In addition, a series of fully NFREAs based on oligothiophene core with different numbers of thiophene units have been designed and synthesized to modify their photovoltaic performance. For instance, Li
et al. reported the fully non-fused acceptor, 2,2′-((2
Z,2′
Z)-((3,3′-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-[2,2′-bithiophene]-5,5′-diyl)bis(methanylylidene))bis(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1
H-indene-2,1-diylidene)) dimalononitrile (BTIC-EH), with the least thiophene rings (2,2′-bithiophene), as the central skeleton shows a PCE of 2.4% [
47]. A relatively low PCE is mainly attributable to limited conjugated length. Therefore, trithiophene was used as the central electron-donating unit to construct simple acceptors for enlarge the conjugated length,
e.g., 2,2′-((2
Z,2′
Z)-((3,3′,3″,4′-tetrakis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)-[2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene]-5,5″-diyl)bis (methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1
H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (AOT3) reported by Yao
et al. [
48] and 2,2′-((2
Z,2′
Z)-(((3,3-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,4-dihydro-2
H-thieno[3,4-
b][1,4]dioxepine-6,8-diyl)bis(4-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophene-5,2-diyl))bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1
H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (A3T-5) reported by Zhu
et al. [
49]. Obviously, an increase of
Jsc could be obtained, and high PCEs of 6.59% and 7.03% were achieved in the AOT3- and A3T-5-based OSCs, respectively. Encouraging, further increasing the thiophene unit of donor core, tetrathiophene, superior performances have been obtained compared with bithiophene and trithiophene. In 2020, Chen
et al. designed and synthesized two fully NFREAs of 2,2′-((2
Z,2′
Z)-((3″,4′-bis(2,6-bis(hexyloxy)phenyl)-[2,2′:5′,2″:5″,2″′-quaterthiophene]-5,>5″′-diyl) bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1
H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (
o-4TBC-2F) and 2,2′-((2
Z,2′
Z)-((3″,4′-bis(3,5-bis(hexyloxy)phenyl)-[2,2′:5′,2″:5″,2″′-quaterthiophene]-5,5″′-diyl)bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1
H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (
m-4TBC-2F) (
Fig. 1c) by changing the position of hexyloxy groups on the side phenyl [
50]. The result of density functional theory (DFT) calculation displayed significantly different molecular geometries: the molecular backbone of
o-4TBC-2F was quasi planar, while
m-4TBC-2F was twisted. Therefore, the molecular orientation and stacking of
o-4TBC-2F in pure and blend films were more ordered compared with
m-4TBC-2F. Meanwhile, the energy loss and energetic disorder of
o-4TBC-2F-based device are also lower. Finally, these excellent properties endowed the
o-4TBC-2F with a high PCE of 10.26% after thermal annealing. They further optimized the side chain in the tetra-thiophene core [
51]. It was found that the 2,2′-((2
Z,2′
Z)-((3″,4,4′,4″′-tetrakis(2-ethylhexyl)-[2,2′:5′,2″:5″,2″′-quaterthiophene]-5,5″′-diyl)bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1
H-indene-2,1-diylid-ene))dimalononitrile(4T-3) (
Fig. 1c) with four 2-ethylhexyl side chains could achieve an encouraging PCE of 10.15%, when the poly([4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-
b:4,5-
b′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl]-alt-[1,3-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-5,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)-4
H,8
H-benzo[1,2-
c: 4,5-
c′]dithiophene-4,8-dione-5,5-diyl]) (PBDB-T) was selected as the polymer donor. Interestingly, the PCE could even be improved as high as 12.04% based on D18:4T-3 device. This result demonstrates that the improved device performance could be achieved by regulating side chains to change the compatibility with these donor polymers. On this basis, the acceptor molecule of 2,2′-((2
Z,2′
Z)-((3″,4′-bis(2,6-dimethoxyphenyl)-3,3″′,4,4″′-tetrakis ((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)-[2,2′:5′,2″:5″,2″′-quaterthiophene]-5,5″′-diyl)bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1
H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (4T-OEH) with 3,4-bis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy) thiophene was designed by regulating the type of side chains [
52]. Especially, given the existence of intramolecular S-O noncovalent interaction, the 4T-OEH (
Fig. 1c) displays a planar molecular backbone. Thus, an excellent PCE of 12.12% could be achieved by blending with the PBDB-T.