Efficient green solar cells via a chemically polymerizable donor-acceptor heterocyclic pentamer

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2009 Jun;1(6):1154-8. doi: 10.1021/am900116p.

Abstract

In this contribution, we report on bulk-heterojunction solar cells using a solution-processable neutral green conjugated copolymer based on 3,4-dioxythiophene and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole as the donor and [6,6]phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the acceptor. We have found that the short-circuit current is very sensitive to the composition of the donor-acceptor blend and it increases with increasing acceptor concentration. The device with a donor-acceptor ratio of 1:8 gives the best performance with a short-circuit current of 5.56 mA/cm(2), an open-circuit voltage of 0.77 V, and a power conversion efficiency of 1.9% under AM 1.5 solar illumination. The incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of the green solar cells shows two bands, one with a maximum of 57% in the UV region corresponding to absorption of PCBM and a second one with a maximum of 42% at longer wavelengths corresponding to the absorption of the green polymer.

Publication types

  • Letter
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electric Power Supplies*
  • Electron Transport
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Green Chemistry Technology / instrumentation*
  • Heterocyclic Compounds / chemistry*
  • Heterocyclic Compounds / radiation effects
  • Light
  • Materials Testing
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Polymers / radiation effects
  • Solar Energy*
  • Zinc / chemistry*
  • Zinc / radiation effects

Substances

  • Heterocyclic Compounds
  • Polymers
  • Zinc