Electron Affinity of Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester (PCBM)

Bryon W. Larson; James B. Whitaker; Xue Bin Wang; Alexey A. Popov; Garry Rumbles; Nikos Kopidakis; Steven H. Strauss; Olga V. Boltalina

doi:10.1021/jp403312g

Electron Affinity of Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester (PCBM)

Bryon W. Larson, James B. Whitaker, Xue Bin Wang, Alexey A. Popov, Garry Rumbles, Nikos Kopidakis, Steven H. Strauss, Olga V. Boltalina

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The gas-phase electron affinity (EA) of phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), one of the best-performing electron acceptors in organic photovoltaic devices, was measured by low-temperature photoelectron spectroscopy for the first time. The obtained value of 2.63(1) eV is only ca. 0.05 eV lower than that of C₆₀ (2.683(8) eV), compared to a 0.09 V difference in their E_1/2 values measured in this work by cyclic voltammetry. Literature E(LUMO) values for PCBM that are typically estimated from cyclic voltammetry and commonly used as a quantitative measure of acceptor properties are dispersed over a wide range between -4.38 and -3.62 eV; the reasons for such a huge discrepancy are analyzed here, and a protocol for reliable and consistent estimations of relative fullerene-based acceptor strength in solution is proposed.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	14958-14964
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Volume	117
Issue number	29
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/jp403312g https://doi.org/10.1021/jp403312g
State	Published - 25 Jul 2013

NREL Publication Number

NREL/JA-5900-60499

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title = "Electron Affinity of Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester (PCBM)",

abstract = "The gas-phase electron affinity (EA) of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), one of the best-performing electron acceptors in organic photovoltaic devices, was measured by low-temperature photoelectron spectroscopy for the first time. The obtained value of 2.63(1) eV is only ca. 0.05 eV lower than that of C60 (2.683(8) eV), compared to a 0.09 V difference in their E1/2 values measured in this work by cyclic voltammetry. Literature E(LUMO) values for PCBM that are typically estimated from cyclic voltammetry and commonly used as a quantitative measure of acceptor properties are dispersed over a wide range between -4.38 and -3.62 eV; the reasons for such a huge discrepancy are analyzed here, and a protocol for reliable and consistent estimations of relative fullerene-based acceptor strength in solution is proposed.",

author = "Larson, {Bryon W.} and Whitaker, {James B.} and Wang, {Xue Bin} and Popov, {Alexey A.} and Garry Rumbles and Nikos Kopidakis and Strauss, {Steven H.} and Boltalina, {Olga V.}",

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doi = "10.1021/jp403312g",

language = "American English",

volume = "117",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Electron Affinity of Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester (PCBM)

AU - Larson, Bryon W.

AU - Whitaker, James B.

AU - Wang, Xue Bin

AU - Popov, Alexey A.

AU - Rumbles, Garry

AU - Kopidakis, Nikos

AU - Strauss, Steven H.

AU - Boltalina, Olga V.

PY - 2013/7/25

Y1 - 2013/7/25

N2 - The gas-phase electron affinity (EA) of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), one of the best-performing electron acceptors in organic photovoltaic devices, was measured by low-temperature photoelectron spectroscopy for the first time. The obtained value of 2.63(1) eV is only ca. 0.05 eV lower than that of C60 (2.683(8) eV), compared to a 0.09 V difference in their E1/2 values measured in this work by cyclic voltammetry. Literature E(LUMO) values for PCBM that are typically estimated from cyclic voltammetry and commonly used as a quantitative measure of acceptor properties are dispersed over a wide range between -4.38 and -3.62 eV; the reasons for such a huge discrepancy are analyzed here, and a protocol for reliable and consistent estimations of relative fullerene-based acceptor strength in solution is proposed.

AB - The gas-phase electron affinity (EA) of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), one of the best-performing electron acceptors in organic photovoltaic devices, was measured by low-temperature photoelectron spectroscopy for the first time. The obtained value of 2.63(1) eV is only ca. 0.05 eV lower than that of C60 (2.683(8) eV), compared to a 0.09 V difference in their E1/2 values measured in this work by cyclic voltammetry. Literature E(LUMO) values for PCBM that are typically estimated from cyclic voltammetry and commonly used as a quantitative measure of acceptor properties are dispersed over a wide range between -4.38 and -3.62 eV; the reasons for such a huge discrepancy are analyzed here, and a protocol for reliable and consistent estimations of relative fullerene-based acceptor strength in solution is proposed.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880828446&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1021/jp403312g

DO - 10.1021/jp403312g

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84880828446

SN - 1932-7447

VL - 117

SP - 14958

EP - 14964

JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry C

JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry C

IS - 29

ER -

Electron Affinity of Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester (PCBM)

Abstract

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