Synthesis and Characterization of Isoindigo-Based Polymers with Thermocleavable Side Chains
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2018

Stability of bulk heterojunction films for organic solar cells is a critical factor for commercial viability. One method to stabilize these films is to include cleavable side chains, which reduce the solubility of the polymers when removed. In order to study the stabilizing effect of cleavable side chains, a series of random copolymers using isoindigo with 0, 10, 20, 50, and 100% thermally cleavable side chains based on the tert-butyloxycarbonyl (t-BOC) group are synthesized. The polymers show a distinct one-step thermal cleavage of the side chains, with no separable dealkylation and decarboxylation steps. The thermal stability in film is studied with transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The polymer with all t-BOC side chains on isoindigo significantly improves thermal stability with regard to crystal growth and phase separation in film. These results suggest BOC-substitution can be used for large scale processing to produce insoluble polymer films with a high degree of thermal stability.

polymer solar cells

side chain engineering

organic photovoltaics

thermocleavable side chains

conjugated polymers

Författare

Kim Bini

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Tillämpad kemi

Xiaofeng Xu

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Tillämpad kemi

Mats Andersson

Flinders University

Ergang Wang

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Tillämpad kemi

Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics

1022-1352 (ISSN) 1521-3935 (eISSN)

Vol. 219 7 1700538

Ämneskategorier

Polymerkemi

Fysikalisk kemi

Polymerteknologi

DOI

10.1002/macp.201700538

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2019-11-13