PCBM ( ,6phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester) is a fullerene derivative being investigated for its potential use in organic

solar cells A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.

. PCBM is a fullerene derivative of the C₆₀

buckyball Buckminsterfullerene is a type of fullerene with the formula . It has a cage-like fused-ring structure ( truncated icosahedron) made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, and resembles a football. Each of its 60 carbon atoms is bonded to i ...

that was first synthesized in the 1990s. It is an

electron acceptor An electron acceptor is a chemical entity that accepts electrons transferred to it from another compound. Electron acceptors are oxidizing agents. The electron accepting power of an electron acceptor is measured by its redox potential. In the ...

material and is often used in

organic solar cell An organic solar cell (OSC) or plastic solar cell is a type of photovoltaic that uses organic electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules, for light absorption and charge transport t ...

s (plastic solar cells) or flexible electronics in conjunction with

electron donor In chemistry, an electron donor is a chemical entity that transfers electrons to another compound. It is a reducing agent that, by virtue of its donating electrons, is itself oxidized in the process. An obsolete definition equated an electron dono ...

materials such as

P3HT Polythiophenes (PTs) are polymerized thiophenes, a sulfur heterocycle. The parent PT is an insoluble colored solid with the formula (C4H2S)n.Strictly speaking, "polythiophene" is a misnomer, since the polymer consists of thienylene (2,5-C4H2S) ...

or other

conductive polymer Conductive polymers or, more precisely, intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs) are organic polymers that conduct electricity. Such compounds may have metallic conductivity or can be semiconductors. The main advantage of conductive polymers ...

s. It is a more practical choice for an electron acceptor when compared with fullerenes because of its solubility in

chlorobenzene Chlorobenzene (abbreviated PhCl) is an aryl chloride and the simplest of the chlorobenzenes, consisting of a benzene ring substituted with one chlorine atom. Its chemical formula is C6H5Cl. This colorless, flammable liquid is a common solvent a ...

. This allows for solution processable donor/acceptor mixes, a necessary property for "printable" solar cells. However, considering the cost of fabricating fullerenes, it is not certain that this derivative can be synthesized on a large scale for commercial applications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester Carboxylate esters Fullerenes Phenyl compounds

See also

References