An Anthradithiophene Donor Polymer for Organic Solar Cells with a Good Balance between Efficiency and Synthetic Accessibility

Over the past few years, the organic photovoltaics technology (OPV) has reached remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), mostly thanks to the advent of nonfullerene acceptors as well as to a high level of materials engineering. Yet, the complex materials syntheses behind these results ultimately limit technological readiness. The quest for scalable organic compounds offering high PCE and reasonably low synthetic complexity is a must to close the gap between laboratory R&D and commercial products. The synthesis and full characterization of a new conjugated polymer called PATTD is reported herein, based on a novel anthradithiophene as an electron-rich building block coupled with a commercially available dithienylbenzodithiophenedione as an electron-withdrawing comonomer. Its photovoltaic properties are studied in blends with IT-4F and IDIC as acceptors. PATTD:IT-4F-based photovoltaic devices exhibit a PCE approaching 10% and over 2300 h shelf-life stability. The PATTD scalability factor (SF), together with the PATTD-based photovoltaic performances, lead to a PCE/SF value equal to 0.297, placing such devices into the innermost circle of OPV materials, achieving one of the best compromises between efficiency and synthetic complexity and at the same time offering promising industrial perspectives.

Automated summary

Organic photovoltaic technology (OPV) has achieved remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) in recent years. The synthesis of a new conjugated polymer called PATTD, based on a novel anthradithiophene and a commercially available dithienylbenzodithiophenedione, is reported in this study. The PATTD-based photovoltaic devices exhibit a PCE approaching 10% and excellent shelf-life stability, making it a promising candidate for commercial applications.