New fullerene derivatives for the photovoltaic application

Abstract

Cyclopropano[70]fullerenes have been synthesized in the aim of being used as acceptors in blends based on regioregular poly (3,5-Hexylthiophene) RR-P3HT for photovoltaic (PV) plastic cells. These molecules used with RR-P3HT in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) configuration provided interesting characteristics: 1.5% solar conversion efficiency, 9.29 mA/cm2 current density, 0.51 V open circuit voltage, and 0.34 fill factor. The IPCE spectrum for P3HT: cyclopropano[70]fullerene cells shows a peak around 430 nm with 71% external quantum efficiency. This result justifies the increased current density. © 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).