Anchoring Fullerene onto Perovskite Film via Grafting Pyridine toward Enhanced Electron Transport in High-Efficiency Solar Cells.

Fullerene derivatives have been popularly applied as electron transport layers (ETLs) of inverted (p-i-n) planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells (iPSCs) due to their strong electron-accepting abilities, and so far, [6,6]-phenyl-C-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) has been the most commonly used ETL, which suffers, however, from high cost due to the complicated synthetic route. Herein, novel pyridine-functionalized fullerene derivatives (abbreviated as C-Py) were synthesized facilely via a one-step 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction and applied as ETLs superior to PCBM in iPSC devices. Three pyridine-functionalized fullerene derivatives with different alkyl groups, including methyl, n-butyl, and n-hexyl, grafted onto the pyrrolidine moiety (abbreviated as C-MPy, C-BPy, and C-HPy, respectively) were synthesized.

A facile mechanochemical route to a covalently bonded graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) and fullerene hybrid toward enhanced visible light photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) as an emerging two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial has been commonly used as a metal-free photocatalyst with potential applications in visible light photocatalytic water-splitting. However, the photocatalytic activity of g-CN is quite low due to its relatively large band gap and the existence of contact resistance between the nanosheets. Herein we report for the first time the facile synthesis of a covalently bonded g-CN/C hybrid via a solid-state mechanochemical route and its application in photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light.

Imidazole-Functionalized Fullerene as a Vertically Phase-Separated Cathode Interfacial Layer of Inverted Ternary Polymer Solar Cells.

By using a facile one-pot nucleophilic addition reaction, we synthesized a novel imidazole (IMZ)-functionalized fullerene (C-IMZ), and applied it as a third component of inverted ternary polymer solar cells (PSCs), leading to dramatic efficiency enhancement. According to FT-IR, XPS spectroscopic characterizations, and elemental analysis, the chemical structure of C-IMZ was determined with the average IMZ addition number estimated to be six. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level of C-IMZ measured by cyclic voltammetry was -3.

Osmium bipyridine-containing redox polymers based on cellulose and their reversible redox activity.

Thermo-, pH-, and electrochemical-sensitive cellulose graft copolymers, hydroxypropyl cellulose-g-poly(4-vinylpyridine)-Os(bipyridine) (HPC-g-P4VP-Os(bpy)), were synthesized and characterized. The electrochemical properties of the resulting material were investigated via cyclic voltammetry by coating the graft copolymers on the platinized carbon electrode. The results indicated that the electrochemical properties of the graft copolymer modified electrode were responsive to the pH values of the electrolyte solution.