Conjugated polymers with high thermoelectric performance enable the fabrication of low-cost, large-area, low-toxicity, and highly flexible thermoelectric devices. However, compared to their p-type counterparts, n-type polymer thermoelectric materials show much lower performance, which is largely due to inefficient doping and a much lower conductivity. Herein, it is reported that the development of a donor-acceptor (D-A) polymer with enhanced n-doping efficiency through donor engineering of the polymer backbone. Both a high n-type electrical conductivity of 1.30 S cm and an excellent power factor (PF) of 4.65 µW mK are obtained, which are the highest reported values among D-A polymers. The results of multiple characterization techniques indicate that electron-withdrawing modification of the donor units enhances the electron affinity of the polymer and changes the polymer packing orientation, leading to substantially improved miscibility and n-doping efficiency. Unlike previous studies in which improving the polymer-dopant miscibility typically resulted in lower mobilities, the strategy maintains the mobility of the polymer. All these factors lead to prominent enhancement of three orders magnitude in both the electrical conductivity and the PF compared to those of the non-engineered polymer. The results demonstrate that proper donor engineering can enhance the n-doping efficiency, electrical conductivity, and thermoelectric performance of D-A copolymers.
A novel n-type small molecule FFI-1 was synthesized as the electron acceptor to replace PCBM in solution-processed organic BHJ solar cells. Its LUMO level (around -3.5 eV) both matches the work function of the cathode and increases V(OC) of the devices, making it a promising acceptor candidate. With P3HT: FFI-1 (1:2 w/w) as active layer and LiF/Al as the cathode, the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) reaches 1.86%.
The low LUMO level and the conformation-locked planar backbone provide polymer AzaBDOPV-2T with electron mobilities over 3.22 cm2 V–1 s–1 tested in air.
High‐spin conjugated radicals have great potential in magnetic materials and organic spintronics. However, to obtain high‐spin conjugated radicals is still quite challenging due to their poor stability. We report the successful synthesis and isolation of a stable triplet conjugated diradical, 10,12‐diaryldiindeno[1,2‐b:2′,1′‐e]pyrazine (m‐DIP). With the m‐xylylene analogue skeleton containing electron‐deficient sp2‐nitrogen atoms, m‐DIP displays significant aromatic character within its pyrazine ring and its spin density mainly delocalizes on the meta‐pyrazine unit, making it a triplet ground state conjugated diradical. Our work provides an effective “spin density tuning” strategy for stable high‐spin conjugated radicals.
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