Copolymers with similar comonomers: Tuning frontier orbital energies for application in organic solar cells

Author(s)

Oliveira, Eliezer Fernando ^[1] ; Lavarda, Francisco Carlos ^{[2, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, POSMAT Programa Posgrad Ciencia Tecnol Mat, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Fac Ciencias, Dept Fis, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE; v. 56, n. 4, p. 479-487, APR 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 9

Abstract

Today, there is an intense search for new electron donor polymers for the active layers of organic solar cells. The synthesis of copolymers, in which there is a mix of electron donor monomers with others that are electron acceptors, is a currently employed approach that is used to obtain new polymers with more interesting electronic properties. Usually, the comonomers have a very different structure and the energies of the frontier electronic levels are unpredictable. We demonstrate in this work that the approach of using similar comonomers allows for the provision of copolymers with predictable energies of the frontier electronic levels. We explore the properties of copolymers consisting of monomers of poly(3-hexylthiophene), poly(3-hexyloxythiophene) and some poly(3-hexylthiophene) derivatives. The results indicate that the copolymers have intermediate frontier orbital energies when compared to the parent homopolymers and these energies are easy to predict. This approach is an alternative way of designing a copolymer with favorable tuning of the energies of the frontier electronic levels and is supported by experimental evidence. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:479-487, 2016. (c) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/21983-0 - ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF ORGANIC MATERIALS FOR APPLICATIONS IN SOLAR CELLS' ACTIVE LAYERS
• Grantee: Eliezer Fernando de Oliveira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 14/20410-1 - Electronic structure of organic materials for applications in the active layer of solar cells
• Grantee: Francisco Carlos Lavarda
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants