Cross-conjugated n-type polymer acceptors for efficient all-polymer solar cells

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Electronics
• Photovoltaics

Background:

• Developing efficient electron-accepting materials is crucial for advancing all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs).
• Cross-conjugated polymer architectures offer potential for improved charge transport and light absorption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize novel n-type cross-conjugated polymers with a donor-π-bridge-acceptor (D-π-bridge-A) structure.
• To evaluate the performance of these polymers as electron-accepting materials in all-PSCs.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a series of n-type cross-conjugated polymers.
• Fabrication of bulk-heterojunction all-PSCs using the synthesized polymers and PTB7-Th as the electron-donating polymer.
• Performance characterization of the all-PSCs, including power conversion efficiency (PCE).

Main Results:

• The synthesized polymers exhibit a two-dimensional architecture enabling cross-conjugation.
• The cross-conjugated architecture facilitates favorable charge carrier transport and light harvesting.
• All-PSCs utilizing these polymers achieved a notable power conversion efficiency of 5.55%.

Conclusions:

• The developed cross-conjugated architecture represents a promising molecular design strategy for n-type conjugated polymers.
• These materials are effective electron acceptors for constructing efficient all-PSCs.
• The study contributes to the advancement of organic photovoltaic technologies.