m-Methoxy Substituents in a Tetraphenylethylene-Based Hole-Transport Material for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells

Three tetrapheynlethylene derivatives (N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)aminophenyl-substituted tetraphenylethylene; TPE-4DPA) with different methoxy positions (pp-, pm-, and po-) have been synthesized and characterized. The methoxy groups can control the oxidation potential of the materials, and the electronic properties of the derivatives were affected by the position of the methoxy substituents. These compounds were synthesized in a facile and cost-effective way, and were applied as hole-transport materials in perovskite solar cells. The corresponding cell performances were compared with respect to their structure modifications, and it was found that the derivative with m-OMe substituents showed the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.4%, with a J(sc) value of 20.04mAcm(-2), a V-oc value of 1.07V, and a fill factor (FF) value of 0.72, which is higher than the p-OMe and o-OMe substituents. Moreover, the PCE of pm-TPE-4DPA is comparable with that of the state-of-the-art 2,2,7,7-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9-spirobifluorene under identical conditions.