Poly(diketopyrrolopyrrole-terthiophene) for ambipolar logic and photovoltaics

(Chemical Equation Presented) A new semiconducting polymer, PDPP3T, with alternating diketopyrrolopyrrole and terthiophene units is presented. PDPP3T has a small band gap of 1.3 ev and exhibits nearly balanced hole and electron mobilities of 0.04 and 0.01 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively, in field-effect transistors (FETs). By the combination of two identical ambipolar transistors, an inverter was constructed that exhibits a gain of ~30. When PDPP3T was combined with [60]PCBM or [70]PCBM in a 1:2 weight ratio, photovoltaic cells were made that provide a photoresponse up to 900 nm and an AM1.5 power conversion efficiency of 3.8 or 4.7%, respectively. In contrast to the almost constant FET mobility, the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells was found to be strongly dependent on the molecular weight of PDPP3T and the use of diiodooctane as a processing agent.