A novel ladder-type donor (IDTT) is developed by substituting the two outward thiophenes of the IDT donor with two thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes. The polymer derived from this donor possesses longer effective conjugation and better planarity, which improves electron delocalization along the polymer backbone and charge mobility. The polymer solar cell device using PIDTT-DFBT shows a high power conversion efficiency of 7.03% with a large open-circuit voltage of 0.95 V without using any additives or post-solvent/thermal annealing processes.

Traps in the photoactive layer or interface can critically influence photovoltaic device characteristics and stabilities. Here, traps passivation and retardation on device degradation for methylammonium lead trihalide (MAPbI ) perovskite solar cells enabled by a biopolymer heparin sodium (HS) interfacial layer is investigated. The incorporated HS boosts the power conversion efficiency from 17.2 to 20.1% with suppressed hysteresis and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, which originates primarily from the passivation of traps near the interface between the perovskites and the TiO cathode. The incorporation of an HS interfacial layer also leads to a considerable retardation of device degradation, by which 85% of the initial performance is maintained after 70 d storage in ambient environment. Aided by density functional theory calculations, it is found that the passivation of MAPbI and TiO surfaces by HS occurs through the interactions of the functional groups (COO , SO , or Na ) in HS with undersaturated Pb and I ions in MAPbI and Ti in TiO . This work demonstrates a highly viable and facile interface strategy using biomaterials to afford high-performance and stable perovskite solar cells.

The contact between the n-type interlayer and the donor provides an extra interface for charge dissociation.

Monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(Tyr(alkynyl)-OCA), a biodegradable amphiphilic block copolymer, was synthesized by means of ring-opening polymerization of 5-(4-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)benzyl)-1,3-dioxolane-2,4-dione (Tyr(alkynyl)-OCA) and used to prepare core cross-linked polyester micelles via click chemistry. Core cross-linking not only improved the structural stability of the micelles but also allowed controlled release of cargo molecules in response to the reducing reagent. This new class of core cross-linked micelles can potentially be used in controlled release and drug delivery applications.

Spectroscopic evidence is presented to indicate that local screening effects are important in polymer mixtures. Essentially, a polymer segment has a locally higher concentration of like segments because of this factor. A simple modification to existing theories is presented to account for this local screening.

Despite the dramatic rise in power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of perovskite solar cells (PeSCs), concerns surrounding the long-term stability as well as the poor reproducibility in the archetypal three-dimensional (3D) perovskite, MAPbI3 (MA = CH3NH3), have the potential to derail commercialization. We have reported the fabrication and properties of a series of 2D perovskite compounds (PEI)2(MA) n−1Pb n I3n+1 (n = 3, 5, 7) by incorporating polyethylenimine (PEI) cations within the layered structure. The benefits of using intercalated polymer cations in the multilayered films are multiple: moisture resistance and film quality are greatly enhanced compared to that of their 3D MAPbI3 analogue; charge transport within solar cells can also be improved compared to that of 2D materials using small-molecule bulky ammonium. The moisture-stable nature of the multilayered perovskite materials allow for the simple one-step fabrication of cells with an aperture area of 2.32 cm2 under ambient humidity that have a PCE up to 8.77%. Overall, the 2D perovskite family offers rich multitudes of substituent and crystal structures, defining a promising class of stable and efficient light-absorbing materials.

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Selenium substitution on a ladder-type indacenodithiophene-based polymer (PIDT-DFBT) is investigated in order to reduce band gap, improve charge mobilities, and enhance the photovoltaic performance of the material. The new indacenodiselenophene-based polymer (PIDSe-DFBT) possessed improved absorption over its sulfur analogue in films, as well as substantially higher charge mobilities (0.15 and 0.064 cm 2 /(V s) hole and electron mobility, respectively, compared to 0.002 and 0.008 cm 2 /(V s) for PIDT-DFBT). The enhanced material properties led to an improved power conversion efficiency of 6.8% in photovoltaic cells, a 13% improvement over PIDT-DFBT-based devices. Furthermore, we examined the effect of molecular weight on the properties of PIDSe-DFBT and found not only a strong molecular weight dependence on mobilities, but also on the absorptivity of polymer films, with each 15 000 g/mol increase in weight, leading to a 25% increase in the absorptivity of the material. The molecular weight dependence of the material's properties resulted in a significant difference in photovoltaic performance with the highmolecular-weight PIDSe-DFBT providing a higher photocurrent, fill factor, and efficiency due to its improved absorption and hole mobility. These results demonstrate the importance of achieving high molecular weight and the potential that seleniumcontaining ladder-type polymers have in the design of high-performance semiconducting polymers for organic photovoltaics (OPVs).