Benzodithiophene-based polymer donors for organic photovoltaics

Abstract

The advancement of π-conjugated polymers has contributed to the rapid development of high-performing organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. The donor (D)–acceptor (A) conjugated polymers dominated the field of OPV materials as these structures offer opportunities to fine-tune material properties such as bandgap, charge transport and solubility. Among all the D building blocks, benzodithiophene (BDT) has received extensive attention owing to its symmetric structure, convenient attachment points for side chains and high stability. This review summarizes the general molecular design strategy for BDT-based D–A copolymers and gives carefully selected examples of such copolymers used in NFA solar cells, aiming to provide a structure–property relationship for rational design of future BDT-based D–A conjugated polymers.