| 1. |
- Xu, Xiaofeng, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of side chain isomerism on the physical and photovoltaic properties of indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene–quinoxaline copolymers: toward a side chain design for enhanced photovoltaic performance
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry. - 1364-5501 .- 0959-9428. ; 2:44, s. 18988-18997
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Four new D–A polymers PIDTT-Q-p, PIDTT-Q-m, PIDTT-QF-p and PIDTT-QF-m, using indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene (IDTT) as an electron-rich unit and quinoxaline (Q) as an electron-deficient unit, were synthesized via a Pd-catalyzed Stille polymerization. The side chains on the pendant phenyl rings of IDTT were varied from the para- to the meta-position, and the effect of the inclusion of fluorine on the quinoxaline unit was simultaneously investigated. The influence on the optical and electrochemical properties, film topography and photovoltaic properties of the four copolymers were thoroughly examined via a range of techniques. The inductively electron-withdrawing properties of the fluorine atoms result in a decrease of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels. The effect of meta-substitution on the PIDTT-Q-m polymer leads to good solubility and in turn higher molecular weight. More importantly, it exhibits optimal morphological properties in the PIDTT-Q-m/PC71BM blends. As a result, the corresponding solar cells (ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer:PC71BM/LiF/Al) attain the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.8%. The structure–property correlations demonstrate that the meta-alkyl-phenyl substituted IDTT unit is a promising building block for efficient organic photovoltaic materials. This result also extends our strategy with regards to side chain isomerism of IDTT-based copolymers for enhanced photovoltaic performance.
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| 2. |
- Xu, Xiaofeng, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Pyrrolo[3,4-g]quinoxaline-6,8-dione-based conjugated copolymers for bulk heterojunction solar cells with high photovoltages
- 2015
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Ingår i: Polymer Chemistry. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 1759-9954 .- 1759-9962. ; 6:25, s. 4624-4633
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new electron-deficient building block 5,9-di(thiophen-2-yl)-6H-pyrrolo[3,4-g]quinoxaline-6,8(7H)-dione (PQD) was synthesized via functionalizing the 6- and 7-positions of quinoxaline (Qx) with a dicarboxylic imide moiety. Side chain substitution on the PQD unit leads to good solubility which enables very high molecular weight copolymers to be attained. The fusion of two strong electron-withdrawing groups (Qx and dicarboxylic imide) makes the PQD unit a stronger electron-deficient moiety than if the unit had just one electron-withdrawing group, thus enhancing the intramolecular charge transfer between electron-rich and deficient units of the copolymer. Four PQD-based polymers were synthesized which feature deep-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels and bathochromic absorption spectra when compared to PBDT-Qx and PBDT-TPD analogues. The copolymers incorporated with benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b]dithiophene (BDT) units show that the 1D and 2D structural variations of the side groups on the BDT unit are correlated with the device performance. As a result, the corresponding solar cells (ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer: PC71BM/LiF/Al) based on the four copolymers feature very high open-circuit voltages (V-oc) of around 1.0 V. The copolymer PBDT-PQD1 attains the best power conversion efficiency of 4.9%, owing to its relatively high absorption intensity and suitable film morphology. The structure-property correlation demonstrates that the new PQD unit is a promising electron-deficient building block for efficient photovoltaic materials with high V-oc.
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| 3. |
- Benavides, Cindy Montenegro, et al.
(författare)
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High-Performance Organic Photodetectors from a High-Bandgap Indacenodithiophene-Based π-Conjugated Donor-Acceptor Polymer
- 2018
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8252 .- 1944-8244. ; 10:15, s. 12937-12946
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A conjugated donor-acceptor polymer, poly[4,4,9,9-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-4,9-dihydro-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene-2,7-diyl-alt-5-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-thieno[3,4-c] pyrrole-4,6(5H)-dione-1,3-diyl] (PIDT-TPD), is blended with the fullerene derivative [6,6] phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC 61 BM) for the fabrication of thin and solution-processed organic photodetectors (OPDs). Systematic screening of the concentration ratio of the blend and the molecular weight of the polymer is performed to optimize the active layer morphology and the OPD performance. The device comprising a medium molecular weight polymer (27.0 kg/mol) in a PIDT-TPD:PC 61 BM 1:1 ratio exhibits an external quantum efficiency of 52% at 610 nm, a dark current density of 1 nA/cm 2 , a detectivity of 1.44 × 10 13 Jones, and a maximum 3 dB cutoff frequency of 100 kHz at -5 V bias. These results are remarkable among the state-of-the-art red photodetectors based on conjugated polymers. As such, this work presents a functional organic active material for high-speed OPDs with a linear photoresponse at different light intensities.
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| 4. |
- Bini, Kim, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Alcohol-Soluble Conjugated Polymers as Cathode Interlayers for All-Polymer Solar Cells
- 2018
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Energy Materials. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2574-0962. ; 1:5, s. 2176-2182
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conjugated polymers with polar side-chain components have successfully been used as cathode interfacial materials (CIMs) to improve the performances of polymer solar cells with fullerenes as acceptors. However, their uses and functions in all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have not been well-investigated. Therefore, in this work, four conjugated polymers bearing different functional side chains, including dimethylamine, diethanolamine, and imidazole, were used as CIMs to study their effects on all-PSCs. With a combination of high-performing acceptor and donor polymers as active layers, the performances of the devices based on the four CIMs were compared with conventional devices with LiF/Al and Al as cathode. Compared to the devices with only Al as cathode, the devices comprising conjugated polymers as CIMs presented large improvement in power conversion efficiency from 2.7% to around 5.3%, which is comparable to the devices with LiF/Al as cathode. The encouraging results demonstrated that the use of conjugated interfacial polymers is a robust way to improve the performances of all-PSCs and can elegantly circumvent the use of low work function metals as cathodes. This is very important for roll-to-roll processing of flexible and large-scale solar cells.
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| 5. |
- Bini, Kim, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Broad spectrum absorption and low-voltage electrochromic operation from indacenodithieno[3,2-: B] thiophene-based copolymers
- 2019
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Ingår i: Polymer Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1759-9954 .- 1759-9962. ; 10:16, s. 2004-2014
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electrochromic performance of conjugated polymers has quickly become an important design factor in a variety of applications. There is still significant need to develop highly stable materials with high optical contrast, desired colour switching and fast kinetics. Here, poly[indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,8-diyl] (PIDTT) is introduced as a new type of electrochromic polymer exhibiting a narrow absorption band, excellent electrochemical stability and fast colour switching kinetics between vibrant red (peak maximum at ∼550 nm) and transparent (peak maximum at ∼920 nm) within a low potential range of 0-0.8 V. To widen the spectral coverage of the well-functioning PIDTT over the entire visible range, a modified donor-acceptor approach is used by incorporating three different donor-acceptor-donor (DAD) segments into an indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene (IDTT) based polymer backbone, so as to obtain three different alternating copolymers. This design motif is further rationalized by the maintained electrochemical stability of the new copolymers, and their full colour switching between black and transparent down to an ultra-low potential range of 0-0.6 V.
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| 6. |
- Bini, Kim, 1987
(författare)
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Conjugated polymers with functional side chains for photovoltaics
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Polymer solar cells are quickly approaching viability as a large scale electrical power source. To increase their stability and processability in green solvents, we want to modify their solubilizing side chains with different functionalities. Therefore, in this thesis, a several series of conjugated polymers are presented along with their characterization and utilization. A specific focus is put on the morphology characterization of polymer:PCBM-blends with the use of transmission electron microscopy, which can be a powerful tool to illuminate the bulk of materials where the morphology is of utmost importance. Three case studies are presented where polymer solar cells were characterized with this instrument along with the different conclusions that can be drawn from the data. Afterwards a series of conjugated random copolymers bearing thermocleavable side chains is presented with the purpose of introducing solvent processability which can be removed, leaving insoluble polymer films. They are characterized extensively and their thermal degradation is studied in detail. A morphological study is performed in order to analyze the effect the thermal stabilization has on the morphology and the pure thermocleavable polymer completely stabilized the film. In the following section, a series of fluorene based polymers with polar pendant groups were presented. The polymers were used as cathode interfacial material in all-polymer solar cells and increased the performance from 2.7% to a maximum of 5.4%, a level comparable to that of the inorganic lithium fluoride material. This method thus shows a good alternative for future high throughput production of solar cells. In a related project, similar polymers with varied energy levels were produced with the aim of studying their performance as active layer materials. Polymers bearing tertiary amines are common in interlayers, but not in active layers, due to hole trapping when tried in solar cells, one polymer showed a performance of above 1%. These results are a step towards polymer solar cell active layers processable in alcohol/water.
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| 7. |
- Bini, Kim, 1987
(författare)
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Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Conjugated Polymers for Photovoltaics and Electrochromics
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With the invention of organic electronics, a new class of materials needed to be explored and suitable applications found. The use as semiconductors in many different devices has been explored, where photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes and field-effect transistors have been prominent. For most applications the organic semiconductors have some advantages when compared to their inorganic counterpart, such as molecular design variability, solution processing and flexible mechanical properties. These advantages are quickly making organic semiconductors an interesting alternative in a wide variety of fields. Organic photovoltaics (OPV) have developed rapidly the last decade and is currently close to being commercially viable for niche applications. There are still some problems to overcome, however, such as device lifetimes, upscaling to large scale production and preferably a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) as well. A major disadvantage is the use of toxic and environmentally negative solvents during processing. With the rapid rise of OPVs with polymeric donor and acceptors, so called all-polymer solar cells (all-PSC), some old assumptions about the devices are not valid anymore. Rational design of molecules can be used to achieve desired molecular properties in an attempt to overcome these problems. To address these problems, side chain modification of conventional conjugated polymers was used to produce several series of functional polymers. A set of fluorene-based polymers with polar side chain pendant groups was used as alcohol-soluble cathode interfacial layers. This study managed to prove design principles previously used for polymer:fullerene based solar cells are still valid for all-PSCs. A separate set of polymers, based on isoindigo, included thermocleavable side chains in an effort to address the inherently unstable bulk-heterojunction structures between polymers and fullerenes. This series of polymers managed to show almost complete stabilization of the blend films upon thermal treatment. In parallel with the developing OPV field, similar conjugated polymers have shown dramatic electrochromism, meaning they change color when an electrical field is applied over them. This peculiar property has possible uses in devices which could either switch between absorbing and transmitting such as windows or sunglasses, or switch between non-emissive coloration and transparent, useful in displays with energy consumption restrictions. The polymers used for organic electrochromics (OEC) need to show a large degree of electrochromic contrast, fast switching speeds and electrochemical stability. These two fields will be treated in this thesis with a focus on design and synthesis of functional polymers to solve the problems and material requirements for their future successful application.
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| 8. |
- Bini, Kim, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Orange to green switching anthraquinone-based electrochromic material
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Polymer Science. - : Wiley. - 1097-4628 .- 0021-8995. ; 136:27
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An easily accessible anthraquinone-benzodithiophene-based high bandgap polymer (PTAq) was synthesized by Stille coupling reactions in remarkably high yield (96.5%). The highest occupied molecular orbital energy level of the polymer was estimated from the onset of oxidation in a cyclic voltammetry study to be -5.7 eV. PTAq showed an orange-to-green color switching with the application of a 1.0-V external potential to the polymer film, which was visible to the naked eye. The optical behavior change was also monitored using ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy and revealed a respectable 75% transmittance change when the polymer film was subjected to a 1.0-V external potential. The high color contrast observed makes PTAq one of the most promising materials for electrochromic device applications. (c) 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47729.
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| 9. |
- Bini, Kim, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis and Characterization of Isoindigo-Based Polymers with Thermocleavable Side Chains
- 2018
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Ingår i: Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics. - : Wiley. - 1022-1352 .- 1521-3935. ; 219:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 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.
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| 10. |
- Gedefaw, Desta Antenehe, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis and characterization of benzodithiophene and benzotriazole-based polymers for photovoltaic applications
- 2016
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Ingår i: Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry. - : Beilstein Institut. - 1860-5397. ; 12, s. 1629-1637
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two high bandgap benzodithiophene-benzotriazole-based polymers were synthesized via palladium-catalysed Stille coupling reaction. In order to compare the effect of the side chains on the opto-electronic and photovoltaic properties of the resulting polymers, the benzodithiophene monomers were substituted with either octylthienyl (PTzBDT-1) or dihexylthienyl (PTzBDT-2) as side groups, while the benzotriazole unit was maintained unaltered. The optical characterization, both in solution and thin-film, indicated that PTzBDT-1 has a red-shifted optical absorption compared to PTzBDT-2, likely due to a more planar conformation of the polymer backbone promoted by the lower content of alkyl side chains. The different aggregation in the solid state also affects the energetic properties of the polymers, resulting in a lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) for PTzBDT-1 with respect to PTzBDT-2. However, an unexpected behaviour is observed when the two polymers are used as a donor material, in combination with PC61BM as acceptor, in bulk heterojunction solar cells. Even though PTzBDT-1 showed favourable optical and electrochemical properties, the devices based on this polymer present a power conversion efficiency of 3.3%, considerably lower than the efficiency of 4.7% obtained for the analogous solar cells based on PTzBDT-2. The lower performance is presumably attributed to the limited solubility of the PTzBDT-1 in organic solvents resulting in enhanced aggregation and poor intermixing with the acceptor material in the active layer.
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| 11. |
- Wang, Chuanfei, et al.
(författare)
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Low Band Gap Polymer Solar Cells With Minimal Voltage Losses
- 2016
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Ingår i: Advanced Energy Materials. - : Wiley. - 1614-6832 .- 1614-6840. ; 6:18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the factors limiting the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs) is their large energy losses (E loss) in the conversion from photons to electrons, typically believed to be around 0.6 eV and often higher than those of inorganic solar cells. In this work, a novel low band gap polymer PIDTT-TID with a optical gap of 1.49 eV is synthesized and used as the donor combined with PC71BM in solar cells. These solar cells attain a good power conversion efficiency of 6.7% with a high open-circuit voltage of 1.0 V, leading to the E loss as low as 0.49 eV. A systematic study indicates that the driving force in this donor and acceptor system is sufficient for charge generation with the low E loss. This work pushes the minimal E loss of OSCs down to 0.49 eV, approaching the values of some inorganic and hybrid solar cells. It indicates the potential for further enhancement of the performance of OSCs by improving their V oc since the E loss can be minimized.
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