Bromination and increasing the molecular conjugation length of the non-fullerene small-molecule acceptor based on benzotriazole for efficient organic photovoltaics

Two novel non-fullerene acceptors, namely BZIC-2Br and Y9-2Br, were synthesized by employing a ladder-type electron-deficient-based fused ring central with a benzotriazole core. Y9-2Br is obtained by extending the conjugate length of BZIC-2Br. Compared with BZIC-2Br, Y9-2Br possesses a lower optical bandgap of 1.32 eV with an absorption edge of 937 nm, exhibiting broader and stronger absorption band from 600 to 900 nm. Moreover, Y9-2Br exhibits excellent photovoltaic properties with V(oc) of 0.84 V, J(sc) of 21.38 mA cm(−2) and FF of 67.11%, which achieves an impressive PCE of 12.05%. Our study demonstrates that bromination and effective extension of the conjugate length can modulate performance from different aspects to optimize photovoltaic characteristics.