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Polymers
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Polymers for Energy Conversion and Storage
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Polymers for Energy Conversion and Storage

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2023) | Viewed by 7596

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Silvia Collavini

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Guest Editor
Carbon Bionanotechnology Lab, CIC biomaGUNE, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Gipuzkoa, Paseo Miramón 194, 20014 Donostia/San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Interests: perovskite solar cells; organic synthesis; carbon nanoforms
Prof. Dr. Juan Luis Delgado

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU University of the Basque Country, Joxe Mari Korta Center - Avda. Tolosa, 72, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Interests: perovskite solar cells; organic synthesis; carbon nanoforms; polymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During the years, polymers have been widely studied and applied to numerous fields due to their versatile and adjustable chemical and physical properties. Thanks to these features, they have also been raising huge interest in the field of photovoltaics throughout the years (Polymers 2019, 11, 143).  Polymers were so pivotal in organic solar cells (OSCs) that an entire branch of these was called, in fact, polymer solar cells. In most of these solar devices, the conductive organic polymer serves as light harvester and electron donor, blended in bulk with the acceptor, usually a fullerene. The efficiency of these devices has recently surpassed 18%. In the last decade, polymers have also been covering an important role in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), being employed as charge transporting materials or additives (Ann. Chem. Sci. Res. 2020, 2, 1−4.). Unlike polymer solar cells, all-solid hybrid perovskite devices have the two charge-transporting materials well-separated by the hybrid perovskite light harvester. These solar cells registered a recent record of 25.5%.

On one hand, the main polymers that are used in photovoltaics, i.e. PTAA, PEDOT:PSS, and P3HT, are readily accessible from common vendors. On the other hand, the nature of polymers leaves the potential for a wide range of possible molecules to be synthesized and tailored to fit the desired purpose.

In this Special Issue, we cover the lifecycle of polymers used in photovoltaic devices, from the synthesis of novel structures to innovative applications.

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Silvia Collavini
Prof. Dr. Juan Luis Delgado
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • photovoltaics
  • organic solar cells
  • polymer solar cells
  • perovskite devices
  • polymer synthesis
  • conductive polymers

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2902 KiB  
Article
Carbazole-Fluorene Copolymers with Various Substituents at the Carbazole Nitrogen: Structure—Properties Relationship
by Věra Cimrová, Drahomír Výprachtický, Aleš Růžička and Veronika Pokorná
Polymers 2023, 15(13), 2932; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15132932 - 03 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1213
Abstract
Carbazole derivatives, carbazole-containing polymers and iridium complexes are of interest due to many possible applications in photonics, electronics and biology, particularly as active or hole-transporting layers in organic as well as perovskite devices due to their interesting properties. Here, a series of carbazole-fluorene [...] Read more.
Carbazole derivatives, carbazole-containing polymers and iridium complexes are of interest due to many possible applications in photonics, electronics and biology, particularly as active or hole-transporting layers in organic as well as perovskite devices due to their interesting properties. Here, a series of carbazole-fluorene conjugated copolymers with various substituents at the N-carbazole position (2-methoxycarbonylethyl, 2-carboxyethyl, 2-ethylhexyl, and nonan-2,4-dionatoiridium(III)bis(2-phenylpyridine-N,C2′)-9-yl) was prepared by Suzuki coupling. Their photophysical, electrochemical and electroluminescence (EL) properties were studied. Effects of molecular weight and substituents attached to carbazole unit on their properties are reported. The carbazole-fluorene copolymers in dilute solutions exhibited intense photoluminescence (PL) emission in the blue spectral region with high PL quantum yields (78–87%) except for the copolymer with the iridium complex (23%). Similar PL spectra were observed in dilute solutions. More pronounced differences were found in thin film PL and EL properties due to excimer/aggregate formation. Light-emitting devices (LEDs) made of copolymers with 2-ethylhexyl as N-carbazole substituent exhibited efficient EL emission with the best performance and the lowest EL onset voltages (3–4 V), while the LEDs made of copolymers with other substituents were not as efficient, but showed anomalous behavior and memory effects in current-voltage characteristics promising also for bio-inspired electronics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers for Energy Conversion and Storage)
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12 pages, 30628 KiB  
Article
Alkyl Chain Engineering of Low Bandgap Non-Fullerene Acceptors for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells: Branched vs. Linear Alkyl Side Chains
by Youngwan Lee, Telugu Bhim Raju, Hyerim Yeom, Peddaboodi Gopikrishna, Kwangmin Kim, Hye Won Cho, Jung Woo Moon, Jeong Ho Cho, Jin Young Kim and BongSoo Kim
Polymers 2022, 14(18), 3812; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14183812 - 12 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2230
Abstract
In this work, we report the synthesis and photovoltaic properties of IEBICO-4F, IEHICO-4F, IOICO-4F, and IDICO-4F non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) bearing different types of alkyl chains (2-ehtylhexyl (EH), 2-ethylbutyl (EB), n-octyl (O), and n-decyl (D), respectively). These NFAs are based on the [...] Read more.
In this work, we report the synthesis and photovoltaic properties of IEBICO-4F, IEHICO-4F, IOICO-4F, and IDICO-4F non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) bearing different types of alkyl chains (2-ehtylhexyl (EH), 2-ethylbutyl (EB), n-octyl (O), and n-decyl (D), respectively). These NFAs are based on the central indacenodithiophene (IDT) donor core and the same terminal group of 2-(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile (IC-2F), albeit with different side chains appended to the thiophene bridge unit. Although the side chains induced negligible differences between the NFAs in terms of optical band gaps and molecular energy levels, they did lead to changes in their melting points and crystallinity. The NFAs with branched alkyl chains exhibited weaker intermolecular interactions and crystallinity than those with linear alkyl chains. Organic solar cells (OSCs) were fabricated by blending these NFAs with the p-type polymer PTB7-Th. The NFAs with appended branched alkyl chains (IEHICO-4F and IEBICO-4F) possessed superior photovoltaic properties than those with appended linear alkyl chains (IOICO-4F and IDICO-4F). This result can be ascribed mainly to the thin-film morphology. Furthermore, the NFA-based blend films with appended branched alkyl chains exhibited the optimal degree of aggregation and miscibility, whereas the NFA-based blend films with appended linear alkyl chains exhibited higher levels of self-aggregation and lower miscibility between the NFA molecule and the PTB7-Th polymer. We demonstrate that changing the alkyl chain on the π-bridging unit in fused-ring-based NFAs is an effective strategy for improving their photovoltaic performance in bulk heterojunction-type OSCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers for Energy Conversion and Storage)
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15 pages, 2551 KiB  
Article
Effect of Cooling Medium on LDPE Dielectric Properties
by Yujia Cheng, Guang Yu and Zhuohua Duan
Polymers 2022, 14(3), 425; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14030425 - 21 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1289
Abstract
Polyethylene, with its excellent mechanical and dielectric properties is used as an insulator for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission. In ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission, the ageing of insulation materials caused by space charge under high DC voltage becomes serious. Therefore, restraining the [...] Read more.
Polyethylene, with its excellent mechanical and dielectric properties is used as an insulator for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission. In ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission, the ageing of insulation materials caused by space charge under high DC voltage becomes serious. Therefore, restraining the space charge and improving the dielectric properties of HVDC cables is important. In this study, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was used as the raw material and combined with cooling media in a vulcanizing press. A polarizing microscope was used to observe the samples’ crystal morphologies. The space charge accumulation and dispersion were detected using pulsed electro-acoustic. Additionally, dielectric properties such as electrical conductivity and dielectric frequency spectrum were tested. The grain size in the air-cooled LDPE samples was found to be large and unevenly dispersed. However, the grain sizes in the water and oil cooling LDPE samples were small. The mean charge density of the oil cooling samples was the lowest. Under a short circuit measurement, more space charges were found in the natural and rapid air cooling samples. The mean charge densities of these two samples were high, with a fast decay rate. With an 8 and 50 kV/mm electric field strength, the oil cooling samples’ conductivity was the highest and lowest, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers for Energy Conversion and Storage)
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Review

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21 pages, 4265 KiB  
Review
Research Progress in Energy Based on Polyphosphazene Materials in the Past Ten Years
by Zeping Zhou, Zhen Jiang, Feng Chen, Tairong Kuang, Dapeng Zhou and Fuliang Meng
Polymers 2023, 15(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15010015 - 20 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2065
Abstract
With the rapid development of electronic devices, the corresponding energy storage equipment has also been continuously developed. As important components, including electrodes and diaphragms, in energy storage device and energy storage and conversion devices, they all face huge challenges. Polyphosphazene polymers are widely [...] Read more.
With the rapid development of electronic devices, the corresponding energy storage equipment has also been continuously developed. As important components, including electrodes and diaphragms, in energy storage device and energy storage and conversion devices, they all face huge challenges. Polyphosphazene polymers are widely used in various fields, such as biomedicine, energy storage, etc., due to their unique properties. Due to its unique design variability, adjustable characteristics and high chemical stability, they can solve many related problems of energy storage equipment. They are expected to become a new generation of energy materials. This article briefly introduces the research progress in energy based on polyphosphazene materials in the past ten years, on topics such as fuel cells, solar cells, lithium batteries and supercapacitors, etc. The main focus of this work is on the defects of different types of batteries. Scholars have introduced different functional group modification that solves the corresponding problem, thus increasing the battery performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers for Energy Conversion and Storage)
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