ABSTRACT
Although organic solar cells have started to demonstrate competitive power conversion efficiencies of >18 %, their operational lifetimes remain insufficient for wide practical use and the factors influencing the photostability of absorber materials and completed devices are still not completely understood. A systematic study of two series of structurally similar [XTBT]n and [XTTBTBTT]n polymers (16 structures in total) reveals the building blocks that enable the highest material stability towards photooxidation: fluorene, silafluorene, carbazole, diketopyrrolopyrrole, and isoindigo. Furthermore, a direct correlation is evident between the electronic properties of the conjugated polymers and their reactivity towards oxygen. The structures with the lowest highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energies show the highest electrochemical oxidation potentials and appear to be the most resistant towards chemical oxidation. These relationships set important guidelines for the further rational design of new absorber materials for efficient and stable organic photovoltaics.
ABSTRACT
Recent efficiency records of organic photovoltaics (OPV) highlight stability as a limiting weakness. Incorporation of stabilizers is a desirable approach for inhibiting degradation-it is inexpensive and readily up-scalable. However, to date, such additives have had limited success. We show that ß-carotene (BC), an inexpensive and green, naturally occurring antioxidant, dramatically improves OPV stability. When compared to nonstabilized reference devices, the accumulated power generation of PTB7:[70]PCBM devices in the presence of BC increases by an impressive factor of 6, due to stabilization of both the burn-in and the lifetime, and by a factor of 21 for P3HT:[60]PCBM devices, owing to a longer lifetime. Using electron spin resonance and time-resolved near-IR emission spectroscopies, we probed radical and singlet oxygen concentrations. We demonstrate that singlet oxygen sensitized by [70]PCBM causes the "burn-in" of PTB7:[70]PCBM devices and that BC effectively mitigates it. Our results provide an effective solution to the problem that currently limits widespread use of OPV.
ABSTRACT
A series of homoleptic bis{tetrakis(5,7-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)-6H-1,4-diazepino)[2,3-b,g,l,q]porphyrazinato}lanthanide sandwich complexes [(tBuPh)DzPz]2Ln (Ln = Lu, Er, Dy, Eu, Nd, Ce, La) were prepared and their physicochemical properties were studied to gain insight into the nature of specific interactions in diazepinoporphyrazines. The effect of annulated diazepine moieties and the Ln ionic radius on the properties of the complexes was investigated in comparison with double-decker phthalocyanines. A combination of experimental and theoretical studies revealed the presence of two types of hydrogen bonding interactions in the metal-free porphyrazine and the corresponding sandwich complexes, namely, interligand C-H(ax)N(meso) hydrogen bonding and O-HN(Dz) ligand-water interaction. The interligand hydrogen bonding imparts high stability of the ligand dimer and the double-decker compounds in a reduced state. This work is the first comprehensive investigation into the fundamental understanding of the unusual properties of diazepine-containing macroheterocycles.
