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Novel Beta-Functionalized Porphyrins Approaching 11% Efficiency for Organic Solar Cells
Yinchun Guo1, Jifa Wu1, Zhenkun Lin1
1State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Energy & Information Polymer Materials, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|March 26, 2024
Summary
Researchers developed novel β-substituted porphyrin donors for organic solar cells (OSCs). These new materials achieved high power conversion efficiencies, outperforming traditional meso-substituted porphyrins in OSC applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- Porphyrins are widely used in organic solar cells (OSCs) due to their excellent optical and electronic properties.
- Functionalization of porphyrins typically occurs at the meso-positions, while β-position functionalization remains underexplored for photovoltaic applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize novel β-substituted porphyrin donors for OSCs.
- To investigate the photovoltaic performance of these new materials compared to existing porphyrin-based OSCs.
Main Methods:
- Regioselective bromination of porphyrin β-positions without rare metal catalysts.
- Synthesis of antipodal β-substituted porphyrin donors (EHDPP-Por and BODPP-Por) with diketopyrrolopyrrole units.
- Fabrication and characterization of all-small-molecule organic solar cells using these donors paired with a Y6 acceptor.
Main Results:
- Successfully synthesized two novel β-substituted porphyrin donors, EHDPP-Por and BODPP-Por.
- Organic solar cells based on EHDPP-Por:Y6 and BODPP-Por:Y6 achieved power conversion efficiencies of 10.19% and 10.99%, respectively.
- These efficiencies surpass most reported binary OSCs utilizing meso-substituted porphyrins.
Conclusions:
- β-functionalized porphyrins represent a highly promising class of materials for advancing organic solar cell technology.
- The developed synthetic strategy offers a viable route for creating new β-substituted porphyrin photovoltaic materials.
- This work highlights the significant potential of exploring alternative functionalization sites on porphyrin molecules for enhanced OSC performance.
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