Indoline-based donor molecule for efficient co-evaporated organic photovoltaics

We demonstrated the use of an asymmetrical donor–acceptor-type indoline dye—D131, developed for dye-sensitized solar cells, as an electron donor and fullerene C₇₀ as an electron acceptor for thermal co-evaporated bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs). In spite of the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonds among D131 molecules, they can be thermally evaporated in high vacuum at a relatively low temperature of 220 °C. The blend ratio and thickness of the active layer of D131/C₇₀ blend films in OSCs were optimized to achieve a maximum power-conversion efficiency of 4.5% with a short-circuit current of 9.1 mA cm^?2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.89 V, and a fill factor of 0.56 under AM 1.5G solar illumination (100 mW cm^?2), which is the best value reported so far for OSCs based on indoline-based donor materials.