Aaron M. Raynor

A diketopyrrolopyrrole and benzothiadiazole based small molecule electron acceptor: design, synthesis, characterization and photovoltaic properties

A novel solution-processable electron acceptor based on diketopyrrolopyrrole and benzothiadiazole building blocks was designed and synthesized, which exhibited excellent solubility and thermal stability, and afforded 1.16% power conversion efficiency with high open-circuit voltage (1.08 V) when tested with the classical poly(3-hexylthiophene) electron donor in bulk-heterojunction solar cells. The open-circuit voltage reported here (∼1.1 V) is among the highest values for a single bulk-heterojunction device.

A non-fullerene electron acceptor based on central carbazole and terminal diketopyrrolopyrrole functionalities for efficient, reproducible and solution-processable bulk-heterojunction devices

A novel, solution-processable non-fullerene electron acceptor, 6,6′-((9-(heptadecan-9-yl)-9H-carbazole-2,7-diyl)bis(thiophene-5,2-diyl))bis(2,5-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3-(thiophen-2-yl)-2,5-dihydropyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione) (coded as N7), based on central carbazole and terminal diketopyrrolopyrrole building blocks was designed, synthesized and characterized. N7 displayed excellent solubility, thanks to its design allowing incorporation of numerous lipophilic chains, thermal stability, and afforded a 2.30% power conversion efficiency with a high open-circuit voltage (1.17 V) when tested with the conventional donor polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) in solution-processable bulk-heterojunction devices. To our knowledge, not only is N7 the first reported chromophore based on carbazole and diketopyrrolopyrrole functionalities but the open-circuit voltage reported here is among the highest values for a single junction bulk-heterojunction device that has been fabricated using a simple device architecture, with reproducible outcomes and with no special treatment.

Small band gap D-π-A-π-D benzothiadiazole derivatives with low-lying HOMO levels as potential donors for applications in organic photovoltaics: a combined experimental and theoretical investigation

In an attempt to develop small organic molecules with potential applications as donors in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices, we have synthesized and characterized four novel benzothiadiazole (A) core structured D-π-A-π-D dyes featuring carbazole and benzocarbazole as donors (D) and fluorene and thiophene as spacers (π). The effects of the π-spacer units and variations in donor strength on the photophysical, electrochemical and thermal properties of the molecules have been investigated in detail. The replacement of fluorene by thiophene as a π-spacer promotes planarity, resulting in a larger bathochromic absorption shift, enhanced emission profiles and an enhanced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) transition. The introduction of the benzocarbazole unit creates a low-lying HOMO level, as inferred from cyclic voltammetry studies. All the dyes exhibit remarkable thermal robustness. Theoretical calculations have been carried out to understand the structure–property relationships of the synthesized materials. The results obtained from the characterization methods reveal that the dyes with thiophene π-spacers show better optoelectronic properties compared to their fluorene counterparts. Solution-processable bulk-heterojunction devices with a structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS (38 nm)/active layer/Ca (20 nm)/Al (100 nm) were fabricated using the materials investigated in this study as donors and (6,6)-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) as an acceptor. A power conversion efficiency of 1.62% for the molecule with thiophene as a spacer and carbazole as donor/PC61BM was achieved for the preliminary photovoltaic devices under simulated AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW cm−2).

Effect of Amide Hydrogen Bonding Interaction on Supramolecular Self-Assembly of Naphthalene Diimide Amphiphiles with Aggregation Induced Emission

Abstract In the present work, two new naphthalene diimide (NDI) amphiphiles, NDI‐N and NDI‐NA, were successfully synthesized and employed to investigate their self‐assembly and optical properties. For NDI‐NA, which contains an amide group, aggregation‐induced emission enhancement (AIEE) was demonstrated in the presence of various ratios of methylcyclohexane (MCH) in chloroform, which led to the visual color changes. This new amide‐containing NDI‐NA amphiphile formed nanobelt structures in chloroform/MCH (10:90, v/v) and microcup‐like morphologies in chloroform/MCH (5:95, v/v). The closure of these microcups led to the formation of vesicles and microcapsules. The structural morphologies gained from the solvophobic control of NDI‐NA were confirmed by various complementary techniques such as infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. In the absence of the amide moiety in NDI‐N, no self‐assembly was observed, indicating the fundamental role of H‐bonding in the self‐association process.

Naphthalene diimide-based non-fullerene acceptors for simple, efficient, and solution-processable bulk-heterojunction devices

Two solution processable, non-fullerene electron acceptors, 2,2′-(((2,7-dioctyl-1,3,6,8-tetraoxo-1,2,3,6,7,8-exahydrobenzo[lmn][3,8]phenanthroline-4,9-diyl)bis(thiophene-5,2-diyl))bis(methanylylidene))dimalononitrile (R1) and (2Z,2′Z)-3,3′-((2,7-dioctyl-1,3,6,8-tetraoxo-1,2,3,6,7,8-hexahydrobenzo[lmn][3,8]phenanthroline-4,9-diyl)bis(thiophene-5,2-diyl))bis(2-(4-nitrophenyl) acrylonitrile) (R2), comprised of central naphthalene diimide and two different terminal accepting functionalities, malononitrile and 2-(4-nitrophenyl)acetonitrile, respectively, were designed and synthesised. The central and terminal accepting functionalities were connected via a mild conjugated thiophene linker. Both of the new materials (R1 and R2) displayed high thermal stability and were found to have energy levels matching those of the archetypal electron donor poly(3-hexylthiophene). A simple, solution-processable bulk-heterojunction device afforded a promising power conversion efficiency of 2.24% when R2 was used as a non-fullerene electron acceptor along with the conventional donor polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene). To the best of our knowledge, the materials reported herein are the first examples in the literature where synchronous use of such accepting blocks is demonstrated for the design and development of efficient non-fullerene electron acceptors.

Significant Improvement of Optoelectronic and Photovoltaic Properties by Incorporating Thiophene in a Solution-Processable D–A–D Modular Chromophore

Through the incorporation of a thiophene functionality, a novel solution-processable small organic chromophore was designed, synthesized and characterized for application in bulk-heterojunction solar cells. The new chromophore, (2Z,2′Z)-2,2′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(3-(5-(4-(diphenylamino)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)acrylonitrile) (coded as AS2), was based on a donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) module where a simple triphenylamine unit served as an electron donor, 1,4-phenylenediacetonitrile as an electron acceptor, and a thiophene ring as the π-bridge embedded between the donor and acceptor functionalities. AS2 was isolated as brick-red, needle-shaped crystals, and was fully characterized by 1H- and 13C-NMR, IR, mass spectrometry and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties of AS2 were compared with those of a structural analogue, (2Z,2′Z)-2,2′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(3-(4-(diphenylamino)phenyl)-acrylonitrile) (AS1). Benefiting from the covalent thiophene bridges, compared to AS1 thin solid film, the AS2 film showed: (1) an enhancement of light-harvesting ability by 20%; (2) an increase in wavelength of the longest wavelength absorption maximum (497 nm vs. 470 nm) and (3) a narrower optical band-gap (1.93 eV vs. 2.17 eV). Studies on the photovoltaic properties revealed that the best AS2-[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM)-based device showed an impressive enhanced power conversion efficiency of 4.10%, an approx. 3-fold increase with respect to the efficiency of the best AS1-based device (1.23%). These results clearly indicated that embodiment of thiophene functionality extended the molecular conjugation, thus enhancing the light-harvesting ability and short-circuit current density, while further improving the bulk-heterojunction device performance. To our knowledge, AS2 is the first example in the literature where a thiophene unit has been used in conjunction with a 1,4-phenylenediacetonitrile accepting functionality to extend the π-conjugation in a given D–A–D motif for bulk-heterojunction solar cell applications.

Neomycin and gentamicin detection via molecular recognition with cyclam-decorated gold nanoparticles

Herein we describe the development of cyclam-coated gold nanoparticles (cyclam-Au NPs) based sensitive colorimetric method for neomycin and gentamicin detection. The cyclam-Au NPs were characterised by UV–vis spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy techniques, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements. The cyclam-Au NPs aggregated in presence of neomycin and gentamicin, which results a colour change from violet to blue. The characteristic absorption peak at 530 nm was bathochromic-shifted to a longer wavelength (660 nm). This confirms the aggregation of cyclam-Au NPs in the presence of neomycin as well as gentamicin via hydrogen bonding. The UV–vis absorption measurements employed to determine detection limit of neomycin and gentamicin. The detection limit is 1.87 × 10− 8 M and 2.35 × 10− 8 M for neomycin and gentamicin respectively.