A Donor-Acceptor Polymer with peculiar negative-charge-“trapping” characteristic

Voltammetric and spectrophotometric measurements of poly(3,3″-dipentoxy-3′-dicyanoethenyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene) (polyCN) films, in connection with other experimental evidence, reveal a normal oxidative, but a peculiar reductive behavior consisting of trapping of the negative charge during the cathodic scan. Another interesting property of polyCN films is the tendency to form strong intramolecular and intermolecular associations, probably charge-transfer (CT) complexes. These properties could account for the fact that the photovoltaic performance does not improve when polyCN is blended with a polythiophene donor.