A polythiophene derivative with octyloxyl triphenylamine-vinylene conjugated side chain: Synthesis and its applications in field-effect transistor and polymer solar cell

A new polythiophene derivative with octyloxyl triphenylamine-vinylene (OTPAV) conjugated side chain, OTPAV-PT, was synthesized according to the Stille coupling method, and characterized by 1H NMR, elemental analysis, GPC, TGA, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. The polymer possesses excellent solubility in common organic solvents and good thermal stability with 5% weight loss temperature of 413 °C. The weight-average molecular weight of OTPAV-PT was 1.04 × 104 with the polydispersity index of 1.45. Polymer solar cell with the configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/OTPAV-PT:PCBM/Al was fabricated, and the power conversion efficiency of the device was 0.21% under the illumination of AM1.5, 100 mW/cm2. The field effect hole mobility of the polymer reached 1.6 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1.