Conjugated Polymers Based on Benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene with Low-Lying Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital Energy Levels for Organic Photovoltaics

Fusing bithiophene units with a benzo moiety, benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene (BDT), was projected by theoretical calculations to lower the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of the resulting polymers compared with that of the bithiophene unit, which would enhance the open circuit voltage of bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells fabricated from BDT-based polymers blended with PCBM. The homopolymer of BDT (HMPBDT) and alternating copolymer of BDT with 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (PBDT-BT) were therefore synthesized and fully characterized. Both the homopolymer (HMPBDT) and the copolymer (PBDT-BT) were experimentally confirmed to have low HOMO energy levels (-5.70 eV for HMPBDT and -5.34 eV for PBDT-BT). Introducing the acceptor moiety (2,1,3-benzothiadiazole) successfully lowered the optical band gap of the copolymer from 2.31 eV (HMPBDT) to 1.78 eV (PBDT-BT). Bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices were fabricated from blends of these structurally related polymers with PBCM to investigate the photovoltaic performances. The optimized device of HMPBDT:PCBM (1:3, 180 nm) exhibited an improved open circuit voltage (V(oc)) of 0.76 V, a short circuit current (J(sc)) of 0.34 mA/cm(2), and a fill factor (FF) of 0.40, offering an overall efficiency of 0.10%. The observed large phase separation of the thin film by AFM and the large band gap were accountable for the small current. The optimized device of PBDT-BT:PCBM (1:3, 55 nm) demonstrated a better efficiency of 0.6%, with V(oc) = 0.72 V, J(sc) = 2.06 mA/cm(2), and FF = 0.42. The much improved current was attributed to the lower bandgap and better film morphology. However, the low hole mobility limited the thickness of the PBDT-BT:PCBM film, making inaccessible the thicker film which would utilize more light and enhance the current. Further improvements are expected if the mobility and film morphology can be improved by the new materials design, together with low band gap and low HOMO energy level.