Polymer solar cells made with photocrosslinkable conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers: improvement in the thermal stability and morphology with a single-component active layer

Na Yeon Kwon; Su Hong Park; Seunguk Cho; Dong Won Lee; Amit Kumar Harit; Han Young Woo; Min Ju Cho; Dong Hoon Choi

doi:10.1039/d2py00413e

Polymer solar cells made with photocrosslinkable conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers: improvement in the thermal stability and morphology with a single-component active layer

Na Yeon Kwon, Su Hong Park, Seunguk Cho, Dong Won Lee, Amit Kumar Harit, Han Young Woo, Min Ju Cho, Dong Hoon Choi

Department of Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recently, conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers (CDABPs) were synthesized by one-pot polymerization and applied in polymer solar cells with a single-component active layer. These polymers can suppress phase separation and exhibit inert internal morphologies compared to the polymer blends; however, their thermal stability remains an issue to be addressed. In this study, we successfully synthesized a new crosslinkable CDABP (P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T)), comprising a donor block bearing photocrosslinkable oxetane side chains and an acceptor block to improve the thermal and morphological properties. The crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film showed high solvent resistance, and it was confirmed that even the P(NDI2T) block without a crosslinking unit did not dissolve after washing with a solvent. This indicates that the P(NDI2T) block was obviously covalently bonded to the P(OXBTT) donor block in the CDABP structure. In particular, compared to the blend (P(OXBTT) and P(NDI2T)) film, the P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film exhibited a uniform surface morphology. Consequently, the polymer solar cell based on the crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) active layer showed higher power conversion efficiency and better thermal stability than that based on the blend film.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3335-3342
Number of pages	8
Journal	Polymer Chemistry
Volume	13
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/d2py00413e
Publication status	Published - 2022 May 17

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019R1A6A1A11044070, 2020R1I1A1A01066897, and 2022R1A2B5B02001454). We are grateful to the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, Korea) for allowing us to obtain nuclear magnetic resonance data (NMR; Ascend 500, Bruker). The Korea Basic Science Institute (Seoul) is acknowledged for the MALDI-TOF MS and TEM data.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Bioengineering
Biochemistry
Polymers and Plastics
Organic Chemistry

Access to Document

10.1039/d2py00413e

Cite this

@article{619ae74f5f3d4d7f9df08c007b423b89,

title = "Polymer solar cells made with photocrosslinkable conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers: improvement in the thermal stability and morphology with a single-component active layer",

abstract = "Recently, conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers (CDABPs) were synthesized by one-pot polymerization and applied in polymer solar cells with a single-component active layer. These polymers can suppress phase separation and exhibit inert internal morphologies compared to the polymer blends; however, their thermal stability remains an issue to be addressed. In this study, we successfully synthesized a new crosslinkable CDABP (P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T)), comprising a donor block bearing photocrosslinkable oxetane side chains and an acceptor block to improve the thermal and morphological properties. The crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film showed high solvent resistance, and it was confirmed that even the P(NDI2T) block without a crosslinking unit did not dissolve after washing with a solvent. This indicates that the P(NDI2T) block was obviously covalently bonded to the P(OXBTT) donor block in the CDABP structure. In particular, compared to the blend (P(OXBTT) and P(NDI2T)) film, the P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film exhibited a uniform surface morphology. Consequently, the polymer solar cell based on the crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) active layer showed higher power conversion efficiency and better thermal stability than that based on the blend film.",

author = "Kwon, {Na Yeon} and Park, {Su Hong} and Seunguk Cho and Lee, {Dong Won} and Harit, {Amit Kumar} and Woo, {Han Young} and Cho, {Min Ju} and Choi, {Dong Hoon}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019R1A6A1A11044070, 2020R1I1A1A01066897, and 2022R1A2B5B02001454). We are grateful to the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, Korea) for allowing us to obtain nuclear magnetic resonance data (NMR; Ascend 500, Bruker). The Korea Basic Science Institute (Seoul) is acknowledged for the MALDI-TOF MS and TEM data. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry",

year = "2022",

month = may,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1039/d2py00413e",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

pages = "3335--3342",

journal = "Polymer Chemistry",

issn = "1759-9954",

publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",

number = "22",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Polymer solar cells made with photocrosslinkable conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers

T2 - improvement in the thermal stability and morphology with a single-component active layer

AU - Kwon, Na Yeon

AU - Park, Su Hong

AU - Cho, Seunguk

AU - Lee, Dong Won

AU - Harit, Amit Kumar

AU - Woo, Han Young

AU - Cho, Min Ju

AU - Choi, Dong Hoon

N1 - Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019R1A6A1A11044070, 2020R1I1A1A01066897, and 2022R1A2B5B02001454). We are grateful to the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, Korea) for allowing us to obtain nuclear magnetic resonance data (NMR; Ascend 500, Bruker). The Korea Basic Science Institute (Seoul) is acknowledged for the MALDI-TOF MS and TEM data. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry

PY - 2022/5/17

Y1 - 2022/5/17

N2 - Recently, conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers (CDABPs) were synthesized by one-pot polymerization and applied in polymer solar cells with a single-component active layer. These polymers can suppress phase separation and exhibit inert internal morphologies compared to the polymer blends; however, their thermal stability remains an issue to be addressed. In this study, we successfully synthesized a new crosslinkable CDABP (P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T)), comprising a donor block bearing photocrosslinkable oxetane side chains and an acceptor block to improve the thermal and morphological properties. The crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film showed high solvent resistance, and it was confirmed that even the P(NDI2T) block without a crosslinking unit did not dissolve after washing with a solvent. This indicates that the P(NDI2T) block was obviously covalently bonded to the P(OXBTT) donor block in the CDABP structure. In particular, compared to the blend (P(OXBTT) and P(NDI2T)) film, the P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film exhibited a uniform surface morphology. Consequently, the polymer solar cell based on the crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) active layer showed higher power conversion efficiency and better thermal stability than that based on the blend film.

AB - Recently, conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers (CDABPs) were synthesized by one-pot polymerization and applied in polymer solar cells with a single-component active layer. These polymers can suppress phase separation and exhibit inert internal morphologies compared to the polymer blends; however, their thermal stability remains an issue to be addressed. In this study, we successfully synthesized a new crosslinkable CDABP (P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T)), comprising a donor block bearing photocrosslinkable oxetane side chains and an acceptor block to improve the thermal and morphological properties. The crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film showed high solvent resistance, and it was confirmed that even the P(NDI2T) block without a crosslinking unit did not dissolve after washing with a solvent. This indicates that the P(NDI2T) block was obviously covalently bonded to the P(OXBTT) donor block in the CDABP structure. In particular, compared to the blend (P(OXBTT) and P(NDI2T)) film, the P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) film exhibited a uniform surface morphology. Consequently, the polymer solar cell based on the crosslinked P(OXBTT-co-NDI2T) active layer showed higher power conversion efficiency and better thermal stability than that based on the blend film.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132846231&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1039/d2py00413e

DO - 10.1039/d2py00413e

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85132846231

SN - 1759-9954

VL - 13

SP - 3335

EP - 3342

JO - Polymer Chemistry

JF - Polymer Chemistry

IS - 22

ER -

Polymer solar cells made with photocrosslinkable conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers: improvement in the thermal stability and morphology with a single-component active layer

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this