Water-Alcohol-Soluble Hyperbranched Polyelectrolytes and Their Application in Polymer Solar Cells and Photocatalysis

作者：Rafiq, Muhammad; Chen, Zhen; Tang, Haoran; Hu, Zhicheng; Zhang, Xi; Xing, Yetong; Li, Yingwei^*; Huang, Fei^*

来源：ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2020, 2(1): 12-18.

DOI：10.1021/acsapm.9b00859

• hyperbranched polyelectrolytes
• interface materials
• polymer solar cells
• photocatalysis
• hydrogen evolution

We report here a series of water alcohol-soluble hyperbranched polyelectrolytes, which can be used as both cathode interfacial materials (CIMs) in polymer solar cells (PSCs) and organic photocatalysts for hydrogen or oxygen evolution. Hyperbranched polyelectrolytes (HD-Br, HN-Br, and HP-Br) are quaternization-polymerized from 1,3,5-tri(pyridin-4-yl)benzene and alkyl bromide terminated conjugated moieties, including diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP), naphthalene diimide (NDI), and perylenediimide (PDI) moieties. These hyperbranched polyelectrolytes possess good water/alcohol solubility and a semiconductive property, which render them good candidates for applications in PSCs and photocatalysis. In PSCs, these hyperbranched polyelectrolytes could lower the work function of the metal electrode, facilitate electron collection, and improve the photovoltaic performance. In photocatalysis, these hyperbranched polyelectrolytes show good water dispersity and provide good interface contact between polyelectrolytes and water, resulting in efficient photocatalytic hydrogen or oxygen evolution,