Templated growth of fullerene C₆₀ crystals by triptycene in polymer blend films

Triptycene as a Supramolecular Additive in PTB7:PCBM Blends and Its Influence on Photovoltaic Properties

“…To understand how this strong interaction between TPC and PC BM affects thin film formation, PL emission spectra of PC 61 BM films with and without TPC were recorded as shown in Figure S8 (a). 26 However no significant differences in PL emission spectra were observed [Figure S8(b)] for the PTB7 donor molecules added with TPC in comparison to neat PTB7 films and this is similar to the previously reported behaviour for MEH-PPV donor polymers added with TPC. 26 The absorption spectra of the blend films [Figure 4(d)] can be considered as an overlap of the spectral features of TPC added donor and acceptor.…”

“…As explained in the introduction, TPC has been reported to lead to templating of fullerenes. 26 These properties of self-assembly and supramolecular interaction of TPC have been attributed to the high energy barrier of twisting/deformation giving it structural rigidity, the internal free volume created by the three bladed geometry and the three aromatic phenyl rings allowing TPC to have both electron rich and electron deficient rings in the same molecule. 43 The enhanced photodegradation of the donor: acceptor blend or the aggregation of fullerene molecules in the presence of DIO and light.…”

“…[22][23][24][25] The potential of TPC to template the macroscopic assembly of fullerene molecules in neat films and within a polymer-fullerene blend film and thereby control the phase separation has been previously reported for C 60 and MEH-PPV:C 60 blends. [26][27][28] However, no improvement in photovoltaic properties of BHJ blends due to addition of non-functionalised TPC has been reported so far.…”

New thiophene-based conjugated macrocycles for optoelectronic applications

“…This increase in photovoltaic properties with increase in fullerene content has been previously reported for oligothiophene: fullerene BHJ blends. 99,116,117 With increase in fullerene content, crystallisation of the macrocycles is prevented by the fullerenes, resulting in a BHJ morphology with enhanced mixing, favouring the exciton dissociation and photocurrent. Moreover, increased fullerene content has also been reported in better percolative carrier transport pathways.…”

BODIPY derivatives with near infra-red absorption as small molecule donors for bulk heterojunction solar cells

“…It has been previously reported that higher content of fullerene molecules in the oligothiophene:fullerene blends prevents the crystallization of oligothiophenes and enables the formation of a desirable carrier transport network with ner mixing of D : A components. 49,50 This ner mixing and better carrier transport pathways can increase the exciton harvesting and charge collection, thus accounting for the improved short circuit current density with higher PC 71 BM content. Improvement in charge transport pathways can also account for the slightly improved FF with increase in fullerene content in the blend.…”