Panchromatic Ternary Organic Solar Cells with Porphyrin Dimers and Absorption-Complementary Benzodithiophene-based Small Molecules

Diketopyrrolopyrrole-ethynylene-bridged porphyrin dimers are capped with electron-deficient 3-ethylrhodanine (A(2)) via a pi-bridge of phenylene ethynylene, affording two new acceptor donor acceptor structural porphyrin dimers (DPP-2TTP and DPP-2TP) with strong absorption in ranges of 400-550 nm (Soret bands) and 700-900 nm (Q bands). Their intrinsic absorption deficiency between the Soret and Q bands could be perfectly compensated by a wide-bandgap small molecule DR3TBDTTF (D*) with absorption at 500-700 nm. Impressively, the optimal ternary device based on the blend films of DPP-2TPP, DR3TBDTTF (20 wt %), and PC71BM shows a PCE 11.15%, whereas the binary devices based on DPP-2TTP/PC71BM and DPP-2TP/PC71BM blend films exhibit PCEs of 9.30 and 8.23%, respectively. The high compatibility of the low bandgap porphyrin dimers with the wide-bandgap small molecule provides a new threesome with PC71BM for highly efficient panchromatic ternary organic solar cells.