Low band gap polymers for organic photovoltaics

Low band gap polymer materials and their application in organic photovoltaics (OPV) are reviewed. We detail the synthetic approaches to low band gap polymer materials starting from the early methodologies employing quinoid homopolymer structures to the current state of the art that relies on alternating copolymers of donor and acceptor groups where strategies for band gap design are possible. Current challenges for OPV such as chemical stability and energy level alignment are discussed. We finally provide a compilation of the most studied classes of low band gap materials and the results obtained in photovoltaic applications and give a tabular overview of rarely applied materials. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.