Publication
Title
Charge transfer in the weak driving force limit in blends of MDMO-PPV and dithienylthiazolo[5,4-d]thiazoles towards organic photovoltaics with high V-OC
Author
Abstract
A series of three 5'-aryl-2,5-dithienylthiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole (DTTzTz) semiconducting molecules with different aryl substituents has been investigated as alternative acceptor materials in combination with the donor polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(3',7'-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MDMO-PPV) in order to evaluate the photoinduced charge transfer (CT) efficiency in the resulting blends, designed towards possible application in organic photovoltaics. Photoluminescence quenching together with polaron detection by electron paramagnetic resonance and photoinduced absorption (PIA) demonstrate an increasing charge transfer efficiency when the DTTzTz substituents are varied from thien-2-yl to 4-trifluoromethylphenyl and 4-cyanophenyl groups, correlating well with the increasing acceptor strength in this series of molecules. In line with this observation, there is a decrease in the effective optical bandgap relative to pure MDMO-PPV that becomes more pronounced along this series of acceptor compounds, reaching 0.12 eV in the blend with 4-CN-Ph-DTTzTz. Intermolecular interactions between the blend components lead to lower energy transitions which are found to contribute significantly to the device external quantum efficiency. The high V-OC reached in devices based on MDMO-PPV: 4-CN-Ph-DTTzTz blends meets the expectations for such a donor: acceptor combination. However, thermal activation of charge carrier recombination occurs because of the weak driving force for charge transfer, as shown by time-dependent PIA measurements, and this is suggested as a cause for the observed low photovoltaic performance.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Physical chemistry, chemical physics / Royal Society of Chemistry [London] - Cambridge, 1999, currens
Publication
Cambridge : The Royal Society of Chemistry , 2012
ISSN
1463-9076 [print]
1463-9084 [online]
DOI
10.1039/C2CP42399E
Volume/pages
14 :45 (2012) , p. 15774-15784
ISI
000310460400019
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
The elucidation of complex electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of novel stable radical cations - an interdisciplinary approach.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.02.2013
Last edited 04.03.2024
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