Synthesis of Anthracene-Based Conjugated Polymers With Alkoxyl Side Chains Architecture for Potential Photovoltaic Application

Insufficiency of energy resources affects the economy and constitutes a global crisis. Solar energy represents an immense renewable source, and various photovoltaic cells, such as polymer solar cells, are being developed to tap solar energy and make it available for consumption. This work describes synthesized anthracene-conjugated polymers with alkoxyl side-chain distributions via Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons polyolefination reactions. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the polymers. Electrochemical and optical bandgaps of the synthesized polymers were determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), while absorption measurements and photovoltaic performances were studied using different optoelectrical characterizations. The alkoxyl side chains impacted the power conversion efficiency (PCE), open-circuit voltage (V_OC), short-circuit current density (J_SC), and fill factor (FF) of the optoelectronic polymers since they can reduce electron deficiency of the end group moiety, leading to the larger bandgap. The optoelectronic properties suggested considerable improvement of the elaborated solar cells' performance based on the synthesized polymers with various overcasts, specifically methanol and l-arginine dissolved in methanol. The newly synthesized polymers exhibit optimizable and promising photovoltaic characteristics.