n-Type semiconducting naphthalene diimide-perylene diimide copolymers: controlling crystallinity, blend morphology,...

Knowledge of the critical factors that determine compatibility, blend morphology, and performance of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells composed of an electron-accepting polymer and an electron-donating polymer remains limited. To test the idea that bulk crystallinity is such a critical factor, we have designed a series of new semiconducting naphthalene diimide (NDI)-selenophene/perylene diimide (PDI)-selenophene random copolymers, xPDI (10PDI, 30PDI, 50PDI), whose crystallinity varies with composition, and investigated them as electron acceptors in BHJ solar cells. Pairing of the reference crystalline (crystalline domain size Lc = 10.22 nm) NDI-selenophene copolymer (PNDIS-HD) with crystalline (Lc = 9.15 nm) benzodithiophene-thieno[3,4-b]thiophene copolymer (PBDTTT-CT) donor yields incompatible blends, whose BHJ solar cells have a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.4%. However, pairing of the new 30PDI with optimal crystallinity (Lc = 5.11 nm) as acceptor with the same PBDTTT-CT donor yields compatible blends and all-polymer solar cells with enhanced performance (PCE = 6.3%, Jsc = 18.6 mA/cm(2), external quantum efficiency = 91%). These photovoltaic parameters observed in 30PDI:PBDTTT-CT devices are the best so far for all-polymer solar cells, while the short-circuit current (Jsc) and external quantum efficiency are even higher than reported values for [70]-fullerene:PBDTTT-CT solar cells. The morphology and bulk carrier mobilities of the polymer/polymer blends varied substantially with crystallinity of the acceptor polymer component and thus with the NDI/PDI copolymer composition. These results demonstrate that the crystallinity of a polymer component and thus compatibility, blend morphology, and efficiency of polymer/polymer blend solar cells can be controlled by molecular design.