Development of highly luminescent water-insoluble carbon dots by using calix[4]pyrrole as the carbon precursor and their potential application in organic solar cells

Coşkun, Yaǧız and Ünlü, Fatma Yelda and Yllmaz, Tuǧbahan and Türker, Yurdanur and Aydogan, Abdullah and Kuş, Mahmut and Ünlü, Caner (2022) Development of highly luminescent water-insoluble carbon dots by using calix[4]pyrrole as the carbon precursor and their potential application in organic solar cells. ACS Omega, 7 (22). pp. 18840-18851. ISSN 2470-1343

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Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) are carbon-based fluorescent nanomaterials that are of interest in different research areas due to their low cost production and low toxicity. Considering their unique photophysical properties, hydrophobic/amphiphilic CDs are powerful alternatives to metal-based quantum dots in LED and photovoltaic cell designs. On the other hand, CDs possess a considerably high amount of surface defects that give rise to two significant drawbacks: (1) causing decrease in quantum yield (QY), a crucial drawback that limits their utilization in LEDs, and (2) affecting the efficiency of charge transfer, a significant factor that limits the use of CDs in photovoltaic cells. In this study, we synthesized highly luminescent, water-insoluble, slightly amphiphilic CDs by using a macrocyclic compound, calix[4]pyrrole, for the first time in the literature. Calix[4]pyrrole-derived CDs (CP-DOTs) were highly luminescent with a QY of over 60% and size of around 4-10 nm with graphitic structure. The high quantum yield of CP-DOTs indicated that they had less amount of surface defects. Furthermore, CP-DOTs were used as an additive in the active layer of organic solar cells (OSC). The photovoltaic parameters of OSCs improved upon addition of CDs. Our results indicated that calix[4]pyrrole is an excellent carbon precursor to synthesize highly luminescent and water-insoluble carbon dots, and CDs derived from calix[4]pyrrole are excellent candidates to improve optoelectronic devices.
Item Type: Article
Divisions: Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center
Depositing User: Yurdanur Türker
Date Deposited: 21 Aug 2022 21:56
Last Modified: 21 Aug 2022 21:56
URI: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/44205

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