Insertion of poly(acrylamide) disc‐columnar liquid crystals as a functional template in organic photovoltaics

Poly(acrylamide) disc‐columnar liquid crystals act as a transport interlayer that has been developed to improve photoconversion efficiency. It is composed of 2,3,6,7‐tetra‐6‐hexyloxydibenzo[a,c]phenazine‐11‐carboxylic monomer and polyacrylamide to show a high isotropic phase transition point of ∼ 270°C and a decomposition temperature T d 5% = 450°C. Absorption in the visible light region is in the range of 200–450 nm. A hexagonally columnar mesophase was investigated by optical and texture analysis. The ability of a self‐assembled pathway enhanced carrier mobility due to π‐π conjugation in stacking up macrocyclic core. This study demonstrated the insertion of a functionally dibenzophenazine‐based polymer as a hole‐extracting layer with a columnar array in OPVs which is sufficient to promote a 16% increase in the amount of harvested light. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012