QUATERTHIOPHENE-BASED MULTIPODS AS PROMISING MATERIALS FOR SOLUTION-PROCESSIBLE ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS AND FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS

Abstract The preparation and characterization of novel electron donor compounds with two ( D1 ) and four ( D2 ) quaterthiophene-containing arms attached to the flexible carbosilane–siloxane core are described. These materials were investigated in organic field effect transistors and photovoltaic cells. A power conversion efficiency of ∼0.9% obtained for D1:[70]PCBM blends is one of the highest values achieved up to now for solution-processible small molecular bulk heterojunction solar cells with large band-gap oligothiophene-based donor materials comprising no other chromophore units.