Effects of replacing benzodithiophene with a benzothiadiazole derivative on an efficient wide band-gap benzodithiophene-alt-pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,3(2H,5H)-dione copolymer

[Display omitted] •New polymer, namely P(DTBT-PPD), was prepared.•The Eg and HOMO/LUMO levels were 1.64 eV and −5.30 eV/−3.66 eV.•The hole and electron mobilities were 2.06 × 10–4 and 4.70 × 10–5 cm2V−1s−1.•P(DTBT-PPD)-based OSCs gave maximum PCE of 2.23%.•The properties of P(DTBT-PPD) were compared with those of P(BDTT-PPD). In this study, we investigated the property modulation of a high energy converting, wide-band-gap, alternating polymer, P(BDTT-PPD), comprising benzodithiophene (BDTT) and pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,3(2H,5H)-dione (PPD) derivatives by replacing BDTT with 4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (DTBT). The new alternating polymer, named P(DTBT-PPD), was prepared by polymerizing distannyl DTBT and dibromo PPD derivatives, with the aim of making a PPD-based, low-band-gap polymer for solar cell applications. Polymer P(DTBT-PPD) displayed an intense absorption band between 300 and 750 nm with two distinct absorption maxima at 439 and 605 nm as a film. The calculated optical band-gap (Eg) was 1.64 eV. The determined highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular (HOMO and LUMO, respectively) orbital energy levels of P(DTBT-PPD) were −5.30 and −3.66 eV, respectively. Solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs), made with P(DTBT-PPD):PC70BM ([6,6]-Phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester), provided a maximum power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.23%. P(DTBT-PPD) displayed much lower Eg (≈0.4 eV), slightly higher HOMO level (≈0.14 eV), and considerably lower PCE (≈4%), than P(BDTT-PPD). The increased curvature of P(DTBT-PPD) chains could be the main reason for their lower PCE than P(BDTT-PPD).