Synthesis and characterization of three small band gap conjugated polymers for solar cell applications
Journal article, 2010

We report on a new series of small band gap conjugated polymers utilizing donor-acceptor-donor substructures in the polymer backbone to broaden and extend the optical absorption to longer wavelengths. Three polymers were prepared by Suzuki polymerization, using the same donor-acceptor-donor segment but with different comonomers. The goal was to investigate how the optical and electronic properties of the polymers were influenced by the different comonomers. Electrochemical spectroscopy, using square-wave voltammetry, shows that increasing the electron-donating strength of the comonomer will raise the HOMO energy level of the polymer, resulting in a decreased band gap. This result is also manifested by comparing open-circuit voltages from the corresponding laboratory fabricated solar cells. The best performing photovoltaic cell, based on APFO-Green15/[60]PCBM (1 : 4 w/w), reached a J(sc) of 4.2 mA cm(-2), a V-oc of 0.73 V, and a FF of 0.54, giving a PCE of 1.7%.

charge

energy-transfer processes

photoluminescence

heterojunction

devices

donor

photovoltaic cells

alternating polyfluorene copolymers

dissociation

fluorene

Author

Stefan Hellström

Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology

Lars Johan Lindgren

Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology

Y. Zhou

Linköping University

Fengling Zhang

Linköping University

Olle Inganäs

Linköping University

Mats Andersson

Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology

Polymer Chemistry

1759-9954 (ISSN) 1759-9962 (eISSN)

Vol. 1 8 1272-1280

Subject Categories

Chemical Sciences

DOI

10.1039/c0py00152j

More information

Latest update

2/28/2018