A near-infrared porphyrin-based electron acceptor for non-fullerene organic solar cells

In this work, a new star-shaped electron acceptor based on porphyrin as core, rhodanine and benzothiadiazole as end groups, was developed for non-fullerene solar cells. The molecule shows three distinct absorption regions due to the Soret and Q-bands of the porphyrin and the intramolecular charge transfer in the molecule. This molecule as electron acceptor was applied into non-fullerene solar cells by using a diketopyrrolopyrrole-based conjugated polymer as electron donor. An initial PCE of 1.9% was achieved with a broad photo-response from 300-850 nm. The results demonstrate that porphyrin can be used to design near-infrared electron acceptors for organic solar cells. (C) 2017 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.