Thiazolothiazole-based conjugated polymers for blade-coated organic solar cells processed from an environment-friendly solvent

• Published in: Tetrahedron letters Vol. 61; no. 26; p. 152037
• Main Authors: Kuznetsov, Petr M., Nikitenko, Sergey L., Kuznetsov, Ilya E., Proshin, Pavel I., Revina, Daria V., Troshin, Pavel A., Akkuratov, Alexander V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 25-06-2020
• Subjects: Blade coating; Organic solar cells; Photovoltaic modules; Polycondensation; Thiazolothiazole; Thiazolothiazole; Organic solar cells; Photovoltaic modules; Polycondensation; Blade coating
• ISSN: 0040-4039; 1873-3581
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2020.152037

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•Two novel low bandgap thiazolothiazole-based polymers were synthesized.•Optimized small-area solar cells exhibited promising efficiency of ~7%•Blade coated modules from m-xylene showed efficiencies of 3.3%.•Solar cells and larger area modules showed tolerance to processing solvents.
High efficiencies of organic solar cells (OSCs) are generally achieved for small-area devices processed from halogenated solvents, which are hazardous to human health and pollute the environment. Commercialization of OSCs requires the development of novel photovoltaic materials, which are suitable for large-scale fabrication of devices through printable techniques using environmentally-friendly solvents. In this work, we report the synthesis of two novel polymers comprising thiazolothiazole, benzothiadiazole (P1), and benzoxadiazole (P2) moieties and the fabrication of polymer-fullerene OSCs and photovoltaic modules by blade coating under ambient conditions. The P1-based solar cells and larger area modules showed tolerance to processing solvents and delivered encouraging efficiencies illustrating polymer P1 as a promising material for environment friendly large-area photovoltaics.