The synthesis and purification of amphiphilic conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers

Abstract

Nanoscale domains of donor and acceptor materials are crucial for charge generation in organic photovoltaic devices. These domains are difficult to achieve reproducibly in blended materials, but could be engineered into single-material active layers composed of donor-acceptor block copolymers (BCPs). In this work, we report the synthesis and purification of two novel fully conjugated BCPs, P3HT-b-PF TEG TBT and P3HT-b-PF TEG T6BT. To enhance phase separation and self-assembly, these two polymers incorporate tetraethylene glycol side chains into the PFTBT acceptor block, generating an amphiphilic system. The chemical disparity of the donor and acceptor blocks allowed the development of a puri..