Alkyl thiophene vinylene electropolymerization in C8mimPF6, potential use in solar cells

We report the electrosynthesis of a novel semiconductor polymer based on alkyl vinylthiophene derivative in the presence of an ionic liquid (IL). The polymerization was performed under galvanostatic conditions and the polymer was studied as potential donor component of a multilayer heterojunction organic solar cell (OSC). The monomer used was (E)-1,2-di-(3-octyl-2-thienyl) vinylene (OTV) and the IL used for the electropolymerization was 1-octyl-3-methylimidazole hexafluorophosphate C8mimPF6. Optical properties, stability and morphology of the polymer were analyzed using FT-IR, UV-vis, Raman and XPS spectroscopy. Voltammetry analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) were also performed on the polymer. The OSC assembled with the polymer of OTV was used as electro donor and C60 as acceptor. Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) and bathocuproine (BCP) were used as buffer layer between anode and cathode respectively. I-V curves, in the dark and under AM 1.5 solar simulator were performed to measure its efficiency.