Materials For Organic Solar Cells Research Articles

A Multifluorination Strategy Toward Wide Bandgap Polymers for Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells

AbstractCreating new electron‐deficient unit is highly demanded to develop high‐performance polymer donors for non‐fullerene organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, we reported a multifluorinated unit 4,5,6,7‐tetrafluoronaphtho[2,1‐b : 3,4‐b′]dithio‐phene (FNT) and its polymers PFNT‐F and PFNT‐Cl. The advantages of multifluorination: (1) it enables the polymers to exhibit low‐lying HOMO (≈−5.5 eV) and wide band gap (≈2.0 eV); (2) the short interactions (F⋅⋅⋅H, F⋅⋅⋅F) endow the polymers with properties of high film crystallinity and efficient hole transport; (3) well miscibility with NFAs that leads to a more well‐defined nanofibrous morphology and face‐on orientation in the blend films. Therefore, the PFNT‐F/Cl : N3 based OSCs exhibit impressive FF values of 0.80, and remarkable PCEs of 17.53 % and 18.10 %, which make them ranked the best donor materials in OSCs. This work offers new insights into the rational design of high‐performance polymers by multifluorination strategy.

A Multifluorination Strategy Toward Wide Bandgap Polymers for Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells.

Creating new electron-deficient unit is highly demanded to develop high-performance polymer donors for non-fullerene organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, we reported a multifluorinated unit 4,5,6,7-tetrafluoronaphtho[2,1-b : 3,4-b']dithio-phene (FNT) and its polymers PFNT-F and PFNT-Cl. The advantages of multifluorination: (1) it enables the polymers to exhibit low-lying HOMO (≈-5.5 eV) and wide band gap (≈2.0 eV); (2) the short interactions (F⋅⋅⋅H, F⋅⋅⋅F) endow the polymers with properties of high film crystallinity and efficient hole transport; (3) well miscibility with NFAs that leads to a more well-defined nanofibrous morphology and face-on orientation in the blend films. Therefore, the PFNT-F/Cl : N3 based OSCs exhibit impressive FF values of 0.80, and remarkable PCEs of 17.53 % and 18.10 %, which make them ranked the best donor materials in OSCs. This work offers new insights into the rational design of high-performance polymers by multifluorination strategy.

Natural Materials for Sustainable Organic Solar Cells: Status and Challenge

AbstractThe exploitation of natural materials has received growing attention because of the needs of environmental sustainability. In contrast to petroleum‐based synthetic materials, natural materials possess significant advantages of abundant, low‐cost, degradable, and renewable. Here, the recent research status of natural materials as flexible substrate, cathode interfacial material, and anode interfacial material for organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are first presented. Then, the confronted key challenges that limit the widespread application of natural materials for OPVs is summarized, including complex multilength scaled aggregation morphology, non‐conjugated structure, and unclear working mechanism. Finally, their potential solutions from the perspective of chemical structure are proposed for constructing efficient OPVs. It is believed that natural materials have a broad landscape in low‐cost and green manufacturing technology for OPVs in the future.

A data mining assisted designing of quinoxaline-based small molecule acceptors for photovoltaic applications and quantum chemical calculations assisted molecular characterization

Designing compounds for organic solar cells is a hot topic. In the present study, a new approach is introduced to design acceptor materials for organic solar cells. Building blocks are mined from the chemical database. New libraries of building blocks are also enumerated. New acceptors are designed using searched building blocks. Machine learning is used to predict the power conversion efficiency of accepters. Best molecular descriptors (features) are selected with the help of statistical methods. Multiple machine learning models are trained using best descriptors. The bagging regressor and random forest regressor are the best models. Energy levels of designed acceptors are calculated using density functional calculations. Electronic properties and electrostatic potential are also calculated. Synthetic accessibility of designed acceptors is predicted. The synthetic accessibility score of most acceptors is higher than the experimentally reported acceptor named QIP-4F. Our proposed framework has the potential to easily select efficient materials for organic solar cells in a short time. Fast designing and performance prediction can speed up the goal of commercialization.

A polymer library enables the rapid identification of a highly scalable and efficient donor material for organic solar cells.

The dramatic improvement of the PCE (power conversion efficiency) of organic photovoltaic devices in the past few years has been driven by the development of new polymer donor materials and non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). In the design of such materials synthetic scalability is often not considered, and hence complicated synthetic protocols are typical for high-performing materials. Here we report an approach to readily introduce a variety of solubilizing groups into a benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole acceptor comonomer. This allowed for the ready preparation of a library of eleven donor polymers of varying side chains and comonomers, which facilitated a rapid screening of properties and photovoltaic device performance. Donor FO6-T emerged as the optimal material, exhibiting good solubility in chlorinated and non-chlorinated solvents and achieving 15.4% PCE with L8BO as the acceptor (15.2% with Y6) and good device stability. FO6-T was readily prepared on the gram scale, and synthetic complexity (SC) analysis highlighted FO6-T as an attractive donor polymer for potential large scale applications.

Study on Ternary Blend Organic Solar Cells Based on Multiple Non-fullerene Acceptors

In recent years, non-fullerene acceptor materials for organic solar cells ( OSCs ) have attracted much attention. Among them, ITIC, Y6 and perylene diimide ( PDI ) have been widely studied because of their easy structure regulation. The application and development of ITIC and its derivatives, Y6, PDI and its derivatives in ternary blend organic solar cells are reviewed in detail. This work focuses on the molecular structure optimization method and the selection of third component materials. At present, the efficiency of organic solar cells has exceeded 18%, but the relationship between molecular structure and photovoltaic performance needs further exploration. Optimizing the synthesis route is still an important research direction in this field.

Metallo-dithiaporphyrin pigments for bulk-heterojunction solar cell applications: ab initio investigation of structural and optoelectronic properties.

Metallo-dithiaporphyrin small molecules have been designed by substituting Ru(ii) with various transition metals at the same oxidation state (M = Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu) as donor materials for Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells (BHJ-OSCs). Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) have been used to study the optoelectronic properties of metallo-dithiaporphyrin at various functionals and basis sets. We discovered that the open-circuit voltage (VOC) value increases when Ru(ii) in Ru(S2TTP)Cl2 (S2TTP = tetra-p-tolyldithiaporphyrin) is substituted. In addition, the light harvesting efficiency (LHE) of nickel, manganese, and iron complexes was found to be similar to that of ruthenium, and the iron complex furthermore presented a comparable charge transfer in the excited state corresponding to the Q-band, compared to Ru(S2TTP)Cl2. Hence M(S2TTP)Cl2 (M = Mn, Fe, Ni) appear to be potential low cost candidate donor molecules within a bulk heterojunction solar cell. We further propose suitable engineered acceptor pigments, fitted to provide a good overall solar cell efficiency.

Fused polycyclic lactam-based π-conjugated polymers for efficient nonfullerene organic solar cells

Wide-bandgap π-conjugated polymers featuring bis-lactam units were prepared and used as the donor materials for non-fullerene organic solar cells.

Carbon Nanodots as Electron Transport Materials in Organic Light Emitting Diodes and Solar Cells.

Charge injection and transport interlayers play a crucial role in many classes of optoelectronics, including organic and perovskite ones. Here, we demonstrate the beneficial role of carbon nanodots, both pristine and nitrogen-functionalized, as electron transport materials in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic solar cells (OSCs). Pristine (referred to as C-dots) and nitrogen-functionalized (referred to as NC-dots) carbon dots are systematically studied regarding their properties by using cyclic voltammetry, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy in order to reveal their energetic alignment and possible interaction with the organic semiconductor's emissive layer. Atomic force microscopy unravels the ultra-thin nature of the interlayers. They are next applied as interlayers between an Al metal cathode and a conventional green-yellow copolymer-in particular, (poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-alt-co-(1,4-benzo-{2,1',3}-thiadiazole)], F8BT)-used as an emissive layer in fluorescent OLEDs. Electrical measurements indicate that both the C-dot- and NC-dot-based OLED devices present significant improvements in their current and luminescent characteristics, mainly due to a decrease in electron injection barrier. Both C-dots and NC-dots are also used as cathode interfacial layers in OSCs with an inverted architecture. An increase of nearly 10% in power conversion efficiency (PCE) for the devices using the C-dots and NC-dots compared to the reference one is achieved. The application of low-cost solution-processed materials in OLEDs and OSCs may contribute to their wide implementation in large-area applications.

Environmentally affable and highly efficient donor material based on cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT) framework for remarkable organic solar cells

The quantum chemical exploration of highly conjugated D-π-A type molecules based on cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT) core is anticipated to recommend novel organic materials for efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). Five new conjugated molecules (C1–C5) were designed by drafting of reference CR through thiophene bridged end caped acceptors and their geometric, as well as optoelectronic properties, were investigated at MPW1PW91/6-31G (d,p) functional. All the newly tailored chromophores (C1–C5) proclaimed lower energy gap values (ranging from 1.95 to 2.19 eV) than the reference CR (3.18 eV). TD-DFT calculations of all the newly designed molecules revealed higher λmax in the range 500–514 nm than the reference CR (483.2 nm) in dichloromethane solvent. Lower excitation energies (1.79–1.94 eV) and higher dipole moment (4.84–18.37 D) for all the drafted compounds (C1–C5) than reference CR were observed which proclaimed efficient charge transfer. Simulations of global reactivity parameters like hardness, chemical potential, softness and electrophilicity manifested all these molecules (C1–C5) to be reactive and thermally stable. The small values of reorganization energies for electron and hole exhibited high electron-hole mobilities and low charge recombination. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) parameters were simulated by scaling the HOMO of designed molecules acting as a donor with LUMO of PC61BM acceptor. All the designed molecules (C1–C5) demonstrated high open circuit voltage (0.67–0.92 V) than the reference (0.49 V) which is favorable for enhancement of PCE. Also, the higher values of fill factor (FF) ranging from 0.8417 to 0.8677 for newly designed chromophores increased the PCE than reference CR (0.8015). The results demonstrated the suitability of these donor molecules designed by deliberated technique, opening a new path for the development of donor's contributors to OSCs and may prove efficient materials for fabrication of future OSCs.

Donor‐π‐Acceptor N‐Methyl‐4,5‐Diazacarbazole Based Ultra‐High Performance Organic Solar Cells: A Density Functional Theory Study

Herein, a series of D‐π‐A conjugated molecules based on donor N‐methyl‐4,5‐diazacarbazole with a variety of acceptor end caps are quantum chemically proposed with aim of rational design of novel organic materials applicable in organic solar cells (OSCs) by using ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Herein, the optoelectronic performance of tailored molecules was explored by substituting the bay annulated indigo dye acceptor unit with a variety of molecules including 4‐(5‐methyl‐thiophene‐2‐yl)benzothiadiazole; 1, 2‐(3‐methyl‐5‐methylene‐4‐oxothiazolidin‐2‐ylidene)‐malononitrile; 2, 3‐methyl‐5‐methylene‐2‐thioxothiazolodin‐4‐one; 3, 2‐methylenemalononitrile; 4, 2‐cynaoacryli‐caidmethylester; 5, those are linked through the thiophene bridge. The DFT results encompassed the significant variations of electronic behavior of newly designed molecules (M1‐M5) with respect to the reference molecule, especially in the case of 1, 2, and 3 substitution. The designed molecules exhibit excellent electron transition due to the increasing λ max toward the higher region. The outcomes of this study proposed the designed molecules as a possible choice in designing efficient optoelectronic materials for OSCs. From the future point of view, this finding suggests that the pre‐synthesis of such hypothetical molecules using quantum mechanics is an effective strategy for designing ideal candidates for solar cell applications.

Sidechain‐Engineered N‐PDIs Processed from Ethyl Acetate as Effective Cathode Interlayers for Organic Solar Cells

Herein, series bay position‐substituted N‐annulated perylene diimide (N‐PDI) derivatives applied as the cathode interlayer (CIL) in bottom‐anode (conventional structure) organic solar cells (OSCs) are presented. Despite the fact that N‐PDIs show low solubility in common CIL‐processing solvents such as methanol (MeOH), the use of ethyl acetate (EtOAc) as a processing solvent allows for dissolution of N‐PDIs at sufficient concentrations to form homogeneous films on top of the organic photoactive layer. OSC devices fabricated in ambient conditions using the PM6:Y6 representative bulk heterojunction (BHJ) system show simultaneous enhancements in performance metrics, with power conversion efficiency (PCE) increasing from 8.5% for devices based on the bare Ag cathode to 12.5% with N‐PDI molecule as CIL. The improvement in performance with N‐PDI CILs can be attributed to a combination of smooth film morphology and high electron extraction capability of N‐PDIs. Solubility in EtOAc, appropriate highest occupied molecular orbital/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels, uniform film formation, and facilitation of electron transfer/collection make these N‐PDIs a promising family of CIL materials for efficient OSCs. Using EtOAc as an improved solvent over MeOH also opens the door for new CIL designs and to test materials that are not MeOH soluble.

Recent Advances in Selenophene-Based Materials for Organic Solar Cells.

Due to the low cost, light weight, semitransparency, good flexibility, and large manufacturing area of organic solar cells (OSCs), OSCs have the opportunity to become the next generation of solar cells in some specific applications. So far, the efficiency of the OSC device has been improved by more than 20%. The optical band gap between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level is an important factor affecting the performance of the device. Selenophene, a derivative of aromatic pentacyclic thiophene, is easy to polarize, its LUMO energy level is very low, and hence the optical band gap can be reduced. In addition, the selenium atoms in selenophene and other oxygen atoms or sulfur atoms can form an intermolecular interaction, so as to improve the stacking order of the active layer blend film and improve the carrier transport efficiency. This paper introduces the organic solar active layer materials containing selenium benzene in recent years, which can be simply divided into donor materials and acceptor materials. Replacing sulfur atoms with selenium atoms in these materials can effectively reduce the corresponding optical band gap of materials, improve the mutual solubility of donor recipient materials, and ultimately improve the device efficiency. Therefore, the sulfur in thiophene can be completely replaced by selenium or oxygen of the same family, which can be used in the active layer materials of organic solar cells. This article mainly describes the application of selenium instead of sulfur in OSCs.

Development of diketopyrrolopyrrole-based donor-acceptor oligomers using direct arylation polymerization: Non-linear and ultrafast optical analysis, and their application in ternary organic solar cells

A series of donor-acceptor (D-A) oligomers based on thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (TT), 2,2′-bithieno[3,2-b]thiophene (BTT), and diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) were synthesized through eco-friendly direct arylation polymerization using two different Fagnou conditions. These DPP-based oligomers, characterized on average by the chain of 4 units, presented notable bands of infrared photoluminescence with peaks in the wavelength range 712–753 nm. Time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy was used for a basic understanding of the dynamics of excited states in these oligomers in solution, nanoparticles, and solid films. The optical nonlinearities were also evaluated through Z-scan experiments under femtosecond excitation, finding significant cross-sections of nonlinear absorption (∼920 GM) at 950 nm. Further, these DPP-based organic materials were loaded in different weight percentages, as an electro-donor material in ternary organic solar cells in combination with poly(3-hexylthiophene) P3HT and PC71BM. An improvement in conversion efficiency of 28% regarding a binary cell was achieved with the BTT derivative due to its complementary role to recollect light in the infrared region, better energy level matching, and improved quality in the formation of solid films compared with the TT derivative, which in combination increased Jsc from 9.55 to 13.5 mA/cm2. Theoretical calculations show that oligomers of 4 units produced optimized optical properties with reduced optical band gap and maximum dipole moments.

Crystallization of D-A Conjugated Polymers: A Review of Recent Research.

D-A conjugated polymers are key materials for organic solar cells and organic thin-film transistors, and their film structure is one of the most important factors in determining device performance. The formation of film structure largely depends on the crystallization process, but the crystallization of D-A conjugated polymers is not well understood. In this review, we attempted to achieve a clearer understanding of the crystallization of D-A conjugated polymers. We first summarized the features of D-A conjugated polymers, which can affect their crystallization process. Then, the crystallization process of D-A conjugated polymers was discussed, including the possible chain conformations in the solution as well as the nucleation and growth processes. After that, the crystal structure of D-A conjugated polymers, including the molecular orientation and polymorphism, was reviewed. We proposed that the nucleation process and the orientation of the nuclei on the substrate are critical for the crystal structure. Finally, we summarized the possible crystal morphologies of D-A conjugated polymers and explained their formation process in terms of nucleation and growth processes. This review provides fundamental knowledge on how to manipulate the crystallization process of D-A conjugated polymers to regulate their film structure.

Carbazole-based donor materials with enhanced photovoltaic parameters for organic solar cells and hole-transport materials for efficient perovskite solar cells.

Five carbazole-based donor molecules are designed by structural engineering of reference molecule PF. The molecules are devised by substitution of thiophene bridged end-capped acceptor groups namely (2-methylenemalononitrile) PF1, (methyl 2-cyanoacrylate) PF2, (3-methyl-5-methylene-2-thioxothiazolidin-4-one) PF3, (2-(3-methyl-5-methylene-4-oxothiazolidin-2- ylidene) malononitrile) PF4, and (4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl) benzo[c] [1, 2, 5] thiadiazol) PF5. A DFT investigation was performed at the selected DFT functional MPW1PW91/6-31G (d,p) to investigate the optoelectronic properties of PF and all designed (PF1-PF2) molecules. Several important characteristics, i.e., band gap (Eg), transition density matrix analysis, dipole moment (µ), density of states analysis, reorganization energies, open circuit voltage (Voc), and fill factor, were investigated. The comparison of energy levels of reference molecule and designed molecules unveils the fact that these molecules are efficient hole transport materials to be used in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). All the newly drafted molecules (PF1-PF5) show higher λmax values in solvent (Chlorobenzene) ranging from 529 to 614nm than the reference PF (344nm). Smaller band gap (Eg) values in a range of 2.27-1.9eV for newly designed molecules are observed which are very much reduced when compared to reference PF. Lowered exciton binding energies (Eb) and reorganization energies for the electron (0.004279-0.0103337eV) as compared to PF reveal that our molecules display higher electron mobility rates, and hence, these small molecules can be used as proficient donor materials in high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs) and better hole transport materials (HTMs) for possible application in perovskite solar cells.

Zinc(II) complexes of azadipyrromethene: Effect of nature and placement of solubilizing groups on structural, thermal, electrochemical and optical properties

Zinc(II) complexes of azadipyrromethenes are non-planar chromophores with strong absorption in the visible to NIR and are promising n-type materials for organic solar cells. To increase solubility and tune their properties, we incorporated hexyl or hexyloxy solubilizing groups either on the distal or proximal phenyls of bis[2,6-diphenylethynyl-1,3,7,9-tetraphenyl azadipyrromethene] zinc(II) (Zn(WS3)2). Crystal structures confirm the typical distorted tetrahedral geometry for these types of complexes and show that the solubilizing groups on the distal phenyls extend away from the conjugated core whereas groups on proximal phenyls interact with the other ligand. Differential scanning calorimetry measurement indicated that crystals of distal-substituted complexes have two endothermic peaks: solubilizing groups ‘melting’ and complex melting, whereas the proximal-substituted complexes show one exothermic crystallization peak and one endothermic melting peak. Electrochemical and optical properties varied as expected for ADP-based complexes: the presence of electron rich groups at the proximal substitutions resulted in lower oxidation potentials, higher HOMO levels, red-shifted absorption and lower optical gap than distal substitutions, and the effect was greater for hexyloxy than hexyl. Upon thermal annealing, films of the hexyloxy-substituted complexes strongly aggregated and showed crystal features under a polarized microscope, indicating that hexyloxy groups drive ordered self-assembly, especially when placed on distal phenyls. The ability to guide solid-state self-assembly of these non-planar chromophores using solubilizing groups have the potential to improve their charge carrier mobility and performance in opto-electronic applications such as organic solar cells, and photodetectors.

Efficient Cathode Buffer Material Based on Dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide for Both Conventional and Inverted Organic Solar Cells.

A novel conjugated molecule (PBSON) based on a main chain composed of bis(dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide) fused cyclopentadiene and side chains containing amino groups is presented as an efficient cathode buffer material (CBM) for organic solar cells (OSCs). PBSON showed a deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of -6.01 eV, which was beneficial for building hole-blocking layers at the cathodes of OSCs. The energy bandgap of PBSON reached 3.17 eV, implying high transmittance to visible and near-infrared light, which meant PBSON should be suitable for the applications to most inverted OSCs. The scanning Kelvin probe microscopy measurement and theoretical calculation on the PBSON/cathode interfacial interaction proved the excellent work function-regulating abilities of PBSON for various cathodes, suggesting that PBSON could promote the formation of Ohmic contacts at the cathodes and thus improve the transport and collection of electron carriers for OSCs. The characterization of electron-only devices demonstrated the good electron-transporting performance of PBSON at the cathodes. In the conventional OSCs, it was hinted that PBSON might restrain the infiltrations of evaporated cathode atoms into the active films, consequently reducing the reverse leakage currents. As a result, PBSON was able to boost the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) by 58.2 and 56.4% for both conventional and inverted OSCs of the typical PTB7:PC71BM system, respectively, as compared to the unadorned devices. In terms of the classical PTB7-Th:PC71BM system, substantial increases in PCEs could also be found with PBSON interlayers, which were 54.7 and 59.8% for the conventional device and inverted device, respectively. Therefore, PBSON is a kind of promising CBM for realizing both conventional and inverted OSCs of high performance.

Importance of Electric-Field-Independent Mobilities in Thick-Film Organic Solar Cells.

In organic solar cells (OSCs), a thick active layer usually yields a higher photocurrent with broader optical absorption than a thin active layer. In fact, a ∼300 nm thick active layer is more compatible with large-area processing methods and theoretically should be a better spot for efficiency optimization. However, the bottleneck of developing high-efficiency thick-film OSCs is the loss in fill factor (FF). The origin of the FF loss is not clearly understood, and there a direct method to identify photoactive materials for high-efficiency thick-film OSCs is lacking. Here, we demonstrate that the mobility field-dependent coefficient is an important parameter directly determining the FF loss in thick-film OSCs. Simulation results based on the drift-diffusion model reveal that a mobility field-dependent coefficient smaller than 10-3 (V/cm)-1/2 is required to maintain a good FF in thick-film devices. To confirm our simulation results, we studied the performance of two ternary bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blends, PTQ10:N3:PC71BM and PM6:N3:PC71BM. We found that the PTQ10 blend film has weaker field-dependent mobilities, giving rise to a more balanced electron-hole transport at low fields. While both the PM6 blend and PTQ10 blend yield good performance in thin-film devices (∼100 nm), only the PTQ10 blend can retain a FF = 74% with an active layer thickness of up to 300 nm. Combining the benefits of a higher JSC in thick-film devices, we achieved a PCE of 16.8% in a 300 nm thick PTQ10:N3:PC71BM OSC. Such a high FF in the thick-film PTQ10 blend is also consistent with the observation of lower charge recombination from light-intensity-dependent measurements and lower energetic disorder observed in photothermal deflection spectroscopy.

Optical and Photovoltaic Properties of New Synthesized Quinoxaline-2,3 Dione Derivatives for Efficient Dye Sensitized Solar Cell Application

In this study, the synthesis of 4 new heterocyclic compounds derived from quinoxalinedione were presented, which have been characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The solar cells’ photovoltaic properties based on these novels organic compounds donor-π-acceptor dyes were studied. Density functional theory DFT method is realized to optimize electronic parameters, optical and photovoltaic properties for some new 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives based on quinoxaline-2,3-dione. The results have shown that time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) investigations with polarizable continuum model PCM were significantly able to foretell the excitation energy and the spectroscopy of the molecule. The highest occupied molecular orbital HOMO and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital LUMO energy levels of these molecules can ensure a positive impact on the dye regeneration and electron injection process. Injection driving force ΔGinject, light-harvesting efficiency LHE, reorganization energy λtotal and open-circuit photovoltage Voc provide qualitative predictions on these dyes’ reactivity. Among these 4 molecules, the compounds which can be used as organic solar cells have determined.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 We presented the synthesis and the characterization of a new series of heterocyclic compounds obtained by association of 8-hydroxyquinoline with quinoxalindione derivatives.
 The synthesis of this series of compounds was carried out by simple conditions but with good yields and the characterization data shows that there is good consistency between the spectroscopic data and the proposed structures
 These new compounds were obtained according to simple procedures with good yields and they have been the subject of a theoretical study
 This investigated process can be employed to predict the optical and photovoltaics properties on the other compounds and polymers, and it encourages to synthesis the novel organic solar cell materials
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT