Fused-Thiophene Based Materials for Organic Photovoltaics and Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have drawn great interest from both academics and industry, due to the possibility of low-cost conversion of photovoltaic energy at reasonable efficiencies. This review focuses on recent progress in molecular engineering and technological aspects of fused-thiophene-based organic dye molecules for applications in solar cells. Particular attention has been paid to the design principles and stability of these dye molecules, as well as on the effects of various electrolyte systems for DSSCs. Importantly, it has been found that incorporation of a fused-thiophene unit into the sensitizer has several advantages, such as red-shift of the intramolecular charge transfer band, tuning of the frontier molecular energy level, and improvements in both photovoltaic performance and stability. This work also examines the correlation between the physical properties and placement of fused-thiophene in the molecular structure with regard to their performance in OPVs and DSSCs. OPEN ACCESSPolymers 2014, 6 2646

Micro‐/Nanostructured Highly Crystalline Organic Semiconductor Films for Surface‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Applications

“…This is rather surprising since organic semiconductors exhibit exceptional charge transport/light manipulation properties and excellent contact formation with metals such as Au and Ag in various optoelectronic devices such as organic fi eld-effect transistors (OFETs), [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), [ 30 ] and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). [31][32][33][34] . These advances were possible thanks to numerous studies on both the design and synthesis of high-performance π-conjugated structures as well as on semiconductor device fabrication.…”

A Solution‐Processable Liquid‐Crystalline Semiconductor for Low‐Temperature‐Annealed Air‐Stable N‐Channel Field‐Effect Transistors

“…[14] Of the molecular semiconductors studied to date, small molecules with electron-deficient p architectures and low LUMO energy levels constitute an important class of materials for air-stable electron transport in p-n junctions, bipolar transistors, and organicc omplementary-like circuitry (CMOS). [19,20] In optoelectronic devices, with regardtocharge-carrier injection from environmentally stable metallic electrodes, such as Au and Pt (f %À5.0-À5.9 eV), inorganic oxides, such as indium tin oxide (ITO; f %À4.2-À4.9 eV), or polymeric conductors, such as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxy)thiophene/poly(styrenesulfonate)( PEDOT/PSS; f %À5.0 eV), the electronic energy levels of typical p-building blocks( e.g.,b enzene, thiophene, naph-An ew solution-processable and air-stable liquid-crystalline nchannel organic semiconductor (2,2'-(2,8-bis(5-(2-octyldodecyl)thiophen-2-yl)indeno [1,2-b]fluorene-6,12-diylidene)dimalononitrile, a,w-2OD-TIFDMT)w ith donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) p conjugation has been designed, synthesized,a nd fully characterized. [19,20] In optoelectronic devices, with regardtocharge-carrier injection from environmentally stable metallic electrodes, such as Au and Pt (f %À5.0-À5.9 eV), inorganic oxides, such as indium tin oxide (ITO; f %À4.2-À4.9 eV), or polymeric conductors, such as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxy)thiophene/poly(styrenesulfonate)( PEDOT/PSS; f %À5.0 eV), the electronic energy levels of typical p-building blocks( e.g.,b enzene, thiophene, naph-An ew solution-processable and air-stable liquid-crystalline nchannel organic semiconductor (2,2'-(2,8-bis(5-(2-octyldodecyl)thiophen-2-yl)indeno [1,2-b]fluorene-6,12-diylidene)dimalononitrile, a,w-2OD-TIFDMT)w ith donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) p conjugation has been designed, synthesized,a nd fully characterized.…”

Coplanar D-π-A organic sensitizers featuring a thienylethynyl spacer for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

“…Various -conjugation bridges, such as benzene, furan and thiophene, have been considered to extending the absorption spectra of the organic sensitizers. [10][11][12] The -linker is of significant importance in modulating photophysical properties and its planarity should be considered to increase electron delocalization. 13 14 In this study, we report a revised, improved, synthetic protocol of two metal-free organic compounds featuring a thienylethynyl spacer ( Fig.…”