C≡N-based carbazole-arylamine hole transporting materials for perovskite solar cells: Substitution position matters

Hole transporting materials(HTMs)containing passivating groups for perovskite materials have attracted much attention for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells(PSCs).Among them,C≡N-based molecules have been proved as efficient HTMs.Herein,a series of novel C≡N functionalized carbazole-arylamine derivatives with variable C≡N substitution positions(para,meta,and ortho)on benzene-carbazole skeleton(on the adjacent benzene of carbazole)were synthesized(p-HTM,m-HTM and o-HTM).The experimental results exhibit that the substitution positions of the Ctriple bondN unit on HTMs have minor difference on the HOMO energy level and hydrophobicity.m-HTM has a relatively lower glass transition temperature compared with that of p-HTM and o-HTM.The functional theory calculations show that the C≡N located on meta position exposed very well,and the exposure direction is also the same with the methoxy.Upon applying these molecules as HTMs in PSCs,their device performance is found to sensitively depend on the substitution position of the C≡N unit on the molecule skeleton.The devices using m-HTM and o-HTM exhibit better performance than that of p-HTM.Moreover,m-HTM-based devices exhibit better light-soaking performance and long-term stability,which could be resulted from better interaction with the perovskite according to DFT results.Moreover,we further prepared a HTM with two C≡N units on the symmetrical meta position of molecular skeleton(2m-HTM).Interestingly,2m-HTM-based devices exhibit relatively inferior performance compared with that of the m-HTM,which could be resulted from weak negative electrical character of C≡N unit on 2m-HTM.The results give some new insights for designing ideal HTM for efficient and stable PSCs.

Fluorine substitution position effects on spiro(fluorene-9,9’-xanthene) cored hole transporting materials for high-performance planar perovskite solar cells

Fluorine substitution in molecular design has become an effective strategy for improving the overall performance of organic photovoltaics.In this study,three low-cost small molecules of spiro-linked hole transporting materials(SFX-O-2 F,SFX-m-2 F,and SFX-p-2 F) endowed with two-armed t rip he ny la mine moieties were synthesized via tuning of the fluorine substitution position,and they were employed for use in highly efficient perovskite solar cells(PSCs).Despite the fluorine substitution position playing a negligible role in the optical and electrochemical properties of the resulting small molecules,the photovoltaic performance thereof was observed to vary significantly.The planar n-i-p PSCs based on SFX-m-2 F demonstrated superior performance(18.86%) when compared to that of the corresponding SFX-o-2 F(9.7%) and SFX-p-2 F(16.33%) under 100 mW cm^(-2) AM1.5 G solar illumination,which is competitive with the performance of the benchmark spiro-OMeTAD-based device(18.98%).Moreover,the SFX-m-2 Fbased PSCs were observed to be more stable than the spiro-OMeTAD-based devices under ambient conditions.The improved performance of SFX-m-2 F is primarily associated with improved morphology,more efficient hole transport,and extraction characteristics at the perovskite/HTM interface.This work demonstrated the application of fluorination engineering to the tuning of material film morphology and charge transfer properties,showing the promising potential of fluorinated SM-HTMs for the construction of low-cost,high-efficiency PSCs.

Estimation of Aqueous Solubility (-lgS_w) of All Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Congeners by Density Functional Theory and Position of Cl Substitution (NPCS) Method

Optimization calculations of 209 polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） were carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G^＊ level. It was found that there is significant correlation between the Cl substitution position and some structural parameters. Consequently, Cl substitution positions were taken as theoretical descriptors to establish a novel QSPR model for predicting –lgSw of all PCB congeners. The model achieved in this work contains four variables, of which r^2 = 0.9527, q^2 = 0.9490 and SD = 0.25 with large t values. In addition, the variation inflation factors （VIFs） of variables in this model are all less than 5.0, suggesting high accuracy of the –lgSw predicting model. And the results of cross-validation test and method validation also show that the model exhibits optimum stability and better predictive capability than that from the AM1 method.

DFT and Position of Cl Substitution (PCS) Methods Studies on n-Octanol/water Partition Coefficients (lgK_(ow)) and Aqueous Solubility (–lgS_w) of All PCDD Congeners

Optimized calculations of 75 PCDDs and their parent DD were carded out at the B3LYP/6-31G＊ level by density functional theory （DFT） method. The structural parameters were obtained and significant correlation between the C1 substitution position and some structural parameters was found. Consequently, the number of C1 substitution positions was taken as theoretical descriptors to establish two novel QSPR models for predicting lgKow and -lgSw of all PCDD congeners. The two models achieved in this work contain two variables （Na and Nβ）, of which r = 0.9312, 0.9965 and SD = 0.27, 0.12 respectively, and t values are all large. The variation inflation factors （VIF） of variables in the two models herein are both less than 5.0, suggesting high accuracy of the lgKow and -lgSw predicting models, and the results of cross-validation test also show that the two models exhibit optimum stability and good predictive power. By comparison, the correlation and predictive ability of the present work are more advantageous than those obtained using semi-empirical AM1 and GC-RI methods.

Structural Effect on Electron Impact Decomposition of 1,3-and 1,4-Cyclohexane Dinitrites

Alkyl dinitrites have at-tracted attention as an im-portant type of nitrosating agent and a pollution source in atmosphere.The reac-tivity and chemistry of alkyl dinitrites induced by the two ONO functional groups are relatively unknown.In this work,decompositions of 1,3-cyclohexane dinitrite and 1,4-cyclohexane dinitrite are studied by electron impact ionization mass spectroscopy(EI-MS).Apart from NO^(+)(m=z=30),fragment ions m=z=43 and 71 are the most abundant for the 1,3-isomer.On the other hand,fragments m=z=29,57,85,and 97 stand out in the EI-MS spectrum of 1,4-isomer.Possible dissociation mechanisms of the two dinitrites are proposed by theoretical calculations.The results reveal that the ring-opening of 1,3-cyclohexane dinitrite mainly starts from the intermediate ion(M-NO)^(+)by cleavage of twoαC-βC bonds.For 1,4-cyclohexane dinitrite,in addition to the decomposition via intermediate(M-NO)^(+),cleavage ofβC-βC bonds can occur directly from the parent cation(M)^(+).The results will help to understand the structural related chemistry of alkyl dinitrites in atmosphere and in NO transfer process.

Studies on the Quantitative Structure-activity Relationship of Toxicity of Chlorophenol Serial Compounds in the ab initio Methods and Substitutive Position of Chlorine Atom (N_(PCS))

20 Quantum chemical parameters of chlorophenol compounds were fully optimized by using B3LYP method on both 6-31G^＊ and 6-311G^＊ basis sets. These structural parameters are taken as theoretical descriptors, and the experimental data of 20 compounds＇ aquatic photogen toxicity（-lgEC50） are used to perform stepwise regression in order to obtain two predicted -lgEC50 correlation models whose correlation coefficients R^2 are respectively 0.9186 and 0.9567. In addition, parameters of chlorine atom＇s substitutive positions and their correlations （NPCs） are taken as descriptors to obtain another predicted -lgEC50 model with the correlation coefficient R2 of 0.9444. Correlation degree of each independent variable in the three models is verified by using variance inflation factors （VIF） and t value. In the cross-validation method, cross-validation coefficients q^2 of 3 models are respectively 0.8748, 0.9119 and 0.8993, which indicates that the relativity and prediction ability of this model are superior to those of the model obtained by topological and BLYP methods.

DFT Study on Some Properties of Polybrominated Phenoxathiin 10-Oxides

With the B3LYP calculation method of density functional theory（DFT）and the 6-31G＊ basis set,full optimization calculation was made for phenoxathiin10-oxide（PTO）and 135 polybromine phenoxathiin 10-oxides（PBPTOs）with the Gaussian 03 program and molar heat capacity in constant volume（CVθ）value of each molecule in the standard state was obtained.The relation between CVθ and the substitution position and number of bromine atom（NPBS）was studied,and the results indicated good correlation（R2 = 1.000）between CVθ and NPBS of PBPTO compounds.Based on the output file of Gaussian 03 program,molar heat capacity at constant pressure（Cp,m）of PBPTO compounds from 200 to 1,000 K was calculated with the statistical thermodynamics program,and the correlation equation between Cp,m and temperature（T,T-1 and T-2）was obtained with the least-squares method,and the correlation coefficient of the correlation equation（R2）was 1.000.In addition,based on the partition function of each molecule calculated by vibration analysis,the relative rate constant of formation of each molecule was calculated.

Studies of Structural and Thermodynamic Properties for Polychlorinated Thianthrenes by Density Functional Theory

The structural and thermodynamic （PCTAs） in the ideal gas state at 298.15 K and 1.013 properties of 75 polychlorinated thianthrenes ×10^5 Pa have been calculated at the B3LYP/6- 31G＊ level using Gaussian 98 program. Based on the output data of Gaussian, the isodesmic reactions were designed to calculate standard enthalpy of formation （△fH^θ） and standard free energy of formation （△fH^θ） of PCTAs congeners. The relations of these thermodynamic parameters with the number and position of C1 atom substitution （Npcs） were discussed, and it was found that there exists high correlation between thermodynamic parameters （total energy （TE）, zero-point vibrational energy （ZPE）, thermal correction to energy （Eth）, heat capacity at constant volume （Cv^θ）, entropy （S^θ）, enthalpy （H^θ）, free energy （G^θ）, standard enthalpies of formation （△fH^θ） and standard Gibbs energies of formation （△fG^θ）） and Npcs. On the basis of the relative magnitude of their △fG^θ, the order of relative stability of PCTA congeners was theoretically proposed. In addition, the correlations between structural parameters and Npcs were also discussed. The good correlations were found between molecular average polarizability （α）, energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital （EHOMO）, molecular volume （Vm） and Npcs, and all R^2 values are larger than 0.95. Moreover, it was supposed that the isomer groups with higher toxicity should be Tri-CTA and TCTA.

Studies of Thermodynamic Properties and Relative Stability of Polybrominated Xanthones by Density Functional Theory

The thermodynamic properties of xanthone（XTH） and 135 polybrominated xanthones（PBXTHs） in the standard state have been calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G＊ level using Gaussian 03 program.The isodesmic reactions were designed to calculate the standard enthalpy of formation（△fHθ） and standard free energy of formation（△fGθ） of PBXTH congeners.The relations of these thermodynamic parameters with the number and position of Br atom substitution（NPBS） were discussed,and it was found that there exist high correlation between thermodynamic parameters（entropy（Sθ）,△fHθ and △fGθ） and NPBS.According to the relative magnitude of their △fGθ,the relative stability order of PBXTH congeners was theoretically proposed.The relative rate constants of formation reactions of PBXTH congeners were calculated,Moreover,the values of molar heat capacity at constant pressure（Cp,m） from 200 to 1000 K for PBXTH congeners were also calculated,and the temperature dependence relation of them was obtained,suggesting very good relationships between Cp,m and temperature（T,T^1 and T^2） for almost all PBXTH congeners.

Theoretical Study on Thermodynamic Properties and Hydrophilicity of Polychorinated Phenothiazines (PCPTZs)

The thermodynamic properties of 135 polychlorinated phenothiazines （PCPTZs） in the standard state are calculated using a combination of quantum mechanical computations performed with the Gaussian 03 program at the B3LYP/6-311G^＊＊ level, and their octanol-water partition coefficients （logKow） are calculated based on group contributions. The chlorine substitution pattern strongly influenced the thermodynamic properties and hydrophilicity of the compounds. The thermodynamic properties of congeners also depend on the chlorine substitution pattern. The effect of chlorine substitution pattern is quantitatively studied by considering the mmaber and position of Cl atom substitution （Npcs）. The results show that the Npcs model may be used to predict the thermodynamic properties and hydrophilicity for all 135 PCPTZ congeners.