Optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties of conjugated polymers with dithiafulvalene as side chains

Three conjugated polymers, P1–P3, with dithiafulvalene (DTF) as side chains have been synthesized. All polymers have good thermal stabilities. The DTF unit could be oxidized to DTF• + which was observed from cyclic voltammetry and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectra, and the oxidation process was independent of the conjugated backbone of the polymer. The strong π–π* transition absorbing band of the three polymers decreases gradually as increasing oxidation, and the resulting DTF• + species give rise to an additional band at 750–1100 nm, which can be assigned to a distinguishing feature of the cation radical species. Photovoltaic device based on the blend of P2 and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC 61 BM) showed the power conversion efficiency of 1.05% with a fill factor of 42.8%. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41508.