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Stilbene-containing carbazole-based fullerene derivatives as alternative electron acceptor for efficient organic solar cells

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Abstract

We developed novel fluorine and nitro-containing stilbene-linked carbazole-based fullerene (C60) derivatives for bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ-OSCs). The synthesized fullerene derivatives (FCzC61BM and NCzC61BM) have hexyl chains that possess good solubility in toluene and chlorobenzene organic solvents. The extended conjugation of FCzC61BM and NCzC61BM molecules showed broad absorption with strong absorption intensity. The FCzC61BM and NCzC61BM both have a low-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level of − 3.70 eV and − 3.75 eV, respectively, due to extended conjugation with electron donor. These LUMO energy level was quite close to the donor (P3HT) LUMO energy level, which is essential for electron transport properties. The BHJ-OSC device was fabricated using FCzC61BM and NCzC61BM as the acceptors with commercially available P3HT donor materials using following configurations ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:acceptor/LiF/Al. The FCzC61BM-based device showed a maximum PCE of 0.86% with Jsc of 8.36 mA/cm2, Voc of 0.34 V and FF of 0.30. These findings clearly demonstrated that the inclusion of stilbene and carbazole in C60 acceptor derivatives exhibited superior optical and electrochemical properties, as well as photovoltaic performance. These findings will help to rationally design the new C60 acceptor for OSC applications in the near future.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to VIT University for providing laboratory facilities and VIT SIF for the spectral studies. The authors thank the DST for the financial support of this work through the SERB research grant (SERB-SB/FT/CS-185/2011) and Solar Energy Research Initiative (SERI) Programme (DST/TM/SERI/FR/172(G)).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, School of Advanced Sciences, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632 014, India

    Govindasamy Sathiyan & Pachagounder Sakthivel

  2. Department of Chemistry, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 602105, India

    Govindasamy Sathiyan, Selva Kumar Ramasamy & Prasenjit Kar

  3. Organic Optoelectronics Device Lab, Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, Telangana, 506004, India

    Gnyaneshwar Dasi & Kuppusamy Thangaraju

  4. Microbiology and Ecotoxicology Lab, Department of Biomaterials, Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, SIMATS, Saveetha University, Chennai, 600 077, India

    Palanivel Sathishkumar

  5. Department of Nano Science and Technology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India

    Pachagounder Sakthivel

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  1. Govindasamy Sathiyan
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  2. Gnyaneshwar Dasi
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  3. Selva Kumar Ramasamy
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Sathiyan, G., Dasi, G., Ramasamy, S.K. et al. Stilbene-containing carbazole-based fullerene derivatives as alternative electron acceptor for efficient organic solar cells. Appl Nanosci 13, 4101–4108 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-022-02707-z

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