Theoretical characterization of photoactive molecular systems based on BODIPY-derivatives for the design of organic solar cells

Designing and theoretical study of benzocarbazole-based D-π-D type small molecules donor for organic solar cells

Seven new molecules (S1-S7) of D-π-D type have been designed for organic photovoltaic applications. The DFT and TD-DFT methods were used to investigate the effect of different central bridge groups on the geometric, optoelectronic, and charge transport properties of the constructed molecules. Among them, S4 and S6 have the lowest energy band gap and a red shift in the absorption spectra, revealing the perfect relationship between the central bridge and the strong electron withdrawal character through extended conjugation. Similarly, S6 explored the lowest reorganization energy (RE) value for electron and hole revealing its enhanced charge transition, also shows better ICT characteristics with its highest NLO properties. Compound S4 showed the smallest value of ΔE_L-L and E_b, and the highest V_oc due to its low HOMO, which improves the photocurrent density of the devices. Thus, the results suggest that bridge modification is a practical strategy to improve the efficiency of OSCs.

Effects of Heavy Iodine Atoms and π-Expanded Conjugation on Charge Transfer Dynamics in Carboxylic Acid BODIPY Derivatives as Triplet Photosensitizers

Borondipyrromethene (BODIPY) chromophores are composed of a functional-COOH group at meso position with or without a biphenyl ring, and their compounds with heavy iodine atoms at -2, -6 positions of the BODIPY indacene core were synthesized. The photophysical properties of the compounds were studied with steady-state absorption and fluorescence measurements. It was observed that the absorption band is significantly red-shifted, and fluorescence signals are quenched in the presence of iodine atoms. In addition to that, it was indicated that the biphenyl ring does not affect the spectral shifting in the absorption as well as fluorescence spectra. In an attempt to investigate the effect of π-expanded biphenyl moieties and heavy iodine atoms on charge transfer dynamics, femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy measurements were carried out in the environment of the tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution. Based on the performed ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy, BODIPY compounds with iodine atoms lead to intersystem crossing (ISC) and ISC rates were determined as 150 ps and 180 ps for iodine BODIPY compounds with and without π-expanded biphenyl moieties, respectively. According to the theoretical results, the charge transfer in the investigated compounds mostly appears to be intrinsic local excitations, corresponding to high photoluminescence efficiency. These experimental findings are useful for the design and study of the fundamental photochemistry of organic triplet photosensitizers.

Suppressing non-radiative decay of photochromic organic molecular systems in the strong coupling regime

The lifetimes of electronic excited states have a strong influence on the efficiency of organic solar cells. However, in some molecular systems a given excited state lifetime is reduced due to the non-radiative decay through conical intersections. Several strategies may be used to suppress this decay channel. The use of the strong light-matter coupling provided in optical nano-cavities is the focus of this paper. Here, we consider the meso-tert-butyl-4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene molecule (meso-tert-butyl-BODIPY) as a showcase of how strong and ultrastrong coupling might help in the development of organic solar cells. The meso-tert-butyl-BODIPY is known for its low fluorescence yield caused by the non-radiative decay through a conical intersection. However, we show here that, by considering this system within a cavity, the strong coupling can lead to significant changes in the multidimensional landscape of the potential energy surfaces of meso-tert-butyl-BODIPY, suppressing almost completely the decay of the excited state wave packet back to the ground state. By means of multi configuration electronic structure calculations and nuclear wave packet dynamics, the coupling with the cavity is analyzed in-depth to provide further insight of the interaction. By fine-tuning the cavity field strength and resonance frequency, we show that one can change the nuclear dynamics in the excited state, and control the non-radiative decay. This may lead to a faster and more efficient population transfer or the suppression of it.

Spectroscopic and Physicochemical Studies on 1,2,4-Triazine Derivative

A novel 5-(5-Bromo-2-hydroxybenzylidene)-6-oxo-3-phenyl-5,6-dihydro-1,2,4-triazine-2(1H)-carbothioamide (4) “compound 4” was synthesized. The chemical structure of compound 4 was confirmed with spectroscopic techniques. Thermal analysis (TGA/dTGA) studies were conducted for identifying the kinetic thermodynamic parameters and the thermal stability of the synthesized compound 4. Cyclic voltammetric studies were performed for recognizing electrochemical characteristics of the synthesized compound 4. The calculated highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), and the band gap were found to be −3.61, −5.32, and 1.97 eV, respectively. Using a diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) technique, the estimated values of the optical band transitions of compound 4 in powder form were found to be 2.07 and 2.67 eV. The structural properties of thermally evaporated compound 4 thin films were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. It was found that compound 4 has a triclinic crystal structure. The optical transitions and the optical dispersion factors of compound 4 thin films were investigated using a UV-Vis spectroscopy technique. From the UV-Vis spectroscopy technique, Egind=3.6 V was estimated for both the as-deposited and annealed thin films. For the as-deposited film, there were two photoluminescence (PL) emission peaks centered at 473 and 490 nm with a shoulder at 422 nm. For the annealed film at 423 K, there were five PL emission peaks centered at 274, 416, 439, 464, and 707 nm with a shoulder at 548 nm. The dark electrical conduction of compound 4 thin film was through a thermally activated process with activation energy equaling 0.88 eV.

Optical and electrochemical effects of triarylamine inclusion to alkoxy BODIPY-based derivatives

Three new triphenylamine-BODIPY dyads BDPT1–3 have been designed and synthesized.