Solar cells are one key technology for solving world energy needs. The development of new materials such as semiconducting conjugated polymers as active components in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic devices could help to significantly reduce the fabrication cost of such devices. In the last few years, many chemists proposed new polymeric structures. Among them, we would like to report new polythienopyrrolopyrrole derivatives that show good solubility and good hole mobility, resulting in power conversion efficiencies of up to 8-9%. We will also talk about new promising polymeric structures that could lead to efficiencies up to 10% in a single cell configuration. To achieve this goal, we have recently developed novel synthetic methodologies for a simple preparation of various conjugated polymers. These new direct (herero)arylation reactions allow the formation of carbon-carbon bonds between heteroarenes and aryl halides, which do not require organometallic intermediates thereby significantly reducing both synthetic steps, metallic by-products, and cost. They even make possible the synthesis of conjugated polymers that were unknown up to now.

New polymers and polymerization methods for plastic solar cells

247th National Meeting (2014)

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