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Rational Design of Conjugated Polymers for d-Limonene Processed All-polymer Solar Cells with Small Energy Loss

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Abstract

In this work, we designed and synthesized a novel naphthalenediimide-based n-type conjugated polymer PNDICI, which bears asymmetric backbone containing a 3-chlorothiophene unit. The asymmetric structure associated with steric effects of the chlorine atom imparts remarkable solubility to PNDICI in various organic solvents, enabling the fabrication of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) by using an environmentally friendly solvent of d-limonene. Combined with a novel pyrrolo[3,4-f]benzotriazole-5,7(6H)-dione based p-type conjugated polymer P2F-Si with deep highest occupied molecular orbital energy level, the resulting d-limonene-processed all-PSCs presents an impressively high open-circuit voltage of approaching 1.0 V, corresponding to a very small energy loss of 0.49 eV. Through further morphology optimization by using γ-valerolactone, we demonstrated an impressive device efficiency of 4.2%, which is among the best photovoltaic performance of devices processed using d-limonene and comparable to that processed by conventional solvent, suggesting the great promise of using greener solvent for fabricating high-performance all-PSCs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21822505 and 21905103), Dongguan Science and Technology Bureau (Nos. 2018607201002 and 2019622163009), and the Basic and Applied Basic Research Major Program of Guangdong Province (No. 2019B030302007).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Mei-Jing Li, Bao-Bing Fan, Wen-Kai Zhong, Zhao-Mi-Yi Zeng & Lei Ying

  2. School of Pharmacy, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Nanchang, 330013, China

    Mei-Jing Li & Jing-Kun Xu

  3. South China Institute of Collaborative Innovation, Dongguan, 523808, China

    Bao-Bing Fan & Lei Ying

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  1. Mei-Jing Li
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  2. Bao-Bing Fan
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  4. Zhao-Mi-Yi Zeng
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Correspondence to Lei Ying.

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Li, MJ., Fan, BB., Zhong, WK. et al. Rational Design of Conjugated Polymers for d-Limonene Processed All-polymer Solar Cells with Small Energy Loss. Chin J Polym Sci 38, 791–796 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-020-2429-3

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