An alternating copolymer of fluorene donor and quinoxaline acceptor versus a terpolymer consisting of fluorene, quinoxaline and benzothiadiazole building units: synthesis and characterization.

Abstract: An alternating polyfluorene copolymer based on fluorene donor and quinoxaline acceptor (P1) and an alternating terpolymer (P2) with fluorene (50 %) donor and quinoxaline (25 %) and benzothiadiazole (25 %) acceptor units were designed and synthesized for use as photoactive materials in solar cells. The presence of benzothiadiazole unit in P2 increased the optical absorption coverage in the range of 350–600 nm, which is an interesting property and a big potential for achieving improved photovoltaic performances with judicious optimization of the devices. Solar cells were fabricated from 1:4 blends of polymers-PCBM[70] using o-dichlorobenzene (o-DCB) as processing solvent, and P1 showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.18 %, with a short-circuit current density (J_SC) of 7.78 mA/cm², an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.82 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 50 % while P2 showed an overall PCE of 2.14 % with corresponding J_SC of 5.97 mA/cm², V_OC of 0.84 V and FF of 42 %. In general, P2 gave lower J_SC and FF presumably due to the fine domain sizes of the polymer–PCBM[70] blend as seen from the atomic force microscopy (AFM) image which might have affected the charge carrier transport. Graphical abstract: Alternating (P1) and ternary (P2) conjugated polymers were designed, synthesized and used for fabrication of photovoltaic devices.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]