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Triplet Sensitizer Modification of Poly(3‐hexyl)thiophene (P3HT) for Increased Efficiency in Bulk Heterojunction Photovoltaic Devices
Author(s) -
Ramidi Punnamchandar,
Abdulrazzaq Omar,
Felton Charlette M.,
Gartia Yashraj,
Saini Viney,
Biris Alexandru S.,
Ghosh Anindya
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201402008
Subject(s) - thiophene , benzophenone , materials science , copolymer , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , polymer solar cell , polymer chemistry , polymer , photochemistry , energy conversion efficiency , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , chemistry , optoelectronics , engineering , composite material
We present the successful synthesis of a modified poly(3‐hexyl)thiophene (P3HT) donor polymer with benzophenone (P3HTB) substitution. The triplet‐sensitizer (benzophenone)‐containing polymer (P3HTB) was synthesized by the oxidative copolymerization of 3‐hexylthiophene and benzopheneone‐modified thiophene [2‐phenyl‐2‐(4‐(thiophen‐3‐yl)phenyl)‐1,3‐dioxolane] and deprotecting the cyclic ketal group. The resulting polymer was characterized by using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Different ratios of the copolymer (P3HTB) and pristine P3HT mixtures were used for the fabrication and characterization of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) cells, with [6,6]‐Phenyl C 61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) used as the acceptor in fabricating the active layers. An increase in power conversion efficiency (≈15 %) was observed with devices fabricated with 2.5 and 5 wt % P3HTB mixed with P3HT compared to those fabricated with P3HT alone.