Effects of Fused Thiophene Bridges in Organic Semiconductors for Solution-Processed Small-Molecule Organic Solar Cells

Three push-pull organic semiconductors, TPA-$Th_3$-MMN (1), TPA-ThTT-MMN (2), and TPA-ThDTT-MMN (3), comprising a triphenylamine donor and a methylene malononitrile acceptor linked by various ${\pi}$-conjugated thiophene units were synthesized, and the effects of the ${\pi}$-conjugated bridging unit on the photovoltaic characteristics of solution-processed small-molecule organic solar cells based on these semiconductors were investigated. Planar bridging units with extended ${\pi}$-conjugation effectively facilitated intermolecular ${\pi}-{\pi}$ packing interactions in the solid state, resulting in enhanced $J_{sc}$ values of the SMOSCs fabricated with bulk heterojunction films.