Acceptor molecules with Carbon-Carbon singly bonded central and terminal units for efficient P3HT-based organic solar cells

Herein, we synthesized two small molecules named as 4TBTCN and 6TBTCN with strongly electron-rich 4,4,9,9tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-4,9-dihydrothieno[3 ',2 ':4,5]cyclopenta[1,2-b]thieno[2 '',3 '':3 ',4 ']cyclopenta[1 ',2 ':4,5] thieno[2,3-d]thiophene or 6,6,12,12-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-6,12-dihydrothieno[2 '',3 '':4 ',5 ']thieno[3 ',2 ':4,5] cyclopenta[1,2-b]thieno[2",3":4 '',5 '']thieno[2 '',3 '':3 ',4 ']cyclopenta[1 ',2 ':4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene as central unit and weak electron-withdrawing benzo[c] [1,2,5] thiadiazole-4-carbonitrile as termini, which were connected by C-C single bond. Both molecules exhibited medium optical bandgap and high-lying frontier molecular orbital energy levels, which were matched with those of the representative low-cost polymer donor P3HT. Moreover, 4TBTCN and 6TBTCN showed high stability under continuous illumination and base condition, owing to a lack of exocyclic vinyl group between the central unit and end group. Compared to P3HT:6TBTCN, P3HT:4TBTCN blend system displayed lower miscibility and thus more distinct phase separation, leading to more efficient charge transport and collection. Although the LUMO energy level of 4TBTCN was 0.15 eV deeper than that of 6TBTCN, the energy loss for P3HT:4TBTCN based device was similar to that of P3HT:6TBTCN based device. As a result, P3HT:4TBTCN based device displayed a similar open-circuit voltage but higher fill factor and short-circuit current density, yielding a superior power conversion efficiency, in comparison to P3HT:6TBTCN based device. This work provides a new strategy for design of efficient and stable acceptor molecules.