A Perspective on 2D Fused-Ring Quad-Rotor-Shaped Nonfullerene Acceptors with an Anthracene Core

Previous studies have demonstrated the remarkable properties of quad-rotor-shaped two-dimensional nonfullerene acceptors (2D NFAs), which encompass exceptional electron affinity, robust sunlight absorption, effective exciton separation, and accelerated electron transfer capabilities. Naphthalene has been demonstrated to be a significant 2D fused core to construct high-performance 2D NFAs. However, synthesizing such materials through existing synthetic pathways poses a significant challenge. In this work, we designed four 2D NFAs (TEA-SIC, TEA-SIC-8F, TEA-SIC-OH, and TEA-SIC-OH-8F) with an anthracene core. These NFAs can theoretically be synthesized into a quad-rotor configuration through a seven-step synthetic process. Theoretical calculations have demonstrated that these 2D NFAs exhibit superior electron-accepting abilities, enhanced sunlight absorption, and more efficient exciton dissociation compared to Y6. Furthermore, TEA-SIC and TEA-SIC-8F exhibited impressive electron mobilities of 1.76 × 10^-3 cm² V^-1 s^-1 and 1.18 × 10^-3 cm² V^-1 s^-1, respectively, indicating their suitability for the development of high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs). Although TEA-SIC-OH and TEA-SIC-OH-8F have lower electron mobility, their high sunlight absorption and efficient exciton separation suggest potential as third components in ternary OSCs. These 2D NFAs also exhibit a commendable solubility in most alcohol-based solvents, indicating their potential for specialized applications in the fabrication of stacked OSCs. These findings provide valuable insights for the future design of synthesizable high-performance 2D NFAs.