Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells made using polymer/fullerene blends as the active layer have been extensively studied and exhibit high efficiency among organic materials to date. Recent reports have shown that power conversion efficiency (PCE) closer to 10% can be achieved in single junction solar cells by using an interlayer, while tandem configuration have resulted in device performance higher than 10%. Most high performing polymers are usually synthesized by Stille coupling due to their mild reaction conditions and greater tolerance for wide variety of functional groups on the monomer units. However the synthesis of organotin monomer involves the use of toxic trialkyltin reagents and potential problems in disposal of organotin reagents and byproducts during large scale synthesis and purification of both monomer and polymer. Another well-known method used in conjugated polymer synthesis is the Suzuki polymerization. However this method suffers from lower reaction rates usually associated with multiphase reactions, which results in longer reaction times to achieve high molecular weight polymers. Herein we report the synthesis of thienyl substituted benzodithiophene (BDT) based polymer under short reaction times via Suzuki coupling with higher molecular weight than that can be achieved using Stille coupling. These polymers exhibit superior performance (PCE ~ 8.5%) in OPV devices than polymers prepared via Stille coupling (PCE ~ 5%). Our results further strengthen the argument for employing Suzuki polymerization for large-scale synthesis of conjugated polymer for use in clean energy production.

Rapid synthesis of high molecular weight conjugated polymers <i>via</i> Suzuki polymerization for OPV applications

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Rapid synthesis of high molecular weight conjugated polymers via Suzuki polymerization for OPV applications