Polycyclic Arenes Dihydrodinaphthopentacene-based Hole-Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells Application

In this paper, two D-pi-D type compounds, C1 and C2, containing dihydrodinaphthopentacene (DHDNP) as a pi-bridge, p-methoxydiphenylamine and p-methoxytriphenylamine groups as the donor groups were synthesized. The four 4-hexylphenyl groups at the sp(3)-carbon bridges of DHDNP were acquainted with control morphology and improving solubility. The light absorption, energy level, thermal properties, and application as hole-transporting materials in perovskite solar cells of these compounds were fully investigated. The HOMO/LUMO levels and energy gaps of these DHDNP-based molecules are suitable for use as hole-transporting materials in PSCs. The best power conversion efficiencies of the PVSCs based on the C1 and C2 are 15.96% and 12.86%, respectively. The performance of C1 is comparable to that of the reference compound spiro-OMeTAD (16.38%). Compared with spiro-OMeTAD, the C1-based PVSC device showed good stability, which was slightly decreased to 98.68% of its initial efficiency after 48 h and retained 81% of its original PCE after 334 h without encapsulation. These results reveal the potential usefulness of the DHDNP building block for further development of economical and highly efficient HTMs for PVSCs.