Fluorination as an effective tool to increase the open-circuit voltage and charge carrier mobility of organic solar cells based on poly(cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-alt-quinoxaline) copolymers

Pieter Verstappen; Jurgen Kesters; Wouter Vanormelingen; Gaël H. L. Heintges; Jeroen Drijkoningen; Tim Vangerven; Lidia Marin; Simplice Koudjina; Benoît Champagne; Jean Manca; Laurence Lutsen; Dirk Vanderzande; Wouter Maes

doi:10.1039/C4TA06054G

Fluorination as an effective tool to increase the open-circuit voltage and charge carrier mobility of organic solar cells based on poly(cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-alt-quinoxaline) copolymers†

Pieter Verstappen,^ab Jurgen Kesters,^abc Wouter Vanormelingen,^ab Gaël H. L. Heintges,^ab Jeroen Drijkoningen,^bc Tim Vangerven,^bc Lidia Marin,^ab Simplice Koudjina,^d Benoît Champagne,^d Jean Manca,^bc Laurence Lutsen,^b Dirk Vanderzande^ab and Wouter Maes*^ab

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* Corresponding authors

^a Design & Synthesis of Organic Semiconductors (DSOS), Institute for Materials Research (IMO-IMOMEC), Hasselt University, Agoralaan 1 – Building D, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
E-mail: wouter.maes@uhasselt.be
Fax: +32 11268299
Tel: +32 11268312

^b IMEC, IMOMEC, Universitaire Campus – Wetenschapspark 1, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium

^c Organic and Nanostructured Electronics & Energy (ONE2), Institute for Materials Research (IMO-IMOMEC), Hasselt University, Universitaire Campus – Wetenschapspark 1, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium

^d Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, B-5000 Namur, Belgium

Abstract

The effect of fluorination on the optoelectronic properties and the polymer : fullerene solar cell characteristics of PCPDTQx-type (poly{4-(2′-ethylhexyl)-4-octyl-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-alt-2,3-bis[5′-(2′′-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2′-yl]quinoxaline}) low bandgap copolymers is reported. The introduction of fluorine atoms on the quinoxaline constituents is an effective way to lower the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of the alternating copolymers, resulting in an enhanced open-circuit voltage for the devices based on the fluorinated polymers (∼0.1 V per F added). Furthermore, fluorination also improves the charge carrier mobility in the bulk heterojunction blends. Despite the formation of unfavorable photoactive layer morphologies, the best solar cell performance is obtained for the copolymer prepared from the difluorinated quinoxaline monomer, affording a power conversion efficiency of 5.26% under AM 1.5G irradiation, with an open-circuit voltage of 0.83 V, a short-circuit current density of 11.58 mA cm⁻² and a fill factor of 55%.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Fluorination as an effective tool to increase the open-circuit voltage and charge carrier mobility of organic solar cells based on poly(cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-alt-quinoxaline) copolymers†

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Fluorination as an effective tool to increase the open-circuit voltage and charge carrier mobility of organic solar cells based on poly(cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-alt-quinoxaline) copolymers

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