Skip to main content
Log in

Designing difluoro substituted benzene ring based fullerene free acceptors for small Naphthalene Di-Imide based molecules with DFT approaches

  • Published:
Optical and Quantum Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Herein current research work, we designed four new acceptor materials for small solar cell molecules with Naphthalene Di-Imide central unit by employing the wB97xd/6-31 G (d,p) and TD-wB97xd/6-31 G (d,p) level of density functional theories. Absorption properties of designed materials are excellent between the 400 nm to 510 nm with chloroform solvent and 340 nm to 490 nm in gas phase, small reorganization energy values 0.0163–0.0172 eV for electron (λe) and 0.0205–0.0257 eV for hole transfer (λh), large expected open circuit voltages (Voc) from 3.60 to 4.53 eV with respect to [6, 6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), high dipole moment strength ranging from 4.0199 to 8.9647 Debye in excited state and 3.3847 Debye to 7.2632 Debye in ground state which are very helpful for the further construction of organic solar cell (OSC) devices with improved and better power conversion efficiencies (PCEs).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajmal, M., Ali, U., Javed, A., Tariq, A., Arif, Z., Iqbal, J., Shoaib, M., Ahmed, T.: Designing indaceno thiophene-based three new molecules containing non-fullerene acceptors as strong electron withdrawing groups with DFT approaches. J. Mol. Model. 25(10), 311 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, U., Ans, M., Iqbal, J., Iqbal, M.A., Shoaib, M.: Benchmark study of benzamide derivatives and four novel theoretically designed (L1, L2, L3, and L4) ligands and evaluation of their biological properties by DFT approaches. J. Mol. Model. 25(8), 223 (2019a)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, U., Javed, A., Tallat, A., Iqbal, J., Raza, A.: Molecular designing of four high performance pyrazine-based non-fullerene acceptor materials with naphthalene diimide-based small organic solar cells. J. Mol. Model. 25(2), 50 (2019b)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cnops, K., Rand, B.P., Cheyns, D., Verreet, B., Empl, M.A., Heremans, P.: 8.4% efficient fullerene-free organic solar cells exploiting long-range exciton energy transfer. Nat. Commun. 5, 3406 (2014)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Deibel, C., Strobel, T., Dyakonov, V.: Role of the charge transfer state in organic donor–acceptor solar cells. Adv. Mater. 22, 4097–4111 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dou, L., You, J., Yang, J., Chen, C.-C., He, Y., Murase, S., Moriarty, T., Emery, K., Li, G., Yang, Y.: Tandem polymer solar cells featuring a spectrally matched low-bandgap polymer. Nat. Photonics 6, 180–185 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Earmme, T., Hwang, Y.-J., Murari, N.M., Subramaniyan, S., Jenekhe, S.A.: All-polymer solar cells with 3.3% efficiency based on naphthalene diimide-selenophene copolymer acceptor. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 135, 14960–14963 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaussian, R.A. Frisch, M.J., Trucks, G.W., Schlegel, H.B., Scuseria, G.E., Robb, M.A., Cheeseman, J.R., Scalmani, G., Barone, V., Mennucci, B., Petersson G.A., et al.: (Gaussian, Inc., Wallingford CT, 2009)

  • Gélinas, S., Rao, A., Kumar, A., Smith, S.L., Chin, A.W., Clark, J., van der Poll, T.S., Bazan, G.C., Friend, R.H.: Ultrafast long-range charge separation in organic semiconductor photovoltaic diodes. Science 343, 512–516 (2014)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hickey, A.L., Rowley, C.N.: Benchmarking quantum chemical methods for the calculation of molecular dipole moments and polarizabilities. J. Phys. Chem. A 118, 3678–3687 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, S., Ashraf, R.S., Wadsworth, A., Baran, D., Yousaf, S.A., Nielsen, C.B., Tan, C.-H., Dimitrov, S.D., Shang, Z., Gasparini, N.: High-efficiency and air-stable P3HT-based polymer solar cells with a new non-fullerene acceptor. Nat. Commun. 7, 11585 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, Y.-J., Earmme, T., Courtright, B.A., Eberle, F.N., Jenekhe, S.A.: n-Type semiconducting naphthalene diimide-perylene diimide copolymers: controlling crystallinity, blend morphology, and compatibility toward high-performance all-polymer solar cells. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 4424–4434 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jungsuttiwong, S., Tarsang, R., Sudyoadsuk, T., Promarak, V., Khongpracha, P., Namuangruk, S.: Theoretical study on novel double donor-based dyes used in high efficient dye-sensitized solar cells: the application of TDDFT study to the electron injection process. Org. Electron. 14, 711–722 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaltenbrunner, M., White, M.S., Głowacki, E.D., Sekitani, T., Someya, T., Sariciftci, N.S., Bauer, S.: Ultrathin and lightweight organic solar cells with high flexibility. Nat. Commun. 3, 770 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J.H., Moon, K.J., Kim, J.M., Lee, D., Kim, S.H.: Effects of various light-intensity and temperature environments on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. Sol. Energy 113, 251–257 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kooistra, F.B., Knol, J., Kastenberg, F., Popescu, L.M., Verhees, W.J., Kroon, J.M., Hummelen, J.C.: Increasing the open circuit voltage of bulk-heterojunction solar cells by raising the LUMO level of the acceptor. Org. Lett. 9, 551–554 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koster, L., Shaheen, S.E., Hummelen, J.C.: Pathways to a new efficiency regime for organic solar cells. Advanced Energy Materials 2, 1246–1253 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Y.: Molecular design of photovoltaic materials for polymer solar cells: toward suitable electronic energy levels and broad absorption. Acc. Chem. Res. 45, 723–733 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, Y., Wang, J., Zhang, Z.G., Bai, H., Li, Y., Zhu, D., Zhan, X.: An electron acceptor challenging fullerenes for efficient polymer solar cells. Adv. Mater. 27, 1170–1174 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzoor, F., Iqbal, J., Zara, Z., Eliasson, B., Mahr, M.S., Ayub, K.: Theoretical calculations of the optical and electronic properties of dithienosilole-and dithiophene-based donor materials for organic solar cells. Chem. Select 3, 1593–1601 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeill, C.R., Greenham, N.C.: Conjugated-polymer blends for optoelectronics. Adv. Mater. 21, 3840–3850 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng, D., Sun, D., Zhong, C., Liu, T., Fan, B., Huo, L., Li, Y., Jiang, W., Choi, H., Kim, T.: High-performance solution-processed non-fullerene organic solar cells based on selenophene-containing perylene bisimide acceptor. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 375–380 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng, G., Shi, Y., Song, X., Ji, M., Xue, Y., Hao, C.: Theoretical insight into the carrier mobility anisotropy of hole transport material Spiro-OMeTAD. Curr. Appl. Phys. 17, 1316–1322 (2017)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Minaev, B., Minaeva, V., Baryshnikov, G., Girtu, M., Agren, H.: Theoretical study of vibration spectra of sensitizing dyes for photoelectrical converters based on ruthenium (II) and iridium (III) complexes. Russ. J. Appl. Chem. 82, 1211–1221 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minaev, B.F., Baryshnikov, G.V., Minaeva, V.A.: Electronic structure and spectral properties of the triarylamine-dithienosilole dyes for efficient organic solar cells. Dyes Pigm. 92, 531–536 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, A., Bäuerle, P.: Small molecule organic semiconductors on the move: promises for future solar energy technology. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 51, 2020–2067 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano, K., Nakano, M., Xiao, B., Zhou, E., Suzuki, K., Osaka, I., Takimiya, K., Tajima, K.: Naphthodithiophene diimide-based copolymers: ambipolar semiconductors in field-effect transistors and electron acceptors with near-infrared response in polymer blend solar cells. Macromolecules 49, 1752–1760 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Nazeeruddin, M.K., Baranoff, E., Grätzel, M.: Dye-sensitized solar cells: a brief overview. Sol. Energy 85, 1172–1178 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, C.B., Holliday, S., Chen, H.-Y., Cryer, S.J., McCulloch, I.: Non-fullerene electron acceptors for use in organic solar cells. Acc. Chem. Res. 48, 2803–2812 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’regan, B., Grätzel, M.: A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films. Nature 353, 737–740 (1991)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Odobel, F., Pellegrin, Y., Gibson, E.A., Hagfeldt, A., Smeigh, A.L., Hammarström, L.: Recent advances and future directions to optimize the performances of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. Coord. Chem. Rev. 256, 2414–2423 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Refaely-Abramson, S., Baer, R., Kronik, L.: Fundamental and excitation gaps in molecules of relevance for organic photovoltaics from an optimally tuned range-separated hybrid functional. Phys. Rev. B 84, 075144 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Scharber, M.C., Sariciftci, N.S.: Efficiency of bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells. Prog. Polym. Sci. 38, 1929–1940 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sung, M.J., Huang, M., Moon, S.H., Lee, T.H., Park, S.Y., Kim, J.Y., Kwon, S.-K., Choi, H., Kim, Y.-H.: Naphthalene diimide-based small molecule acceptors for fullerene-free organic solar cells. Sol. Energy 150, 90–95 (2017)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Vandewal, K., Gadisa, A., Oosterbaan, W.D., Bertho, S., Banishoeib, F., Van Severen, I., Lutsen, L., Cleij, T.J., Vanderzande, D., Manca, J.V.: The relation between open-circuit voltage and the onset of photocurrent generation by charge-transfer absorption in polymer: fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells. Adv. Funct. Mater. 18, 2064–2070 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wongcharee, K., Meeyoo, V., Chavadej, S.: Dye-sensitized solar cell using natural dyes extracted from rosella and blue pea flowers. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 91, 566–571 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Y., Zhu, W.: Organic sensitizers from D–π–A to D-A–π–A: effect of the internal electron-withdrawing units on molecular absorption, energy levels and photovoltaic performances. Chem. Soc. Rev. 42, 2039–2058 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, J., Wang, L., Liang, G., Bai, Z., Wang, L., Xu, W., Shen, X.: Conjugate spacer effect on molecular structures and absorption spectra of triphenylamine dyes for sensitized solar cells: density functional theory calculations. Spectrochim. Acta Part A Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc. 78, 287–293 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, S., Ye, L., Hou, J.: Breaking the 10% efficiency barrier in organic photovoltaics: morphology and device optimization of well-known PBDTTT polymers. Adv. Energy Mater. 6, 1502529 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, J., Li, Y., Yang, G., Jiang, K., Lin, H., Ade, H., Ma, W., Yan, H.: Efficient organic solar cells processed from hydrocarbon solvents. Nat. Energy 1, 15027 (2016a)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, W., Qian, D., Zhang, S., Li, S., Inganäs, O., Gao, F., Hou, J.: Fullerene-free polymer solar cells with over 11% efficiency and excellent thermal stability. Adv. Mater. 28, 4734–4739 (2016b)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, W., Li, S., Yao, H., Zhang, S., Zhang, Y., Yang, B., Hou, J.: Molecular optimization enables over 13% efficiency in organic solar cells. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 7148–7151 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

These computations/simulations/[SIMILAR] analysis performed supported by the Punjab Bio-Energy Institute (PBI), Faisalabad, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), 38040, Pakistan and Taishan Scholars Project of Shandong Province (ts201712011).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Usman Ali or Ayesha Javed.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 303 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ali, U., Javed, A., Amanullah et al. Designing difluoro substituted benzene ring based fullerene free acceptors for small Naphthalene Di-Imide based molecules with DFT approaches. Opt Quant Electron 51, 332 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-019-2047-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-019-2047-x

Keywords

Navigation