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Self‐Doped N‐Type Water/Alcohol Soluble‐Conjugated Polymers with Tailored Backbones and Polar Groups for Highly Efficient Polymer Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Hu Zhicheng,
Chen Zhiming,
Zhang Kai,
Zheng Nannan,
Xie Ruihao,
Liu Xiang,
Yang Xiye,
Huang Fei,
Cao Yong
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
solar rrl
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.544
H-Index - 37
ISSN - 2367-198X
DOI - 10.1002/solr.201700055
Subject(s) - conjugated system , doping , materials science , polymer , polymer solar cell , energy conversion efficiency , chemical engineering , chemical physics , photochemistry , optoelectronics , chemistry , composite material , engineering
N‐type water/alcohol soluble‐conjugated polymers (n‐WSCPs) have shown promise as electron transport materials (ETMs) in applications such as high‐performance polymer solar cells (PSCs) and other opto‐electronic devices. However, the inherent relationship between the doping behaviors and the specific structures of these conjugated polymers has not yet been established. In this work, we develop a series of tailor‐made n‐WSCPs that comprise different conjugated backbones and pendant polar groups, and systematically study the relevance of the doping properties and structures of n‐WSCPs. We find that the doping behavior and photoconductivity of n‐WSCPs correlated significantly with the electron affinities of their backbones and electron‐donating strengths of their pendant polar groups. Moreover, the electron‐only device study results indicate that counterions with stronger electron‐donating abilities could improve the electron mobility of these n‐WSCPs. Importantly, an n‐type backbone with a better planarity and a higher affinity would more strongly benefit the self‐doping process and the higher charge transport properties of n‐WSCPs, leading to improved performance in PSCs. When used as ETMs in PSCs, these n‐WSCPs can yield high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) exceeding 10 and 9% for photovoltaic devices with 5–10 nm n‐WSCPs and 60 nm n‐WSCPs, respectively.