Gold(III) Porphyrin Was Used as an Electron Acceptor for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

The widespread use of nonfullerene-based electron-accepting materials has triggered a rapid increase in the performance of organic photovoltaic devices. However, the number of efficient acceptor compounds available is rather limited, which hinders the discovery of new, high-performing donor:acceptor combinations. Here, we present a new, efficient electron-accepting compound based on a hitherto unexplored family of well-known molecules: gold porphyrins. The electronic properties of our electron-accepting gold porphyrin, named VC10 , were studied by UV–Vis spectroscopy and by cyclic voltammetry (CV) , revealing two intense optical absorption bands at 500–600 and 700–920 nm and an optical bandgap of 1.39 eV. Blending VC10 with PTB7-Th, a donor polymer, which gives rise to an absorption band at 550–780 nm complementary to that of VC10 , enables the fabrication of organic solar cells (OSCs) featuring a power conversion efficiency of 9.24% and an energy loss of 0.52 eV. Hence, this work establishes a new approach in the search for efficient acceptor molecules for solar cells and new guidelines for future photovoltaic material design.

Macrocyclic Compounds: Metal Oxide Particles Nanocomposite Thin Films Deposited by MAPLE

“…In our case, a current density of at least one order higher, for an applied voltage of 1 V, was noted for the structures developed with ZnO nanoparticles, compared to the reference cell. The result can be explained taking into consideration the higher electron mobility of the metal oxide nanoparticles (~2 × 10 −3 cm 2 V −1 s −1 [ 76 ]) with respect to that of the replaced n-type organic compound (10 −4 cm 2 V −1 s −1 for the porphyrin derivatives [ 77 ]). Even the dark current density value obtained for the structure based on the P3 composite film is lower compared to that recorded for the structure containing the P0 film, and a small improvement was achieved for the structure fabricated with a higher amount of CuO nanoparticles, P4.…”

Mechanism and Role of Nanotechnology in Photovoltaic Cells and Applications in Different Industrial Sectors

“…Explosive thermal emission is another major problem in ordinary cells that have been resolved through nanotechnology. In traditional solar cells, photocarriers relax from their initial energetic position to the band edge by thermal emission process before they can be extracted out from the devices [29][30][31][32].…”

“…Nanostructured solar cells also used to enhance the light-harvesting capability and increase efficiency. Mesoscopic solar cell composed of different layers fabricated with nanoparticles and non-vacuum processing renders a significant reduction of the fabrication cost [27,32,33].…”

Indacenodithiophene Bridged Dimeric Porphyrin Donor and Absorption Complementary Indacenodithiophene Acceptor for Nonfullerene Organic Photovoltaics

“…Moreover, by modifying the β or meso positions of the porphyrin ring as well as different metal ions in the core, their optical and electrochemical properties can be profoundly affected. − As a result, they have been widely used in the active layers of solution-processed OPVs as electron donors or acceptors. Several research groups, including ours, have developed a variety of porphyrin-based donors with various molecular designs. ,− PCEs up to 12% have been achieved in binary layers for OPVs, with porphyrins donors and nonfullerene (or fullerene) acceptors . Recently, researchers have shown a keen interest in extending the π-conjugation of porphyrin dimers with electron-deficient units such as diketopyrrolopyrole, perylenediimide, and benzothiadiazole or electron-rich benzodithiophene, diethynylenedithio-phene, and diethynylenephenylene as linkers.…”