New donor materials based on thiazole and triphenylamine for photovoltaic devices

Abstract

New photovoltaic donor materials, 4,4'-(2,2'-bithiazole-5,5'-diyl)bis(N,N- diphenylbenzenamine) (BDT) and 4- (2,2'-bithiazol-5-yl)-N,N-diphenylbenzenamine (BT), were synthesized. A solution processable triphenylamine- containing bithiazole (BDT and BT) was blended with a [6,6]-phenyl C 61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) acceptor to study the performance of small-molecule-based bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic devices. Optimum device performance was achieved after annealing, for device with a BDT/PCBM ratio of 1:4. The open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, and power conversion efficiency of the device with the aforementioned BDT/PCBM ratio were 0.51 V, 4.10 mA cm -2, and 0.68%, respectively, under simulated AM 1.5 solar irradiation (100 mW cm -2).