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Direct arylation polycondensation for the synthesis of medium-bandgap polymer donors (PBDB-T) for organic photovoltaics

Polymer Journal volume 55, pages 395–404 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Medium-bandgap polymer donors (such as PBDB-T) and their derivatives are promising donor materials for organic photovoltaics (OPVs). In this study, we aimed to develop a facile synthetic approach for PBDB-T using a C–H/C–I direct arylation reaction in monomer synthesis and C–H/C–Br direct arylation for polymerization. Polycondensation and end-capping methods using direct arylation reactions have been established, enabling the synthesis of polymers without Br termini. The OPV performance of the synthesized polymer was evaluated and compared to that of a benchmark polymer. The synthesized polymer exhibited lower OPV performance than the benchmark polymer despite having similar molecular weights. Possible factors contributing to low OPV performance and future challenges include structural defects, impurities, and large molecular weight distribution.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Chemical Analysis Center of University of Tsukuba for the measurements of NMR and MALDI-TOF-MS spectra. The authors also thank Prof. Y. Nishihara and Prof. H. Mori of Okayama University for the measurement of high-temperature GPC. This work was partly supported by the SEI GROUP CSR Foundation and JST A-STEP Grant Number JPMJTM20BT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tsukuba Research Center for Energy Materials Science (TREMS), Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8573, Japan

    Junpei Kuwabara, Kota Hiyaji, Shuyang Guo, Xin Jiang & Takaki Kanbara

  2. Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan

    Takeshi Yasuda

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  1. Junpei Kuwabara
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Correspondence to Junpei Kuwabara or Takaki Kanbara.

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Kuwabara, J., Hiyaji, K., Guo, S. et al. Direct arylation polycondensation for the synthesis of medium-bandgap polymer donors (PBDB-T) for organic photovoltaics. Polym J 55, 395–404 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-022-00712-1

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