Synthesis of a tetrazine–quaterthiophene copolymer and its optical, structural and photovoltaic properties

Astrid Caroline Knall, Sebastian Franz Hoefler, Manuel Hollauf, Ferula Thaler, Sven Noesberger, Ilie Hanzu, Heike Ehmann, Mathias Hobisch, Stefan Spirk, Shuguang Wen, Renqiang Yang, Thomas Rath*, Gregor Trimmel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel, tetrazine-based conjugated polymer. Tetrazines have the benefit of being strong electron acceptors, while little steric hindrance is imposed on the flanking thiophene rings. Conversion of a suitably substituted nitrile precursor led to 3,6-bis(5-bromo-4-(2-octyldodecyl)thiophen-2-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (2OD-TTz). Palladium-catalyzed copolymerization of 2OD-TTz with a bithiophene monomer yielded an alternating tetrazine–quaterthiophene copolymer (PTz4T-2OD). The polymer PTz4T-2OD showed an optical band gap of 1.8 eV, a deep HOMO energy level of − 5.58 eV and good solubility. In combination with the non-fullerene acceptor ITIC-F, solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of up to 2.6% were obtained.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10065–10076
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Materials Science
Volume54
Issue number13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

Fields of Expertise

  • Advanced Materials Science

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