Synthesis of SOT-OH and its application as a building block for the synthesis of new dimeric and trimeric Spiro-OMeTAD materials

Cariello, M. , Pant, N., Harkiss, A. H., Tracey, F. M., Cameron, J. , Skabara, P. J. , Holliman, P. J., Docampo, P. and Cooke, G. (2022) Synthesis of SOT-OH and its application as a building block for the synthesis of new dimeric and trimeric Spiro-OMeTAD materials. Molecular Systems Design and Engineering, 7(8), pp. 899-905. (doi: 10.1039/D2ME00038E)

Abstract

Spiro-OMeTAD has become a ubiquitous hole-transporting material (HTM) in perovskite-based solar cells. However, it has several intrinsic drawbacks including its long-term stability, low conductivity and hole-mobility. Hence, the synthesis of new derivatives with improved charge transporting properties remains an important goal. Here, we have devised a novel synthetic route to prepare unsymmetrically functionalised Spiro-OMeTAD derivatives. We report the synthesis of a mono-demethylated Spiro-OMeTAD derivative, SOT-OH, utilising two different synthetic protocols and show two new derivatives, a dimer (SOT-D) and a trimer (SOT-T) as exemplars. We fully characterise the developed materials and show significantly higher conductivity values than Spiro-OMeTAD when doped with standard ionic salts at the same concentrations. The solar cells fabricated using the mixed composition Cs0.05(FA0.85MA0.15)0.95PbI3 perovskite and the novel SOT-D show power conversion efficiencies of up to 16.4% under standard AM1.5 illumination compared to 16.1% observed when using the benchmark Spiro-OMeTAD.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cariello, Dr Michele and Docampo, Dr Pablo and Harkiss, Dr Alexander and Cameron, Dr Joseph and Pant, Dr Namrata and Tracey, Frances and Skabara, Professor Peter and Cooke, Professor Graeme
• Authors: Cariello, M., Pant, N., Harkiss, A. H., Tracey, F. M., Cameron, J., Skabara, P. J., Holliman, P. J., Docampo, P., and Cooke, G.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Journal Name: Molecular Systems Design and Engineering
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• ISSN: 2058-9689
• ISSN (Online): 2058-9689
• Published Online: 28 April 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry and IChemE
• First Published: First published in Molecular Systems Design and Engineering 7(8): 899-905
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
301081		Surface Engineering Solid State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells	Graeme Cooke	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/P030106/1	Chemistry
310679		Hybrid Perovskite Heterojunctions (AoE ENG Materials & Manufacturing)	Pablo Docampo	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/T010568/1	Chemistry