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Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Looking for a Safe Bridge: Synthesis of P3HT-Bridge-TBO Block-Copolymers and Their Performance in Perovskite Solar Cells

Aleksandra N. Zhivchikova, Irina V. Klimovich, Maxim E. Sideltsev, Aly Elakshar, Artur T. Kapasharov, Alexander V. Akkuratov, Albert G. Nasibulin, Keith J. Stevenson, Marina M. Tepliakova

Organics · pp. 97–108 · Published 27 Feb 2023

10.3390/org4010008

Abstract

Here, we present a synthesis of three novel conjugated block-copolymers (BCP) with general formula P3HT-bridge-TBO, where P3HT is a poly(3-hexyl)thiophene, TBO is a thiophene-benzothiadiazole block, and the bridge is composed of two fluorene units (FF) or two thiophenes (TT) or a mixture (TF). It is demonstrated that the physicochemical properties of the materials with different bridges are similar. Furthermore, P3HT-bridge-TBO materials are investigated in PSCs with classical n-i-p configuration for the first time. PSCs with BCPs reach average efficiencies with a top of 14.4% for P3HT-FF-TBO. At the same time, devices demonstrate spectacular long-term operation stability after 1000 h under constant illumination with minor changes in efficiency, while PSCs with state-of-the-art hole-transport layer demonstrate unstable behavior. This groundbreaking work demonstrates the potential of BCP to ensure the stable operation of perovskite photovoltaics.

Copolymer Thiophene Materials science Conjugated system Perovskite (structure) Photovoltaics Bridge (graph theory) Polymer

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