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An Electron‐Deficient Small Molecule Accessible from Sustainable Synthesis and Building Blocks for Use as a Fullerene Alternative in Organic Photovoltaics
Author(s) -
McAfee Seth M.,
Topple Jessica M.,
Payne AbbyJo,
Sun JonPaul,
Hill Ian G.,
Welch Gregory C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201402662
Subject(s) - organic solar cell , materials science , fullerene , energy conversion efficiency , small molecule , photovoltaic system , electron acceptor , nanotechnology , annealing (glass) , acceptor , chemical engineering , open circuit voltage , photochemistry , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , chemistry , voltage , polymer , composite material , ecology , biochemistry , physics , engineering , biology , condensed matter physics , quantum mechanics
An electron‐deficient small molecule accessible from sustainable isoindigo and phthalimide building blocks was synthesized via optimized synthetic procedures that incorporate microwave‐assisted synthesis and a heterogeneous catalyst for Suzuki coupling, and direct heteroarylation carbon–carbon bond forming reactions. The material was designed as a non‐fullerene acceptor with the help of DFT calculations and characterized by optical, electronic, and thermal analysis. Further investigation of the material revealed a differing solid‐state morphology with the use of three well‐known processing conditions: thermal annealing, solvent vapor annealing and small volume fractions of 1,8‐diiodooctane (DIO) additive. These unique morphologies persist in the active layer blends and have demonstrated a distinct influence on device performance. Organic photovoltaic–bulk heterojunction (OPV‐BHJ) devices show an inherently high open circuit voltage ( V oc ) with the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) cells reaching 1.0 V with 0.4 v/v % DIO as a processing additive.