Saim Riaz1, Riaz Hussain1, Muhammad Adnan2, Muhammad Usman Khan1, Shabbir Muhammad3, Junaid Yaqoob1, Muhammad Usman Alvi1, Muhammad Khalid4, Zobia Irshad5, Khurshid Ayub6. 1. Department of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara 5630, Pakistan. 2. Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea. 3. Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia. 4. Department of Chemistry, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan 64200, Pakistan. 5. Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea. 6. Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan.
Abstract
In the present work, five novel non-fullerene acceptor molecules are represented to explore the significance of organic solar cells (OSCs). The electro-optical properties of the designed A-D-A-type molecules rely on the central core donor moiety associated with different halogen families such as fluorine, chlorine, and bromine atoms and acyl, nitrile, and nitro groups as acceptor moieties. Among these, M1 exhibits the maximum absorption (λmax) at 728 nm in a chloroform solvent as M1 has nitro and nitrile groups in the terminal acceptor, which is responsible for the red shift in the absorption coefficient as compared to R (716 nm). M1 also shows the lowest value of the energy band gap (2.07 eV) with uniform binding energy in the range of 0.50 eV for all the molecules. The transition density matrix results reveal that easy dissociation of the exciton is possible in M1. The highest value of the dipole moment (4.6 D) indicates the significance of M4 and M2 in OSCs as it reduces the chance of charge recombination. The low value of λe is given by our designed molecules concerning reference molecules, indicating their enhanced electron mobility. Thus, these molecules can serve as the most economically efficient material. Hence, all newly designed non-fullerene acceptors provide an overview for further development in the performance of OSCs.
In the present work, five novel non-fullerene acceptor molecules are represented to explore the significance of organic solar cells (OSCs). The electro-optical properties of the designed A-D-A-type molecules rely on the central core donor moiety associated with different halogen families such as fluorine, chlorine, and bromine atoms and acyl, nitrile, and nitro groups as acceptor moieties. Among these, M1 exhibits the maximum absorption (λmax) at 728 nm in a chloroform solvent as M1 has nitro and nitrile groups in the terminal acceptor, which is responsible for the red shift in the absorption coefficient as compared to R (716 nm). M1 also shows the lowest value of the energy band gap (2.07 eV) with uniform binding energy in the range of 0.50 eV for all the molecules. The transition density matrix results reveal that easy dissociation of the exciton is possible in M1. The highest value of the dipole moment (4.6 D) indicates the significance of M4 and M2 in OSCs as it reduces the chance of charge recombination. The low value of λe is given by our designed molecules concerning reference molecules, indicating their enhanced electron mobility. Thus, these molecules can serve as the most economically efficient material. Hence, all newly designed non-fullerene acceptors provide an overview for further development in the performance of OSCs.
Organic-based non-fullerene
acceptors (NFAs) have replaced outdated
fullerene derivatives, and a new generation of n-type materials have
been developed for obtaining high-performance organic photovoltaic
cells (OPVs).[1−4] The acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A)
design has been abundantly approved in the formation of low-band-gap
NFAs. A suitable combination of acceptor and donor components can
control the electrochemical and optical performances of A–D–A-type
NFAs.[5−9] Previously, a ladder-type donor (LD) and multi-fused rings of aromatic
benzene and heteroatomic (selenophene and thiophene) rings were used
to develop A–D–A NFAs. Moreover, the sp3-hybridized
carbon bridge is an essential constituent to ring-lock where the contiguous
rings in a cyclopentadienyl (CP) moiety were inserted into the multi-fused
frameworks. For appropriate sufficient solubility, alkyl chains were
also introduced. Also, besides this, the phenyl side chains and alkyl
chain phenyl terminal have also been employed to exploit the molecular
assembly of acceptors and to trigger the nanoscale morphology of active
layers.[10] The force planarization of one-dimensional
LDs enables intramolecular D–A interactions, increases charge
mobility, and extends effective conjugations. Broad research interest
has been concentrated on developing symmetrical LDs flanked with aliphatic
side substituents for fabricating new NFAs. The horizontal direction
of a one-dimensional LD and its extending conjugation length is a
straightforward strategy to strengthen π–π interactions
and additional increasing π delocalization, resulting in charge
mobility and better light-harvesting ability.[10−18]Consequently, the high-performance A–LD–A NFAs
have
been achieved by reporting several one-dimensional hexacyclic, heptacyclic,
octacyclic, non-acyclic, and decacyclic multi-fused-ring LDs. It was
predicted that extending the conjugation and perpendicular directions
of a linear LD from a two-dimensional (2D) LD could enhance the benefits
of rigidification and chemical planarization. The devised molecular
engineering strategy proves useful to build up efficient p-type polymers
and n-type NFAs with improved photovoltaic characteristics. Moreover,
the structure of the 2D ladder type is exciting and requires other
design and synthesis methods.[31−36]In 2013, first, a simplistic synthesis was proposed for angular-shaped
4,9-didodecylnaphthodithiophene (4,9-NDT) and its isomeric derivatives.
4,9-NDT, which consisted of the donor–acceptor copolymer, has
shown high organic field-effect transistor mobility and good OPV performance.
Recently, a new octacyclic ladder-type structure, NC, was synthesized,
in which 4,9-NDT is a central core attached to two outer thiophenes
and two carbon bridges are involved in a ring-locked conformation.
The formylated NC was condensed with two FIC (1,1-dicyanamethylene-5,6-difluoro-3-indanone)
acceptors to form an A–LD–A NFA, which is known as NC-FIC.
However, unluckily, the OPV performance of the NC–FIC-based
device was revealed to be moderate. Therefore, for property optimization,
it was needed to modify the structure of NC. In 2016, the synthesis
of a didodecyltetrathienonaphthalene (TTN) unit with stronger absorptivity
and excellent solubility was first reported. When the 4,9-didodecyl
NDT unit in NC is replaced with the 5,11-didodecyl TTN moiety, didodecyltetrathienonaphthalenyldi(cyclopentathiophene)
(TC), a 2D ladder-type structure, is prepared.In a previous
work, condensation of the formylated TC with the
FIC acceptor provided a 2D NFA called TC-FIC, taken as reference (R)
in our study.[10] The development from NC
to TC awards TC-FIC many advantages in electronic and optical properties,
as listed below: (1) this 2D conjugated TC enhances the electron-donating
ability that produces substantial intermolecular charge transfer,
which can be result in the broadening of absorption to the NIR region;
(2) the two thiophene units stabilize the quinoidal form of the central
LD in TTN, which are vertically fused, permitting π-electron
delocalization more effectively; and (3) this longer π-system
of TC might assist in intra- and intermolecular charge transportation.
Using the reference molecule (R), we designed five new molecules with
some push–pull groups that enhance the charge transfer properties
of the designed molecules. The five molecules are designed through
the replacement of the fluorine atom in the terminal of the reference
with a nitro group, the structure denoted M1; with a
chlorine atom, the structure denoted M2; with a cyano
group, the structure denoted M3; with a bromine atom,
the structure denoted M4; and with cyano and acyl groups,
the structure denoted M5, which are shown in Figure . This investigation
focuses on analyzing the effect of the halogen family on the subsequent
core as the fluorine atom is very reactive and causes many environmental
issues. Hence, using less toxic atoms can be more beneficial for the
assembly of organic solar cells (OSCs).
Figure 1
Representation of reference
() and
designed structures (M1–M5).
Representation of reference
() and
designed structures (M1–M5).
Computational Details
The theoretical study was conducted
to select the best functional
method of the density functional theory (DFT) to simulate the molar
absorption coefficient of the reference and five newly proposed NFA molecules (M1–M5). One of the most well-known, potent, and alluring programs is the
Gaussian 09 package, which is used for all calculations in computational
chemistry.[11] Using the GaussView 6.0 program,
three-dimensional (3D) structures of designed molecules were drawn,[12] and their outputs were visualized.[13] The diagrams of the optimized geometries and
molecular orbitals were obtained using Avogadro software.[14] Geometry optimization for the initial conformation
analysis of designed molecules was conducted through the DFT, which
ensures the minimum energy of simulated molecules. For the calculation
of the absorption coefficient for the reference molecule, different
methods of the DFT such as WB97XD,[15] MPW1PW91,[16] M06-2X,[17] and B3LYP[18] were used. MPW1PW91 provides a favorable interaction
between the experimental and reported value.[19] Thus, this method (MPW1PW91) was selected for further calculations
of M1–M5. For electronic properties and optimization
of the geometry, the 6-31G (d,p) functional that has been used frequently
provides favorable results, and thus, this method is used for all
theoretical calculations[20] involving highest
occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular
orbital (LUMO) energy gaps, molecular orbitals energies, and their
contribution toward electronic transitions, analyzing neutral molecules,
and cation and anion calculations. UV–vis absorption spectra
were analyzed for the optimized geometry of molecules for the electronic
transitions in the gaseous and solvent phases by using the solvation
model CPCM (conductor-like polarizable continuum model) with the chloroform
solvent.[21] For the analysis of the density
of states (DOS), PyMOlyze[22] software was
used. These calculations were performed by dividing the molecules
into different fragments that either include two parts (terminal, i.e., our acceptor, and the core, i.e.,
the donor fragment) or can be divided into three parts (donor, acceptor,
and donor).Reorganization energy (RE) can be classified into
internal RE (λint) and external RE (λext). Internal RE is
responsible for the abrupt change and is related to the internal geometry
of the molecule, where the equations for their calculation are given
below.where and represent the energies of the neutral molecule
for anionic and cationic optimized structures, whereas E– and E+ are the calculated
energies of the anion and cation obtained from their respective optimized
geometry, respectively. Eo is the ground-state
neutral molecule energy. The convenient tool to estimate the nature
of transitions in the excited state is the transition density matrix
(TDM).[23] TDM calculations were also used
to analyze excitation processes, particularly in light-harvesting
molecules.[24] Multiwfn package[25] was used for plotting the electron density map
(EDM) for reference and targeted molecules (M1–M5). The EDM shows that electron density resides at some specific points.
Thus, Multiwfn software supported us in studying the variations in
the electron localization.[26]
Results and Discussion
The ground-state geometries of our
molecules, including a reference
that consists of a central donor and two acceptor moieties with an
A–D–A type configuration, are compiled in Figure . The reference molecule (R)
was initially optimized using four methods: B3LYP, M06-2X, MPW1PW91,
and WB97XD. These methods were used to select the best scheme for
further calculations including optimization of M1–M5, estimation of the band gap and the distribution pattern of electrons
around the HOMO–LUMO, and calculation of the DOS. For the reference
molecule (R), λmax values were 768, 716, 530, and
567 nm according to B3LYP, MPW1PW91, WB97XD, and M06-2X, respectively.
However, the experimental value of R was 719 nm.
716 nm was much closer to the experimentally determined value (719
nm), so the MPW1PW91 functional was chosen for more calculations for
our considered molecules. The collected results of the absorption
maxima of the reference molecule obtained from different methods of
the DFT are shown in Figure .
Figure 2
Ground-state structures for , M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5.
Figure 3
Comparison of absorption peaks for R at the 6-31G(d,p)
basis set using different methods.
Ground-state structures for , M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5.Comparison of absorption peaks for R at the 6-31G(d,p)
basis set using different methods.
Frontier Molecular Orbital Analysis
Frontier molecular
orbitals (FMOs) describe the electronic distribution
of charges around the molecules. The electro-optical properties of
our compounds have been investigated, which are related to the distribution
pattern (Figure ).
The individual orbital energies of the HOMO, LUMO, and band gap for were −5.60, −3.37, and 2.23
eV, respectively. The HOMO energies were found to be −5.96,
−5.65, −5.94, −5.64, and −5.74 eV and
the LUMO values were found to be −3.89, −3.45, −3.85,
−3.44, and −3.58 eV for the considered molecules M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5, respectively. The corresponding band gaps were 2.23, 2.07,
2.20, 2.09, 2.20, and 2.16 eV for molecules , M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5, respectively, which have been presented
in Table . The comparative
study of the HOMO–LUMO band gap revealed that molecules M1–M5 and have the
highest energy gap (2.23 eV), while M1 has the lowest
energy gap (2.07 eV).
Figure 4
FMOs of and M1–M5 molecules at the ground state.
Table 1
Individual HOMO–LUMO and Band
Gap Energies of R and M1–M5
molecule
HOMO (eV)
LUMO (eV)
band gap
(eV)
R
–5.60
–3.37
2.23
M1
–5.96
–3.89
2.07
M2
–5.65
–3.45
2.20
M3
–5.94
–3.85
2.09
M4
–5.64
–3.44
2.20
M5
–5.74
–3.58
2.16
FMOs of and M1–M5 molecules at the ground state.The best molecule concerning the band gap energy is
the M1-designed molecule. The increasing order of the
band gap was observed to be M1 < M3 < M5 < M4 = M2 < . The band
gap of M3 is more diminutive than that of M4 and M2 due to the high electron-withdrawing effect
owing to the presence of nitrile groups (CN). In contrast, chlorine
and bromine atoms showed the same values of the band gap. M4 = M2 have a higher band gap value than M3 and M5 due to less conjugation in the acceptor molecule
(Figure a). Through
structure visualization, it was noticed that the higher band gap of M2 and M4 than that of M1 and M3 is the consequence of nitrile and nitro groups. As M2 has the most negligible band gap value, it is indicated
that the nitro group is a better acceptor than the nitrile group.
The corresponding 3D HOMO, LUMO, and band gap spectra have been displayed
in Figure b.
Figure 5
(a) Graphical
band energy alignments and (b) 3D graphical band
energy distribution of and M1–M5.
(a) Graphical
band energy alignments and (b) 3D graphical band
energy distribution of and M1–M5.To support this evidence described
by FMOs and to explore the electronic
properties, the DOS analysis was carried out by using the same functional
MPW1PW91 with the basis set 6-31G(d,p) for reference molecule and other molecules M1–M5, as shown in Figure . The electronic distribution around the HOMO–LUMO is mainly
affected by electron-withdrawing acceptor groups attached to the central
core unit. In the case of R, the LUMO distribution suppresses over
the central core and also on the acceptor units near the central cores.
In M3, the whole electron density is present over the
central donor moiety of the molecule at the HOMO, while at the LUMO,
the whole density is shifted toward the acceptor moiety. Similarly, M4 and M5 showed the same trend as that of M3 in both the HOMO and LUMO. Hence, M1 showed
the efficient charge distribution from donors to acceptors. This is
due to the strong electron-withdrawing effect of nitro and nitrile
groups compared to that of other attached atoms or groups.
Figure 6
DOSs for M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, and .
DOSs for M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, and .A better understanding of intramolecular charge transfer properties
is possible through the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP). The
results obtained by MEP calculations for all molecules are shown in Figure . It not only provides
information about the charge transfer but also predicts the electrophilic
and nucleophilic sites. The green region represents a center for both
electrophilic attack and nucleophilic attack due to the equivalent
electron density, whereas the yellowish region around some atoms such
as sulfur in M1 and M3 is more nucleophilic
in nature. M1 is far better than the others due to better
availability for the nucleophilic and electrophilic reactions.
Figure 7
MEPs of , M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5.
MEPs of , M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5.
Optical Properties
The MPW1PW91 functional,
along with the basis set 6-31G(d,p), was used to calculate the optical
properties of the reference and five newly developed acceptor molecules
(M1–M5). The absorption spectra for these molecules
were computed in the gaseous and solvent phases such as chloroform.
The absorption maxima (λmax), oscillator strength
(fo), excitation energy (ΔE), and transitions are given in Tables and 3. The λmax values in the gas phase obtained from computational analysis
673, 728, 685, 721, 686, and 699 nm are the maximum absorption values
shown by , M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5, respectively.
These computed results illustrated that λmax values
for our molecules are more significant than that of the reference
molecule as the reference molecule has the lowest value of λmax (673 nm) as compared to other molecules M1–M5 that have maximum absorption values of 728, 685, 721, 686, and 699
nm, respectively. The decreasing order of λmax among
these molecules has the following sequence M1 > M3 > M4 > M2 > > M5. From all the above discussion,
we deduced
that M1 has the highest λmax value.
Therefore, slightly broad absorption spectra were obtained for M1 relative to those for and
all other molecules (M2–M4). The reason behind
the higher values of λmax (728 nm) and the lower
band gap (2.07 eV) of M1 is the involvement of the nitro
and nitrile groups in the terminal side of the molecule.
Table 2
Calculated and Experimental Absorption
Values, Transition Energy (ΔE) for the First
Excited State (S0 → S1), Largest Oscillator
Strength (fo), and % Configuration Interaction
(C.I.) for R and M1–M5 at MPW1PW91/6-31G(d,p)
in a Chloroform Solvent
molecule
calc. λmax (nm)
exp. λmax (nm)
ΔE
fo
transitions
% C.I.
μ (D)
R
716
719
1.73
2.12
H → L
69
4.99
M1
788
1.57
1.84
H → L
69
3.14
M2
732
1.70
2.19
H → L
69
4.15
M3
775
1.60
2.06
H → L
69
3.42
M4
732
1.69
2.22
H → L
69
4.58
M5
707
1.65
2.01
H → L
69
4.45
Table 3
Transition Energy
(ΔE) for the First Excited State (S0 → S1), Largest Oscillator Strength (FO), and % Configuration Interaction (C.I.) for R and M1–M5 at MPW1PW91/6-31G(D,P) in
a Gas Medium
molecule
calc. λmax (nm)
ΔE
fo
transitions
% C.I.
R
673
1.84
1.88
H → L
70
M1
728
1.70
1.73
H → L
70
M2
685
1.81
1.97
H → L
70
M3
721
1.72
1.88
H → L
70
M4
686
1.81
2.01
H → L
70
M5
699
1.77
1.94
H → L
70
The UV–vis
spectrum was also computed in a solvent chloroform,
revealing that M2 and M4 have the same absorption
range. Both M2 and M4 exhibited the same
maximum absorption value, that is, 732 nm, in chloroform. Moreover,
the HOMO–LUMO energy gaps for M2 and M4 are precisely equal (2.20) owing to the same electron-withdrawing
effect of acceptor moieties, which are bromine and chlorine atoms,
respectively. Extended values of λmax were found
to be more dominant for M1 and M3 as compared
to that for M2 and M4 molecules, whereas M5 has an intermediate absorption among these molecules. The
decreasing order of λmax in the gaseous phase for
the reference and considered acceptors was found to be M1 > M3 > M5 > M4 > M2 > . To a vast extent,
this order
of λmax is similar to the order of maximum absorptions
calculated in chloroform, where M2 and M4 have the same absorption value, as shown in Figure .
Figure 9
Absorption spectra of M1–M5 and in chloroform.
3D graphical display
of electron and hole energies of and M1–M5.Absorption spectra of M1–M5 and in chloroform.
Reorganization Energy
The RE is a
good factor that shows great potential for selecting the most efficient
material for OSCs. RE is used to study the charge transfer properties
of acceptor–donor units. There is a reverse relation between
RE and charge transfer (transfer of electrons or holes). The lower
the values of RE, the higher the charge transfer. The method used
to estimate the RE for and developed
molecules (M1–M5) was MPW1PW91/6-31G(d,p), as
shown in Figure .
The estimated RE values are given in Table .
Figure 8
3D graphical display
of electron and hole energies of and M1–M5.
Table 4
RE Values of R and M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 at MPW1PW91 at the 6-31G(d,p) Level
of Theory
molecule
λe (eV)
λh (eV)
R
0.0082
0.0081
M1
0.0067
0.0078
M2
0.0078
0.0078
M3
0.0065
0.0076
M4
0.0078
0.0076
M5
0.0073
0.0078
The results revealed that the RE of the electron–hole
pair
for newly developed molecules is in the order of M3 < M1 < M5 < M4 < M2 < for electron mobility and M3 = M4 < M1 = M2 = M5 < for hole
mobility. M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 showed lower λe than
the molecule. All these molecules
exhibit higher electron mobilities corresponding to . From the above, M3 has a shallow
λe value (0.0065 eV), which means that M3 has the highest electron mobility. In contrast, a higher value of (0.00815 eV) is responsible for low charge
transfer. M2 and M4 have approximately equal
λe values of 0.0078 and 0.0078 eV, respectively.Also, the REs of the hole (λh) were found to be
0.0078, 0.0078, 0.0076, 0.0076, and 0.0078 eV for M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5,
respectively. M3 and M4 exhibit a higher
hole mobility due to the hole’s low (0.0076 eV) RE, whereas M1, M2, and M5 have less charge
transferability due to the high λh value (0.0078
eV). This study may conclude that M3 with low λe and λh values showed that the nitrile group
is important for designing the high-charge-mobility materials for
a bright future for OSCs.[31−38] In contrast, the nitro group is the second in terms of the charge
transfer properties for charge conduction.
Dipole
Moment
The dipole moment value
is a crucial parameter to measure the solubility in the organic medium
during the fabrication processes of OSCs. Solubility of molecules
is a promising way to stimulate the self-assembly of molecules and
enhance the crystallinity in thin films.[27] Higher values of the dipole moment are responsible for higher solubility.
It would give the best texture to the film. The current ground-state
dipole moment was calculated using MPW1PW91/6-31G and is given in Table . The reported value
of the dipole moment for reference was found to be 4.99 D at the excited state. The present study revealed
that dipole moments at the excited state are 3.14, 4.15, 8.50, 3.42,
4.58, and 8.04 D for the molecules of and M1–M5, respectively. The decreasing order
of dipole moments was observed to be > M4 > M2 > M3 > M1 > M5. The comparison of dipole moments
among the reference
and considered molecules (M1–M5) showed that M1 has the lowest values of m compared to
the remaining molecules. The higher values of m assist
the self-aggregation within these molecules, while the opposite poles
of neighboring molecules show high attraction toward each other in
a thin film.
TDM and Binding Energy
The TDM is
used to explain the connection of an exact excited-state molecule
to a ground-state molecule due to the density matrix. In this study,
these calculations were performed for and five NFAs (M1–M5) that have been collected
in Table . By using
functional method MPW1PW91 along with the basis set 6-31G(d,p), TDM
calculations were performed for the absorption and emission with the
first single state in the gaseous phase, as shown in Figure . Hydrogen atoms show a minimal
contribution in transition, which is why their effect is ignored in
this study.
Table 5
Band Gap
Energies [E(L–H)], First Transition
Energies [E(opt)], and Binding Energies
of and Selected Molecules (M1–M5)
molecule
E(L–H) (EV)
E(OPT) (EV) gaseous
E(OPT) (EV) chloroform
EB (EV) gaseous
EB (EV) chloroform
R
2.23
1.84
1.73
0.39
0.50
M1
2.07
1.70
1.57
0.37
0.50
M2
2.20
1.81
1.70
0.39
0.50
M3
2.09
1.72
1.60
0.37
0.49
M4
2.20
1.81
1.69
0.39
0.51
M5
2.16
1.77
1.65
0.39
0.51
Figure 10
TDM diagrams of and M1–M5.
TDM diagrams of and M1–M5.The designed molecules were divided
into C (central core) and T
(terminal part). By carefully examining TDM graphs, we concluded that
the coherence of electrons was observed in the diagonal direction
of M1–M5, but showed
a different behavior. The increasing order of interaction between
this donor and acceptor was found to be M1 < M3 < M4 = M5 < M2 < . According to this order, M3 has the lowest value of binding energy (0.49). These values
showed weak interactions. Therefore, coupling between the electron
and hole is minimal in M3 compared to that in the reference
and other molecules. As a result, easy dissociation of the electron–hole
pair takes place in M3, which enhances the transfer of
charge.Nevertheless, the difference in the binding energy of
other molecules
is not so high. Therefore, all our molecules have an almost equal
dissociation energy with a ±0.01 difference. Finally, it can
be concluded that all our molecules have potential for their application
in OSCs due to the equal distribution of charges among the molecular
network of each molecule.Further, the binding energy in the
gaseous form and chloroform
showed that molecules M1 and M3 showed the
lowest binding energy compared to , M2, and M4. Low binding energy is responsible
for easy excitation dissociation for efficient charge transfer. However,
in chloroform, only M3 showed a lower binding energy
than other molecules, but the difference is negligible. This indicates
that all molecules have comparable binding energies.
Open-Circuit Voltage and Charge Transfer Analysis
To
check the performance of OSCs, open-circuit voltage (Voc) is fundamental.[39−44] The recombination of the device provides information about the saturation
current and light generation that gives information about Voc, which is dependent on energy differences
of the HOMO and LUMO of acceptor and donors. Our designed molecule
was compared with a well-known polymer PCBM, an acceptor polymer.[28] The Voc values for , M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 under the PBDB-T
polymer were 1.69, 1.17, 1.61, 1.21, 1.62, and 1.78 V, respectively
(Figure ). Hence,
the Voc values of these molecules are
comparable with each other, but the highest Voc value was obtained for M5.
Figure 11
VOC for and M1–M5 with the PBDB-T polymer.
VOC for and M1–M5 with the PBDB-T polymer.M1 interaction with donor polymer BPTB-T is investigated to visualize
our engineered molecules’ charge transfer capabilities. Xu et al. (and others)[10,29,30] recorded intermolecular interactions using the simulated and numerical
methods in different phases where MPW1PW91/6-31G(d,p) functionals
were employed that show a slight difference in the measured consequences.Optimization of the BPTB-T polymer was performed using the same
MPW1PW91/6-31G(d,p) level, as shown in Figure . Subsequently, thermal analysis was performed,
and it was observed that high-temperature interactions with the donor
polymer are nearly similar to that with the M1 acceptor
of acceptable distance. This orientation is ideal for the transfer
of charge and the phase of excitation. Figure shows the pictographic view for the HOMO
and LUMO of the M1–BPTB-T complex. The central
region of the polymer is augmented by the ground-state electron density,
which is transferred during excitation to the entire M1 molecule. Notably, the HOMO is situated over the polymer, while
L is populated on molecule M1. In addition, the electrons
are distributed from the BPTB-T donor polymer acceptor region to the M1 acceptor region. Consequently, our recipe is a better candidate
for practical photovoltaic cell fabrication to provide optimum Voc.
Figure 12
Optimized geometries of PBDB-T along with M1 at the
MPW1PW91/6-31G(d,p) level.
Figure 13
Electronic
distribution on the HOMO and LUMO of PBDB-T in the presence
of M1.
Optimized geometries of PBDB-T along with M1 at the
MPW1PW91/6-31G(d,p) level.Electronic
distribution on the HOMO and LUMO of PBDB-T in the presence
of M1.
Conclusions
In the present study, we design five novel molecules based on NFAs
(M1–M5) that consist of a central core donor that
is peripherally attached to five acceptor groups from the halogen
family and the nitro group. It has been investigated successfully
that the introduction of these acceptor groups is a promising route
to design effective NFAs. Therefore, in this study, we use the MPW1PW91
method and a 6-31G(d,p) basis set for the calculation of electronic
characteristics, including open-circuit voltage, electron–hole
charge mobility, absorption spectra, frontier orbital energies, dipole
moment, and TDM for M1–M5 and . Subsequently, these properties were successfully compared
with those of the recently reported reference , and an excellent coherence is found. From the present study,
we concluded that all these designed NFAs give fruitful results compared
to . This work suggests that all these
molecules have lower values of the energy gap, reorganization, and
binding energy of exciton while representing higher values of λmax and dipole moment than that of . From the comparative analysis of the acceptor groups in
the designed molecules, it is evident that nitrile and nitro groups
play a significant role in the overall optoelectronic properties of
the molecules compared to the halogen family.
Authors: Ying Wang; Pragya Verma; Lujia Zhang; Yaqi Li; Zhonghua Liu; Donald G Truhlar; Xiao He Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2020-01-17 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Christopher J Takacs; Yanming Sun; Gregory C Welch; Louis A Perez; Xiaofeng Liu; Wen Wen; Guillermo C Bazan; Alan J Heeger Journal: J Am Chem Soc Date: 2012-09-26 Impact factor: 15.419