Self-Assembling Tripodal Small-Molecule Donors for Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells
Abstract
The power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs) could benefit from systematic studies to improve bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology by modifying donor compounds. Supramolecular self-assembly is an attractive strategy to combine the beneficial properties of polymeric donors, such as a well-controlled morphology, with the homogeneous composition of small molecule donors for OSCs. We report here on two tripodal “star-shaped” small-molecule donor compounds based on diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) side chains for solution-processed BHJ OSCs. The tripod molecules were found not to aggregate in solution or form crystalline domains in thin films when a branched alkyl chain (2-ethylhexyl) substituent was used, whereas linear (docedecyl) alkyl chains promote the formation of one-dimensional (1D) nanowires and more crystalline domains in the solid state. We demonstrate that the 1D self-assembly of these tripods enhances the performance of the corresponding solution-processed OSCs by 50%, which is attributed to the significant increase in the fill factor of devices resulting from a reduction of trap states.
- Authors:
-
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Northwestern Univ., Chicago, IL (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1241049
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1820623
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357; FG02-00ER45810; DMR-1121262; DGE-1324585; CHE-1048773
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 120; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-7447
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; 99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS; nanowires; layers; molecules; supramolecular chemistry; solvents; Nanowires, Layers, Molecules, Supramolecular chemistry, Solvents
Citation Formats
Aytun, Taner, Santos, Peter J., Bruns, Carson J., Huang, Dongxu, Koltonow, Andrew R., Olvera de la Cruz, Monica, and Stupp, Samuel I. Self-Assembling Tripodal Small-Molecule Donors for Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10064.
Aytun, Taner, Santos, Peter J., Bruns, Carson J., Huang, Dongxu, Koltonow, Andrew R., Olvera de la Cruz, Monica, & Stupp, Samuel I. Self-Assembling Tripodal Small-Molecule Donors for Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10064
Aytun, Taner, Santos, Peter J., Bruns, Carson J., Huang, Dongxu, Koltonow, Andrew R., Olvera de la Cruz, Monica, and Stupp, Samuel I. Fri .
"Self-Assembling Tripodal Small-Molecule Donors for Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10064. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1241049.
@article{osti_1241049,
title = {Self-Assembling Tripodal Small-Molecule Donors for Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells},
author = {Aytun, Taner and Santos, Peter J. and Bruns, Carson J. and Huang, Dongxu and Koltonow, Andrew R. and Olvera de la Cruz, Monica and Stupp, Samuel I.},
abstractNote = {The power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs) could benefit from systematic studies to improve bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology by modifying donor compounds. Supramolecular self-assembly is an attractive strategy to combine the beneficial properties of polymeric donors, such as a well-controlled morphology, with the homogeneous composition of small molecule donors for OSCs. We report here on two tripodal “star-shaped” small-molecule donor compounds based on diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) side chains for solution-processed BHJ OSCs. The tripod molecules were found not to aggregate in solution or form crystalline domains in thin films when a branched alkyl chain (2-ethylhexyl) substituent was used, whereas linear (docedecyl) alkyl chains promote the formation of one-dimensional (1D) nanowires and more crystalline domains in the solid state. We demonstrate that the 1D self-assembly of these tripods enhances the performance of the corresponding solution-processed OSCs by 50%, which is attributed to the significant increase in the fill factor of devices resulting from a reduction of trap states.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10064},
journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry. C},
number = 7,
volume = 120,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Fri Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
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