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Small Molecule with Extended Alkyl Side Substituents for Organic Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2016

Chenyu Zheng*
Affiliation:
Microsystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A. School of Chemistry and Materials Science (SCMS), Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A. NanoPower Research Laboratory (NPRL), Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A.
Ishita Jalan
Affiliation:
School of Chemistry and Materials Science (SCMS), Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A.
Jeremy A. Cody
Affiliation:
School of Chemistry and Materials Science (SCMS), Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A.
Christopher J. Collison
Affiliation:
Microsystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A. School of Chemistry and Materials Science (SCMS), Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A. NanoPower Research Laboratory (NPRL), Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A.
*
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Abstract

In this work, we have investigated two aniline based squaraine molecules, DBSQ(OH)2 and DHSQ(OH)2, for their potential application in organic photovoltaics. These two squaraine molecules are only different in side chain length (i.e. butyl vs. hexyl). Yet, their solar cell properties are drastically different (PCE = 3.6% vs. 1.9%). We have further investigated the reason behind the superior performance of DBSQ(OH)2 in absorbance spectra, hole mobility characterization and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that DBSQ(OH)2 has a higher hole mobility (5.1×10-4 cm2/V•s vs. 1.4×10-4 cm2/V•s) and is able to mix well with the fullerene acceptor compared to DHSQ(OH)2. Our work shows clearly that the long solubilizing alkyl side chain might be detrimental for OPV performance and that shorter side chains with enough solubility have great value when designing small molecules.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2016 

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References

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