Low-bandgap D-A1-D-A2 type copolymers based on TPTI unit for efficient fullerene and nonfullerene polymer solar cells

To obtain low-bandgap polymers paired well with fullerene and nonfullerene acceptors, here we adopted a D-A1-D-A2 motif to develop two new low-bandgap copolymers PTPTI-T-BDD and PTPTI-T-FBT, where thiophene was used as the D unit, thieno[2′,3′:5,6]pyrido[3,4-g]thieno[3,2-c]-isoquinoline-5,11(4H,10H)-dione (TPTI) was used as the A1 unit, and benzo[1,2-b:4,5-c′]dithiophene-4,8-dione (BDD) and 5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (FBT) were employed as the A2 unit, respectively. Effects of the electron-withdrawing strength of A2 unit on optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties of the PTPTI-T-BDD- and PTPTI-T-FBT-based fullerene and nonfullerene polymer solar cells (PSCs) were systematically investigated. When blended with PC71BM and ITIC, PTPTI-T-FBT-based PSCs showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.20% and 6.03%, respectively, both of which are higher than that of PTPTI-T-BDD-based PSCs. Furthermore, ternary PSCs based on PBDB-T:PTPTI-T-FBT:PC71BM exhibited an improved PCE of 7.92%. This work suggests that constructing D-A1-D-A2 copolymers is a promising strategy to develop low-bandgap copolymers for efficient fullerene and nonfullerene PSCs with a reduced energy loss. D-A1-D-A2 low-bandgap copolymers based on TPTI unit exhibited PCEs over 6% both in fullerene- and nonfullerene-based binary blend PSCs and an improved PCE up to 7.92% in ternary blend PSCs. [Display omitted] •Two D-A1-D-A2 low-bandgap copolymers PTPTI-T-BDD and PTPTI-T-FBT were developed.•Effect of the A2 unit on optoelectronic properties of these polymers was investigated.•PTPTI-T-FBT exhibited PCEs over 6% both in fullerene and nonfullerene PSCs.•PTPTI-T-FBT-based ternary PSCs achieved an improved PCE up to 7.92%.