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Fine-tuning of polymer photovoltaic properties by the length of alkyl side chains

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Abstract

This paper reports the synthesis and characteristics of a series of alkyl-substituted planar polymers. The physical properties are carefully tuned to optimize their photovoltaic performance. Depending on the length of soluble alkyl side chains which modify the structural order and orientation substantially in polymer backbones, the device performance can be improved significantly. The tuning of HOMO energy levels optimized polymers’ spectral coverage of absorption and their hole mobility, as well as miscibility with fullerene; all these efforts enhanced polymer solar cell performances. The short-circuit current, J sc for polymer solar cells was increased by adjusting polymer chain packing ability. It was found that films with well distributed polymer/fullerene interpenetrating network exhibit improved solar cell conversion efficiency. Enhanced efficiency up to 5.8% has been demonstrated. The results provide important insights about the roles of flexile chains in structure-property relationship for the design of new polymers to be used in high efficient solar cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Physics & Electronic Engineering, Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials of Henan Province, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Rui-ping Qin  (秦瑞平), Yu-rong Jiang, Hao-xing Zhang, Kai-xuan Zhang, Qun-ying Zhang & Fang-gao Chang  (常方高)

Authors
  1. Rui-ping Qin  (秦瑞平)
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  2. Yu-rong Jiang
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  3. Hao-xing Zhang
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  4. Kai-xuan Zhang
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  5. Qun-ying Zhang
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  6. Fang-gao Chang  (常方高)
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rui-ping Qin  (秦瑞平) or Fang-gao Chang  (常方高).

Additional information

This work was financially supported by the Postdoctoral Starting Foundation of Henan Normal University (01026500105); Young Scientists Foundation of Henan Normal University (01026400061) and Henan Province basic and frontier technology research projects (1323004100247).

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Qin, Rp., Jiang, Yr., Zhang, Hx. et al. Fine-tuning of polymer photovoltaic properties by the length of alkyl side chains. Chin J Polym Sci 33, 490–498 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-015-1603-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-015-1603-5

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