Issue 19, 2016

Thiazole-based scaffolding for high performance solar cells

Abstract

An interesting way of decreasing both HOMO and LUMO energy levels simultaneously while keeping the band-gap constant in soluble electron-donor small molecules for photovoltaic applications is presented. This consists in the replacement of thiophene rings by thiazole units in small molecules based on the alternation of electron-rich and electron-deficient moieties. A new diketopyrrolopyrrole-based dumbbell-shaped electron-donor soluble molecule for organic photovoltaic applications has been synthesized and characterized. It includes thiazole units as linkers between the bis-lactam core and the triazatruxene moieties used as π-stacking platforms. A power conversion efficiency of 6.3% has been attained with this thiazole derivative and in particular with an increase of the open-circuit voltage of 0.15 V with respect to the thiophene-based organic semiconducting counterpart. This open-circuit voltage increase is due to the lowering of the HOMO level of the thiazole derivative while its LUMO level has also been stabilized as highlighted by the similar band-gap measured for the thiazole and thiophene derivatives.

Graphical abstract: Thiazole-based scaffolding for high performance solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Feb 2016
Accepted
21 Mar 2016
First published
30 Mar 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2016,4, 4296-4303

Thiazole-based scaffolding for high performance solar cells

I. Bulut, P. Chávez, A. Mirloup, Q. Huaulmé, A. Hébraud, B. Heinrich, S. Fall, S. Méry, R. Ziessel, T. Heiser, P. Lévêque and N. Leclerc, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2016, 4, 4296 DOI: 10.1039/C6TC00531D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements