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Title: Rational design of dipolar chromophore as an efficient dopant-free hole-transporting material for perovskite solar cells

Journal Article · · Journal of the American Chemical Society
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6b06291· OSTI ID:1343607

In this paper, an electron donor-acceptor (D-A) substituted dipolar chromophore (BTPA-TCNE) is developed to serve as an efficient dopant-free hole-transporting material (HTM) for perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). BTPA-TCNE is synthesized via a simple reaction between a triphenylamine-based Michler’s base and tetracyanoethylene. This chromophore possesses a zwitterionic resonance structure in the ground state, as evidenced by X-ray crystallography and transient absorption spectroscopies. Moreover, BTPA-TCNE shows an antiparallel molecular packing (i.e., centrosymmetric dimers) in its crystalline state, which cancels out its overall molecular dipole moment to facilitate charge transport. Finally, BTPA-TCNE can be employed as an effective dopant-free HTM to realize an efficient (PCE ≈ 17.0%) PVSC in the conventional n-i-p configuration, outperforming the control device with doped spiro-OMeTAD HTM.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Contributing Organization:
This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research (N00014-14-1-0246), the National Science Foundation (DMR- 1608279), the Asian Office of Aerospace R&D (FA2386-15-1- 4106), and the Department of Energy SunShot (DEEE0006710). Prof. Jen thanks the Boeing-Johnson Foundation for financial support. The authors thank Prof. Werner Kaminsky (UW) for X-ray structure refinement, Prof. Cody W. Schlenker and Dana B. Sulas (UW) for providing access to the transient-absorption spectra, and Ellen Cambron Hayes (UW) for electron spin resonance measurements.
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0006710
OSTI ID:
1343607
Report Number(s):
DOE-UW-Jen-32
Journal Information:
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 138, Issue 36; ISSN 0002-7863
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 150 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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