, 26, 2829-2835. [6] Warnan, J.; El Labban, A.; Cabanetos, C.; Hoke, E.; Risko, C.; Brédas, J-L.; McGehee, M. D.; Beaujuge, P. M. Ring Substituents Mediate the Morphology of PBDTTPD-PCBM Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells. Chem. Mater. 2014, 26, 2299-2306. [7] Warnan, J.; Cabanetos, C.; El Labban, A.; Hansen, M. R.; Tassone, C.; Toney, M. F.; Beaujuge, P. M. Ordering Effects in Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]difuran-thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione Polymers with >7% Solar Cell Efficiency. Adv. Mater. 2014, 26, 4357-4362. [8] Graham, K. R.; Cabanetos, C.; Jahnke, J. P.; Idso, M. N.; El Labban, A.; Ngongang Ndjawa, G. O.; Chmelka, B. F.; Amassian, A.; Beaujuge, P. M.; McGehee, M. D. Importance of the Donor:Fullerene Intermolecular Arrangement for High-Efficiency Organic Photovoltaics. JACS 2014, 136, 9608-9618. [9] El Labban, A.; Warnan, J.; Cabanetos, C.; Ratel, O.; Tassone, C. J.; Toney, M. F.; Beaujuge; P. M. Dependence of Crystallite Formation and Preferential Backbone Orientations on the Side Chain Pattern in PBDTTPD Polymers. ACS Appl. Mater. & Interfaces 2015, 6, 19477-19481. [10] Dyer-Smith, C.; Howard, I. A.; Cabanetos, C.; El Labban, A.; Beaujuge, P. M.; Laquai, F. Interplay Between Side-Chain Pattern, Polymer Aggregation, and Charge Carrier Dynamics in PBDTTPD:PCBM Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 2015, Accepted. [11] Wolf, J.; Cruciani, F.; El Labban, A.; Beaujuge, P. M. 2015, Submitted.

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