Photovoltaic and photophysical properties of a novel bis-3-hexylthiophene substituted quinoxaline derivative

We report on the photophysical properties and photovoltaic performance of a polythiophene derivative, poly-2,3-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)-5,8-bis(4-hexylthiophen-2-yl)quinoxaline (PHTQ) as an electron donor in bulk heterojunction solar cells blended with the acceptor 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)propyl-1-phenyl-[6,6]-methanofullerene (PCBM). Devices were composed of PHTQ and varying amounts of PCBM (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 w-w ratio). The components were spin cast from ortho-dichlorobenzene (ODCB) and characterized by measuring current–voltage characteristics under simulated AM 1.5 conditions. Efficiencies up to 0.3% have been reached. Incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) is reported and the nanoscale morphology was investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM). Photoinduced absorption spectroscopy confirms the photoinduced charge transfer in such donor acceptor blends.