Abstract
Four alkyl-substituted thiophene-3-carboxylate containing donor-acceptor (D-A) copolymers were designed, synthesized, and characterized. Thiophene-3-carboxylate was used as a weak electron acceptor unit in the copolymers to provide a deeper highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level for obtaining a higher open-circuit voltage in polymer solar cells (PSCs). The resulting bulk heterojunction PSCs, made of the copolymers and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM), exhibited different short circuit currents (JSCs) and open-circuit voltages (VOCs), depending on the length of alkyl side-chain in the thiophene-3-carboxylate unit. Among all fabricated photovoltaic (PV) devices, PC2:PC71BM (1:1 wt. ratio) showed the highest efficiency with the highest JSC of 10.5 mA/cm2. Although PC5:PC71BM (1:1) displayed the highest VOC of 0.93 V, the device efficiency was observed to be poor, which is due to poor nanophase segregation. This comparison shows that the side-chain of thiophene carboxylate in these copolymers plays a very important role in the device efficiency.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3835-3841 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Polymer |
Volume | 53 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 Aug 17 |
Keywords
- Bulk heterojunction
- Copolymerization
- PCBM
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Organic Chemistry
- Polymers and Plastics
- Materials Chemistry