Perylene derivatives for solar cells and energy harvesting: a review of materials, challenges and advances

Herein, we present a review about recent advances in perylene diimide derivatives applied to organic solar cells and energy harvesting. Several organic and inorganic compounds, most of which are solution processed or thermally evaporated, are used for this purpose. Features such as energy level in relation to the donor material’s thermal and mechanical stability and processability are among the aspects that reflect the performance of these materials as electron acceptors or electrodes. Moreover, the donor/acceptor interface directly reflects the photovoltaic response. Therefore, device engineering efforts have been exerted to achieve proper acceptor distribution along the bulk of thin films or improve the compatibility at the donor/acceptor interface. This review is divided into subsections concerning the use of PDI molecules, PDI dimers/trimers/tetramers, bilayer devices, routes to improve the donor/acceptor interface, PDI-based polymers and energy harvesting. The reports show that PDI derivatives are suitable candidates for replacing fullerene derivatives in OSCs with reduced production cost and improved stability. Moreover, new PDI composites with graphene are promising cathodes for sodium batteries. Therefore, PDI derivatives are low cost and multifunctional materials employed to produce optoelectronic devices with numerous purposes.