Processable Low-Bandgap Polymers for Photovoltaic Applications

Over the last five years, organic photovoltaic devices have emerged as a new competitor to silicon-based solar cells. In particular, the bulk heterojunction architecture (BHJ), in which the photoactive layer consists of a bicontinuous blend of an electron donor and an electron acceptor, has allowed power conversion efficiencies around 8%. We will present in this review the latest conjugated polymers used in such BHJ solar cells. We will mainly focus on electron-donating (p-type) polymers based on thiophenes, 1,3,2-benzodiathiazoles, pyrrolo3,4-cpyrrole-1,4-diones, benzo1,2-b;3,4-bdithiophenes, and few other materials with more exotic structures. This review should be helpful to evaluate which are the most promising materials and where this research field is going in the years to come.