Sustainable Conjugated Polymer Synthesis in OPV: A Case Study from Conventional to Flow and Microwave-Assisted Synthesis

Added on:
5 Feb, 2026

Continuous flow synthesis and microwave-assisted synthesis represent two sustainable and efficient ways for the polymer production aligned with green chemistry principles, compared to conventional polymer synthesis. Here we present the case study of poly(4,4-dioctyldithieno(3,2-b:2′,3′-d)silole)-2,6-diyl-alt-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)-4,7-diyl (PSBTBT), a low band gap electron-donating polymer for organic photovoltaics (OPVs). The PSBTBT Stille cross-coupling polymerization conditions were optimized by comparing different synthetic methods: conventional, flow and microwave. To assess the impact of the different synthetic methods, detailed molecular and spectroscopic characterization, highlighting both the differences and similarities within the methodologies, was performed by several techniques, such as GPC, UV-Vis, PL, and NMR.

  • Francesca Villafiorita-Monteleone1
  • Benedetta Maria Squeo1
  • Federico Turco2
  • Antonella Caterina Boccia1
  • Alberto Giacometti Schieroni1
  • Daniele Piovani1
  • Mariacecilia Pasini1
  • Stefania Zappia1
  •   1Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technologies “G. Natta” (SCITEC), National Research Council (CNR), via A. Corti 12, 20133 Milan, Italy.
  • 2Department of Chemistry, University of Milan, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy.
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