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Gaspar H, Figueira F, Strutyński K, Melle-Franco M, Ivanou D, Tomé JPC, Pereira CM, Pereira L, Mendes A, Viana JC, Bernardo G. Thiophene- and Carbazole-Substituted N-Methyl-Fulleropyrrolidine Acceptors in PffBT4T-2OD Based Solar Cells. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2020; 13:E1267. [PMID: 32168798 PMCID: PMC7142714 DOI: 10.3390/ma13061267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The impact of fullerene side chain functionalization with thiophene and carbazole groups on the device properties of bulk-heterojunction polymer:fullerene solar cells is discussed through a systematic investigation of material blends consisting of the conjugated polymer poly[(5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4,7-diyl)-alt-(3,3‴-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2';5',2″;5″,2‴-quaterthiophen-5,5‴-diyl)] (PffBT4T-2OD) as donor and C60 or C70 fulleropyrrolidines as acceptors. The photovoltaic performance clearly depended on the molecular structure of the fulleropyrrolidine substituents although no direct correlation with the surface morphology of the photoactive layer, as determined by atomic force microscopy, could be established. Although some fulleropyrrolidines possess favorable lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels, when compared to the standard PC71BM, they originated OPV cells with inferior efficiencies than PC71BM-based reference cells. Fulleropyrrolidines based on C60 produced, in general, better devices than those based on C70, and we attribute this observation to the detrimental effect of the structural and energetic disorder that is present in the regioisomer mixtures of C70-based fullerenes, but absent in the C60-based fullerenes. These results provide new additional knowledge on the effect of the fullerene functionalization on the efficiency of organic solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Gaspar
- IPC/i3N—Institute for Polymers and Composites, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800–058 Guimarães, Portugal; (H.G.); (J.C.V.)
| | - Flávio Figueira
- QOPNA & LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal;
- CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal; (K.S.); (M.M.-F.)
| | - Karol Strutyński
- CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal; (K.S.); (M.M.-F.)
| | - Manuel Melle-Franco
- CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal; (K.S.); (M.M.-F.)
| | - Dzmitry Ivanou
- LEPABE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, 4200–465 Porto, Portugal; (D.I.); (A.M.)
| | - João P. C. Tomé
- QOPNA & LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal;
- CQE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, n1, 1049–001 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Carlos M. Pereira
- Department of Chemistry, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169–007 Porto, Portugal;
| | - Luiz Pereira
- Department of Physics and i3N—Institute for Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal;
| | - Adélio Mendes
- LEPABE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, 4200–465 Porto, Portugal; (D.I.); (A.M.)
| | - Júlio C. Viana
- IPC/i3N—Institute for Polymers and Composites, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800–058 Guimarães, Portugal; (H.G.); (J.C.V.)
| | - Gabriel Bernardo
- LEPABE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, 4200–465 Porto, Portugal; (D.I.); (A.M.)
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Gaspar H, Figueira F, Strutyński K, Melle-Franco M, Ivanou D, Tomé JPC, Pereira CM, Pereira L, Mendes A, Viana JC, Bernardo G. PffBT4T-2OD Based Solar Cells with Aryl-Substituted N-Methyl-Fulleropyrrolidine Acceptors. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2019; 12:E4100. [PMID: 31817967 PMCID: PMC6947311 DOI: 10.3390/ma12244100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2019] [Revised: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Novel C60 and C70 N-methyl-fulleropyrrolidine derivatives, containing both electron withdrawing and electron donating substituent groups, were synthesized by the well-known Prato reaction. The corresponding highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels were determined by cyclic voltammetry, from the onset oxidation and reduction potentials, respectively. Some of the novel fullerenes have higher LUMO levels than the standards PC61BM and PC71BM. When tested in PffBT4T-2OD based polymer solar cells, with the standard architecture ITO/PEDOT:PSS/Active-Layer/Ca/Al, these fullerenes do not bring about any efficiency improvements compared to the standard PC71BM system, however they show how the electronic nature of the different substituents strongly affects the efficiency of the corresponding organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. The functionalization of C70 yields a mixture of regioisomers and density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that these have systematically different electronic properties. This electronic inhomogeneity is likely responsible for the lower performance observed in devices containing C70 derivatives. These results help to understand how new fullerene acceptors can affect the performance of OPV devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Gaspar
- IPC/i3N—Institute for Polymers and Composites, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal; (H.G.); (J.C.V.)
| | - Flávio Figueira
- QOPNA & LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;
- CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; (K.S.); (M.M.-F.)
| | - Karol Strutyński
- CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; (K.S.); (M.M.-F.)
| | - Manuel Melle-Franco
- CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; (K.S.); (M.M.-F.)
| | - Dzmitry Ivanou
- LEPABE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; (D.I.); (A.M.)
| | - João P. C. Tomé
- QOPNA & LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;
- CQE and Departamento de Engenharia Química, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Carlos M. Pereira
- CIQUP, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, w/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal;
| | - Luiz Pereira
- Department of Physics and i3N—Institute for Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;
| | - Adélio Mendes
- LEPABE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; (D.I.); (A.M.)
| | - Júlio C. Viana
- IPC/i3N—Institute for Polymers and Composites, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal; (H.G.); (J.C.V.)
| | - Gabriel Bernardo
- LEPABE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; (D.I.); (A.M.)
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