PNNL

Abstract

For the first time, a series of fluorous fullerene acceptors with experimental gas-phase electron affinities ranging from 2.8 to 3.3 eV were paired with the new dicyanovinyl thiophene-based molecular donor to study organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). Direct comparison of their performance in planar and bulk heterojunction architectures in the cells fabricated by vacuum deposition provided unprecedented insights into the role of the acceptor intrinsic molecular and electronic structures, which are not obscured by solvent and additive effects as in the typical solution-processed fullerene-based OPVs.