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Title: Aqueous Processed All-Polymer Solar Cells with High Open-Circuit Voltage Based on Low-Cost Thiophene–Quinoxaline Polymers

Journal Article · · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [4]; ORCiD logo [3];  [5];  [6];  [7]; ORCiD logo [5];  [8]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Gothenburg (Sweden); Addis Ababa Univ. (Ethiopa)
  2. Korea Advanced Inst. Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)
  3. Karlstad Univ. (Sweden)
  4. Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Gothenburg (Sweden)
  5. Korea Univ., Seoul, (Korea, Republic of)
  6. Karlstad Univ. (Sweden); Uppsala Univ. (Sweden)
  7. Addis Ababa Univ. (Ethiopa)
  8. Korea Advanced Inst. Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

Eco-friendly solution processing and the low-cost synthesis of photoactive materials are important requirements for the commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). Although varieties of aqueous-soluble acceptors have been developed, the availability of aqueous-processable polymer donors remains quite limited. In particular, the generally shallow highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels of existing polymer donors limit further increases in the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Here, we design and synthesize two water/alcohol-processable polymer donors, poly[(thiophene-2,5-diyl)-alt-(2-((13-(2,5,8,11-tetraoxadodecyl)-2,5,8,11-tetraoxatetradecan-14-yl)oxy)-6,7-difluoroquinoxaline-5,8-diyl)] (P(Qx8O-T)) and poly[(selenophene-2,5-diyl)-alt-(2-((13-(2,5,8,11-tetraoxadodecyl)-2,5,8,11-tetraoxatetradecan-14-yl)oxy)-6,7-difluoroquinoxaline-5,8-diyl)] (P(Qx8O-Se)) with oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) side chains, having deep HOMO energy levels (~–5.4 eV). The synthesis of the polymers is achieved in a few synthetic and purification steps at reduced cost. The theoretical calculations uncover that the dielectric environmental variations are responsible for the observed band gap lowering in OEG-based polymers compared to their alkylated counterparts. Notably, the aqueous-processed all-polymer solar cells (aq-APSCs) based on P(Qx8O-T) and poly[(N,N'-bis(3-(2-(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)-ethoxy)ethoxy)-2-((2-(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)ethoxy)-methyl)propyl)naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl)-alt-(2,5-thiophene)] (P(NDIDEG-T)) active layer exhibit a PCE of 2.27% and high open-circuit voltage (VOC) approaching 0.8 V, which are among the highest values for aq-APSCs reported to date. This study provides important clues for the design of low-cost, aqueous-processable polymer donors and the fabrication of aqueous-processable OSCs with high VOC.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2471071
Journal Information:
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 16; ISSN 1944-8244
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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