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Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of benzotriazole-based donor–acceptor copolymers

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Abstract

Two new D–A copolymers containing benzotriazole (BTz) acceptor unit and different donor units of benzodithiophene (BDT) and 2,7-carbazole, PBDT-DTBTz and PC-DTBTz, were synthesized for the application as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs). By changing the donor units, the band gaps and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels of the copolymers could be finely tuned. PC-DTBTz exhibited the lower HOMO energy level of −5.34 eV, and the lower HOMO energy level can lead to a higher open-circuit voltage (V oc) of 0.73 V in PC-DTBTz-based devices. The PCEs of the PSCs based on PBDT-DTBTz and PC-DTBTz blends with [6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) were 1.55 and 1.33 %, respectively, under the illumination of AM1.5, 100 mW/cm2.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by NSFC (Nos. 51173206, 21161160443), the National High Technology Research and Development Program (No. 2011AA050523), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (No. 11JJ4010), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.20110490150, 2012T50701), and Lieying Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Miao Yang, Xuewen Chen, Yingping Zou, Chunyue Pan & Lu Xiao

  2. State Key Laboratory for Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Yuehui He & Bo Liu

Authors
  1. Miao Yang
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  2. Xuewen Chen
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  3. Yingping Zou
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  4. Yuehui He
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  5. Chunyue Pan
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  6. Lu Xiao
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  7. Bo Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yingping Zou.

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Figures showing 1H NMR spectra of PBDT-DTBTz and PC-DTBTz. (DOC 555 kb)

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Yang, M., Chen, X., Zou, Y. et al. Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of benzotriazole-based donor–acceptor copolymers. J Mater Sci 48, 3177–3184 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-012-7096-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-012-7096-5

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