Precision Chemistry in Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) - Unlocking Next-Generation Flexible Power with High Purity and Structural Fidelity

Against the backdrop of global acceleration toward carbon neutrality goals, organic photovoltaics (OPV) is transitioning from laboratory to industrial scale, leveraging its unique advantages of lightweight, flexibility, semi-transparency, solution processability, and environmental friendliness.

As a premium biochemical database and materials brand under Watson, ChemWhat has focused extensively on core functional materials for organic photovoltaics in recent years, systematically enhancing its product portfolio. The comprehensive range covers everything from classic fullerene systems to cutting-edge non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs), high-performance polymer donors, and key intermediates, fully supporting the breakthrough requirements of research institutions and industrial clients in efficiency, stability, and mass production processes.

1. Strategic Positioning: Complete Coverage of OPV Value Chain Key Materials

ChemWhat’s product strategy closely aligns with current organic solar cell technology evolution pathways, constructing three core material matrices:

• High-Efficiency Polymer Donor Series: Including industry benchmark material PM6, and emerging small-molecule donors such as PTQ10 (CAS: 2270233-86-6) and 2-PACz (CAS: 20999-38-6). These materials feature broad-spectrum absorption, high carrier mobility, and excellent film-forming properties, making them crucial for achieving >18% photoelectric conversion efficiency. Particularly noteworthy is the combination of PM6 with novel acceptor L8-BO (CAS: 2668341-40-8), which has achieved 18.78% power conversion efficiency (PCE) in standard device architecture (ARC Glass/ITO/2-PACz/active layer/PNDIT-F3N/Ag), with open-circuit voltage (Voc) reaching 0.885 V and fill factor (FF) as high as 82.15%. The PTQ10 and novel acceptor PY-IT system demonstrates exceptional photoelectric response capabilities. ChemWhat provides ultra-high purity grades from 3N to 7N, strictly controlling metallic impurities and batch variations to ensure device performance consistency.

• Non-Fullerene Acceptor (NFA) Platform: Covering current mainstream star molecules Y6 (CAS: 2304444-49-1), N3 (PC61BM analog, CAS: 2640657-07-2), BTP-eC9 (CAS: 2598965-39-8), PY-IT, D18/D18-Cl (CAS: 2433725-54-1 / 2433725-53-0), and L8-BO (CAS: 2668341-40-8). Among these, the D18 and L8-BO combination shows particularly outstanding performance—achieving 20.24% PCE in the same standard device structure, with Voc reaching 0.92 V, Jsc of 26.42 mA/cm², and FF as high as 83.26%, representing the current efficiency pinnacle of solution-processed OPV. Notably, as a classic representative in this product line, fullerene C60 derivative PC61BM continues to play an irreplaceable role. As a recognized benchmark material, PC61BM is not only widely used in organic solar cells (OSC) but also serves a crucial function in perovskite solar cell (PSC) applications—acting as both an efficient electron transport layer (ETL) and excellent grain boundary passivation agent. To meet differentiated needs of universities, R&D institutions, and commercial manufacturers, ChemWhat has standardized this product into two purity grades: 99.5% for routine research and 99.9% specifically for high-precision device fabrication. ChemWhat not only ensures stable supply of the above NFA products but also incorporates key intermediates into its standard product catalog through optimized synthesis routes, assisting clients in independent development of novel acceptor structures.

• High-Purity Intermediates and Functional Additives: Addressing the stringent requirements for structural precision in organic photovoltaic material synthesis, ChemWhat has simultaneously enhanced its supply capabilities for a series of high-difficulty building blocks listed in the contract, including but not limited to:

(1) Indanone Core Structures: 2-(5,6-Difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)propanedinitrile (CAS: 2083617-82-5), 2-(5-Bromo-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)propanedinitrile (CAS: 2507484-47-1), 2-(5,6-Dichloro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)propanedinitrile (CAS: 2197167-50-1);

(2) Thiophene Stannanes and Aldehyde Precursors: Tributyl(4-(2-butyloctyl)thiophen-2-yl)stannane, 5-(5-Bromo-6-hexylthieno[3,2-b]thiophen-2-yl)-4-hexylthiophene-2-carbaldehyde, 3-(2-Butyloctyl)thiophene (CAS: 1638802-04-6);

(3) Benzodithiophene (BDT) Derivatives: BDT-(Th-F-EH)-dSn (CAS: 2239295-69-1), (4,8-Bis(5-(2-hexyldecyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]dithiophene-2,6-diyl)bis(trimethylstannane), Benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b’]dithiophene-4,5-dione (CAS: 24243-32-1);

(4) Other Customized Monomers: C11TT(N-OD)BT-CHO, C11TT(N-EH)BT (CAS: 2304444-52-6), C9TT(N-EH)BT, QX1-CHO, QX-1, Y5, ZR1, MPhS, among others. These long-chain, multi-functionalized compounds feature high purity and extremely low moisture and metallic ion content, effectively ensuring batch reproducibility of final active layer materials.

2. Addressing Challenges: Overcoming High-Purity Preparation and Mass Production Consistency

Organic photovoltaic material industrialization faces two core bottlenecks: first, complex molecular structures leading to lengthy synthesis steps and multiple by-products; second, ultra-thin active layers (~100 nanometers) that are extremely sensitive to material purity and film uniformity. ChemWhat, leveraging the R&D platform of Jiangsu Wolsen Biotechnology, has achieved substantial breakthroughs in the following areas:

• Establishing Proprietary Purification Processes: Targeting the oxidation-prone and thermally sensitive characteristics of NFA materials, we have developed low-temperature gradient crystallization combined with molecular distillation technology, successfully enhancing the purity of Y6, BTP-eC9, L8-BO, and D18 products to above 99.5% (HPLC), with metallic impurities controlled at ppb levels, providing material foundation for achieving >20% PCE.
• Achieving Kilogram-Scale Stable Delivery: Referencing mass production requirements from industry partners, ChemWhat has established flexible supply capabilities from hundred-gram R&D samples to ton-scale raw materials, supporting clients’ rapid transition from device validation to pilot-scale amplification. Particularly for frequently used materials such as PM6, PTQ10, D18, and L8-BO, dedicated production lines have been established to ensure timely access to high-consistency batches for global customers.
• Strengthening Structural Characterization and Data Support: Leveraging ChemWhat database’s philosophy of ‘accuracy, comprehensiveness, and reliability,’ each product batch comes with complete spectral data, helping users quickly confirm structure-performance correlations.

3. Future-Oriented: Collaborative Advancement of OPV Commercial Implementation

With the emergence of new scenarios such as building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), wearable electronics, and indoor photovoltaics, market demand for flexible, semi-transparent, and low-light responsive photovoltaic modules is surging. ChemWhat’s product portfolio precisely aligns with this trend—the high-efficiency systems it provides, including PM6:L8-BO (18.78% PCE), D18:L8-BO (20.24% PCE), and PTQ10:PY-IT, are being widely used in flexible battery R&D; while interface modification materials such as 2-PACz play crucial roles in enhancing device open-circuit voltage and long-term stability.

Currently, ChemWhat’s high-purity OPV materials have entered leading global research laboratories, including Cambridge University, Harvard University, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, National University of Singapore, Seoul National University, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), ETH Zurich, University College London, as well as the University of Melbourne and Monash University in Australia. These institutions’ frontier explorations in non-fullerene acceptor design, interface engineering, and flexible device integration are accelerating the transformation from scientific discovery to technological prototypes, relying on the high-consistency materials provided by ChemWhat.

Looking toward 2025-2030, ChemWhat will continue investing in:

• Developing higher efficiency (>19%) novel donor-acceptor pairs;
• Expanding halogen-free, green solvent-compatible material systems;
• Collaborating with upstream and downstream industry chain partners to build a ‘materials-devices-applications’ innovation ecosystem.

Through deep integration of the database’s scientific rigor with material production’s engineering capabilities, ChemWhat is becoming a trusted core material engine in the global organic photovoltaics field, infusing chemical intelligence into the flexible future of clean energy.