Chemical modification: Toward solubility and processability of graphdiyne

Abstract

The perfect properties of graphdiyne (GDY) make it a good candidate for application in multi-fields such as energy storage and conversion, catalyst. However, the poor solubility and processability of GDY is main problem to limit its high level application in electronic devices. Chemical modification provides effective solutions to resolve the above issues. Herein, we report the application of the Huisgen cycloaddition to the functionalization of GDY with alkyl azide for synthesizing soluble and processable GDY. Three kinds of alkyl azide (CH3(CH2)16CH2N3, CH3(CH2)10CH2N3 and CH3(CH2)4CH2N3) were used to prepare the modified graphdiyne. And the resultant graphdiynes show excellent solubility in most organic solvents. The enhanced conductivity of GDY-Tz-CH2(CH2)16CH3 reveals that the functionalization of graphdiyne maintains both the structural integrity and the property of graphdiyne. The good solubility of GDY-Tz-CH2(CH2)16CH3 enables it easily processable application in the planar heterojunction (PHJ) perovskite solar cells serving as electron transport layer. The solar cells exhibit an increase of PCE from 16.24% to 19.26% and the Jsc increasing from 20.85 mA cm−2 to 23.7 mA cm−2. This cost-effective, simple, and scalable strategy for the synthesis of soluble and processable GDY presents a feasible way to expedite the development of GDY-based materials.