Alcohol-Soluble Cross-Linked Poly(nBA)_n-b-Poly(NVTri)_m Block Copolymer and Its Applications in Organic Photovoltaic Cells for Improved Stability

In this study, a series of alcohol-soluble cross-linked block copolymers (BCPs) consisting of poly(n-butyl acrylate) (poly(nBA)) and poly(N-vinyl-1,2,4-triazole) (poly(NVTri)) blocks with different individual functions and lengths are designed and developed. These presynthesized cross-linked BCPs (PBAn–Trim) were, for the first time, revealed to exhibit many advantages in serving as the electron-extraction layer (EEL) for organic photovoltaics (OPVs). The cross-linked BCPs possessed intense ionic functionality, showing well capability to form effective interfacial dipoles at the indium tin oxide interface to facilitate the charge extraction at the corresponding interface. Furthermore, it also consisted a core–shell structure, wherein the polar poly(NVTri) core was well protected by the poly(nBA) shell to endow improved robustness against solvent erosion and thermal/photo inputs. Consequently, the PBA70–Tri30 device yielded a decent power conversion efficiency of 8.03% with a Voc of 0.83 V, much exceeding the performance of the control device without using any EEL. Moreover, this device showed superior thermal stability/photostability. More than 80% of its initial performance was retained after being heated at 60 °C for 1000 h or exposed under continuous illumination (1 sun) for 1000 h, greatly surpassing the lifetime of the control device and the reference device using a common poly[(9,9-bis(3′-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)-alt-2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluorene)] (PFN) EEL. The results revealed the merit of using cross-linked BCPs in improving the long-term stability of OPVs.