Carbonyl-Functionalized Ladder-Type Tetra(p-Phenylene)s For Organic Solar Cell Applications
Juchao Yan, Clinton Arthur
Department of Physical Sciences, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales NM 88130

Abstract
Even though the cutting-edge organic solar cells (OSCs) recorded power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of about 18%, further improvements are required to enhance their competitiveness over other photovoltaic technologies. The key to achieving a high PCE is the search for new organic conjugated molecules that can harvest light, transfer, and transport charges promptly and efficiently. The nature and transport of charges, blend morphology affects the charge transport and extraction. It is still a challenge to get a controlled morphology with enrichment of the donor near the anode and enrichment of the acceptor near the cathode. To address the inefficiencies of the existing materials, a synthesis protocol for carbonyl-functionalized ladder-type tetra(p-phenylene)s has been proposed. The incorporated carbonyl functional group serves as an infrared reporter, enabling time-resolved infrared measurements of electron delocalization followed by pulse radiolysis. The synthesis and characterizations of the titled compound will be presented in a poster.