Investigating the effect of heteroatom substitution in 2,1,3-benzoxadiazole and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole compounds for organic photovoltaics

Cameron, J. , Abed, M. M., Chapman, S. J., Findlay, N. J. , Skabara, P. J. , Horton, P. N. and Coles, S. J. (2018) Investigating the effect of heteroatom substitution in 2,1,3-benzoxadiazole and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole compounds for organic photovoltaics. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 6(14), pp. 3709-3714. (doi: 10.1039/C7TC05075E)

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Abstract

Two new donor–acceptor−donor molecules, featuring either 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT) or 2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (BO) and capped by benzofuranyl-thienyl groups, are presented. The structures of these novel compounds differ only in the identity of one heteroatom in the acceptor unit. Replacement of the sulfur atom in BT with oxygen results in a marked improvement in the performance of PC61BM blends in bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (BHJ OPV) devices: a 10-fold increase in PCE is observed when switching to the BO analogue. This is partly due to a preferable morphology in the donor-fullerene blends formed upon spin-coating from chlorinated solvents.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Skabara, Professor Peter and Cameron, Dr Joseph and Findlay, Dr Neil
Authors: Cameron, J., Abed, M. M., Chapman, S. J., Findlay, N. J., Skabara, P. J., Horton, P. N., and Coles, S. J.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
Journal Name:Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Publisher:Royal Society of Chemistry
ISSN:2050-7526
ISSN (Online):2050-7534
Published Online:21 December 2017

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record

Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
3038480Molecular assembly of spintronic circuits with DNAPeter SkabaraEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/N035496/2Chemistry
3037760Light-controlled manufacturing of semiconductor structures: a platform for next generation processing of photonic devicesPeter SkabaraEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/P02744X/2Chemistry