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Readily Accessible Benzo[d]thiazole Polymers for Nonfullerene Solar Cells with >16% Efficiency and Potential Pitfalls

Journal Article · · ACS Energy Letters
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
  2. National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  4. Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
  5. Department of Chemistry, Center for Light Energy-Activated Redox Processes, and the Materials Research Center, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States; Flexterra Corporation, 8025 Lamon Avenue, Skokie, Illinois 60077, United States
  6. Department of Chemistry, Center for Light Energy-Activated Redox Processes, and the Materials Research Center, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States

Here we report facile, high-yield synthetic access to the difluoro BTA building block, 4,7-bis(5-bromo-4-(2-hexyl-decyl)-thiophen-2-yl)-5,6-difluoro-2-(pentadecan-7-yl)-benzo[d]thiazole (BTAT-2f), for use in donor (D)–acceptor 1 (A1)–D–acceptor 2 (A2) polymers [D = bithiophene; A1 = BTA-2f; A2 = benzothiadiazole (BT) derivative] for organic solar cells (OSCs). Fine tuning of polymer optical and electronic properties is achieved by incrementally varying the A2 fluorination level. Bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) PBTATBT-4f:Y6 solar cells deliver a noteworthy power conversion (PCE) efficiency of 16.08% (Voc = 0.81 V; Jsc = 27.25 mAcm–2; FF = 72.70%) without processing additives. In contrast, PBTATBT-2f:Y6 exhibits an irregular morphology and low PCE, ascribable to cocrystal formation-induced recombination, which is unprecedented for nonfullerene (NFA) OSCs. This result should be of guiding significance for future NFA design.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1635203
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1690072
Journal Information:
ACS Energy Letters, Journal Name: ACS Energy Letters Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 5; ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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