Novel cyclosulfation chemistry for the functionalization of Ceo and its analogs is described. The cyclosulfation of Ceo is accomplished in neat fuming sulfuric acid at 55-60 °C under N3 to afford polycyclosulfated fullerene derivatives. Hydrolysis of these derivatives, either in the presence of water at 85-90 °C or in aqueous NaOH solution at ambient temperature, gives the corresponding polyhydroxylated fullerenes (fullerenols) in high yield. The functional characteristics and number of sulfate moieties per Ceo molecule in the polycyclosulfated fullerene precursors, and the structure of fullerenols, were determined primarily by the analysis of the TGA-mass spectrum and the sulfur (S2P) and carbon (Cu) absorption bands in the XPS spectrum. We resolved an average of 10 to 12 hydroxyl addends in the chemical structure of fullerenols that can be correlated to the structure of polycyclosulfated fullerene precursors containing 5 to 6 cyclosulfate units. The cyclosulfation chemistry is, presumably, initiated by a one-electron oxidation of Ceo, followed by the attack of anionic sulfate species on the resulting cationic Ceo radical intermediates, to form the corresponding hydrogen sulfated Ceo radicals. Further oxidation and intramolecular cyclization of this hydrogensulfated C6o yields the polycyclosulfated Ceo products.

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Interfacial engineering of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is attracting intensive attention owing to the charge transfer efficiency at an interface, which greatly influences the photovoltaic performance. This study demonstrates the modification of a TiO electron-transporting layer with various amino acids, which affects charge transfer efficiency at the TiO /CH NH PbI interface in PSC, among which the l-alanine-modified cell exhibits the best power conversion efficiency with 30% enhancement. This study also shows that the (110) plane of perovskite crystallites tends to align in the direction perpendicular to the amino-acid-modified TiO as observed in grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering of thin CH NH PbI perovskite film. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy reveals less charge transfer resistance at the TiO /CH NH PbI interface after being modified with amino acids, which is also supported by the lower intensity of steady-state photoluminescence (PL) and the reduced PL lifetime of perovskite. In addition, based on the PL measurement with excitation from different side of the sample, amino-acid-modified samples show less surface trapping effect compared to the sample without modification, which may also facilitate charge transfer efficiency at the interface. The results suggest that appropriate orientation of perovskite crystallites at the interface and trap-passivation are the niche for better photovoltaic performance.

We simultaneously employed grazing incidence small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS and GIWAXS) techniques to quantitatively study the structural evolution and kinetic behavior of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) crystallization, [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) aggregation and amorphous P3HT/PCBM domains from a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) to a thermally unstable structure. The independent phase separation regimes on the nanoscale (∼10 nm), mesoscale (∼100 nm) and macroscale (∼μm) are revealed for the first time. Bis-PCBM molecules as inhibitors incorporated into the P3HT/PCBM blend films were adopted as a case study of a control strategy for improving the thermal stability of P3HT/PCBM solar cell. The detailed information on the formation, growth, transformation and mutual interaction between different phases during the hierarchical structural evolution of P3HT/PCBM:xbis-PCBM (x = 8-100%) blend films are presented herein. This systematic study proposes the mechanisms of thermal instability for a polymer/fullerene-based solar cell. We demonstrate a new fundamental concept that the structural evolution and thermal stability of mesoscale amorphous P3HT/PCBM domains during heating are the origin of controlling thermal instability rather than those of nanoscale thermally-stable BHJ structures. It leads to a low-cost and easy-fabrication control strategy for effectively tailoring the hierarchical morphology against thermal instability from molecular to macro scales. The optimum treatment achieving high thermal stability, control of mesoscale domains, can be effectively designed. It is independent of the original BHJ nanostructure design of a polymer/fullerene-based solar cell with high performance. It advances the general knowledge on the thermal instability directly arising from the nanoscale structure.

We report here the synthesis and characterization of two new conjugated polymers: poly{2,5-bis[3-(N,N-diethylammonium acetate)-1-oxapropyl]-1,4-phenylenevinylene} (P1') and poly{2,5-bis[3-(N,N,N-triethylammonium bromide)-1-oxapropyl]-1,4-phenylenevinylene} (P2). Both polymers exhibit unique pH-dependent optical properties in aqueous solution. These pH-dependent optical properties are attributed to the mutual electrostatic repulsions of positive charges pendent on the benzene rings. This electrostatic repulsion leads to an increased or decreased torsional angle in the conjugated backbone, thus affecting the effective conjugation length of these polymers. The UV-vis spectra of P1 in various pH solutions exhibit a near-isosbestic point, which indicates changes in the composition of the two distinct conformations (the charged and the neutral forms). The transition between the highly charged state and the neutral state was clearly observed in the UV-vis and photoluminescence studies on both P1 and P2. This transition is particularly sensitive in the pH range from 6.2 to 7.0, a range that would allow the detection of minor environmental changes. P2 has a quantum efficiency of 14% in water, which is considered to be relatively high among water-soluble PPVs.

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