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A Near-infrared Non-fullerene Acceptor with Thienopyrrole-expanded Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene Core for Polymer Solar Cells

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Abstract

A near-infrared non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) BDTIC, based on thienopyrrole-expanded benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene unit (heptacyclic S,N-heteroacene) as core, is designed and synthesized. The aromatic pyrrole ring with strong electron-donating ability in the core enhances the intramolecular charge transfer effect, finely tunes the optical bandgap and absorption profile of BDTIC, and thus results in a narrowed optical bandgap (E optg ) of 1.38 eV and a near-infrared absorption to 900 nm. When BDTIC is paired with donor polymer PBDB-T to fabricate organic solar cells, the optimized device achieves a best power conversion efficiency of 12.1% with a short-circuit current density of 20.0 mA·cm−2 and an open-circuit voltage of 0.88 V. The photovoltaic performance benefits from the broad absorption, weak bimolecular recombination, efficient charge separation and collection, and favorable blend morphology. This work demonstrates that thienopyrrole-expanded benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene unit (heptacyclic S,N-heteroacene) is a promising building unit to construct high-performance NFAs by enhancing the intramolecular charge transfer effect, broadening absorption as well as maintaining good intermolecular stacking property.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFA0705900) funded by MOST, the Basic and Applied Basic Research Major Program of Guangdong Province (No. 2019B030302007), and the Pearl River Nova Program of Guangzhou (NO. 201906010074).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Zhen Chen, Shan-Shan Ma, Kai Zhang, Zhi-Cheng Hu, Qing-Wu Yin, Fei Huang & Yong Cao

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  1. Zhen Chen
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  2. Shan-Shan Ma
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  3. Kai Zhang
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Correspondence to Kai Zhang or Fei Huang.

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A Near-Infrared Non-Fullerene Acceptor with Thienopyrrole-Expanded Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene Core for Polymer Solar Cells

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Chen, Z., Ma, SS., Zhang, K. et al. A Near-infrared Non-fullerene Acceptor with Thienopyrrole-expanded Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene Core for Polymer Solar Cells. Chin J Polym Sci 39, 35–42 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-020-2440-8

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