Tuning the Photovoltaic Performance of Benzodithiophene and Benzodifuran Polymeric Semiconductors by Molecular Design

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NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The development of new technologies that exploit the potential of renewable energy sources such as solar power is currently one of the most targeted research directions. Polymer solar cells developed in the PI's research group at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) are being explored as feasible alternatives for low cost, lightweight, large area, and flexible solar panels. The proposed research will aim toward the synthesis and characterization of novel organic semiconducting polymeric materials with good performance in organic solar cells. Its overall objective is to establish a correlation between structure and opto-electronic properties for new types of semiconducting polymers. This award will support the interdisciplinary training of graduate and undergraduate students at the interface between chemistry, materials science, and semiconductor technologies. Other broader educational and diversity-enhancing impacts include mentoring of high school students over a one-year period to complete a science and engineering project. The PI is also participating in a highly successful program at UTD which gives high-school students the opportunity to participate in summer research.TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This project will allow the PI to extend and consolidate the interdisciplinary research and education program at the interface between polymer chemistry, materials science, and semiconductor technologies which she started through an NSF CAREER award. The overall objective of the proposed research is to establish a structure / opto-electronic properties correlation for benzodithiophene and benzodifuran donor-acceptor semiconducting polymers. Benzodithiophene and benzodifuran will be employed as building blocks for the synthesis of donor-acceptor polymers with tunable opto-electronic properties. The planned research program targets the synthesis of the monomers and their corresponding polymers, followed by their structural, morphological and opto-electronic characterization and the testing of the materials in bulk heterojunction solar cells. The experimental data obtained from solar cell testing will be used to fine-tune the structures of donor-acceptor semiconducting polymers. The research program will have a broadly integrated approach, where students will gain expertise in organic/polymer synthesis, characterization, and solar cell fabrication and testing. The PI will capitalize on prior experience in polymer science and organic electronics, but also expand skills in morphological characterization of the active layer of bulk heterojunction solar cells. The PI's research program will be tightly integrated with an education component by training graduate and undergraduate students who will develop expertise in organic/polymer chemistry, thin-film characterization, and solar-cell fabrication and testing. It will also be coupled with an outreach and diversity-enhancement program toward high-school students.