Optoelectronic properties of dicyanofluorene-based n-type polymers

Three new donor-acceptor-type copolymers (P1-P3) consisting of dicyanofluorene as acceptor and various donor moieties were designed and synthesized. Optoelectronic properties were studied in detail by means of UV-visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, space-charge-limited current (SCLC), flash-photolysis time-resolved microwave conductivity (FP-TRMC), and density functional theory (DFT). All polymers showed strong absorption in the UV-visible region and the absorption maximum undergoes redshift with an increasing number of thiophene units in the polymer backbone. SCLC analysis showed that the electron mobilities of the polymers in the bulk state were 1 to 2 orders higher than that of the corresponding hole mobilities, which indicated the n-type nature of the materials. By using FP-TRMC, the intrapolymer charge-carrier mobility was assessed and compared with the interpolymer mobility obtained by SCLC. The polymers exhibited good electron-accepting properties sufficiently high enough to oxidize the excited states of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT (donor)), as evident from the FP-TRMC analysis. The P3 polymer exhibited the highest FP-TRMC transients in the pristine form as well as when blended with P3HT. Use of these polymers as n-type materials in all-polymer organic solar cells was also explored in combination with P3HT. In accordance with the TRMC results, P3 exhibited superior electron-transport and photovoltaic properties to the other two polymers, which is explained by the distribution of the energy levels of the polymers by using DFT calculations.