Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV16)
Publication date: 28th March 2016
We recently reported the high performing molecular donor for OPV devices based on a benzodithiophene core, a terthiophene bridge and a rhodamine acceptor (BTR) . In this work we used side-chain engineering to optimize side-chain placement of a known chromophore by ensuring the thiophene hexyl side-chains are regioregular, which would allow the chromophore to lie flat. The unexpected outcome was a material with a high temperature nematic liquid crystalline phase and significantly improved performance (now 9.6% PCE), excellent charge transport properties, reduced geminate recombination rates and excellent performance for BHJ devcies with active layers up to 400nm.
In our desire to better understand the structure property relationships of this class of p-type organic semiconductor we have synthesized a series of analogues where the length of the chromophore has been altered through modification of the oligothiophene bridge via 3-hexylthiophene catenation to generate the monothiophene (BMR), the bisthiophene (BBR), the known terthiophene (BTR), the quaterthiophene (BQR) and the pentathiophene (BPR). BMR, BBR and BPR have clean melting points while BQR, like BTR shows a complicated series of phase transitions. Device efficiencies after solvent vapour annealing are BMR (3.5%), BBR (6.0%), BTR (9.3%), BQR (9.4%), and BPR (8.7%) unoptimised.
OPV devices with BTR in the active layer are not stable under thermal annealing, however the π-bridge extended BQR and BPR form thermally stable devices. We are currently optimising these devices, but initial results indicate PCEs >9% for thermally annealed devices containing BQR, while BPR devices have not yet been optimised and have PCEs > 8%. In order to develop the device performance we have included BQR in ternary devices with the commercially available PTB7-Th and we report device efficiencies of over 10.5%.
I will discuss the development of these new materials, their materials properties, structural data, and optimised device performance. I will examination of chromophore length on the Nematic Liquid Crystalline properties and on materials development and performance resulting in materials with > 9% PCE in OPV.