Cyclic potential growth mechanism for electropolymerized polythiophenes as anode buffer layers in P3HT–PCBM solar cells

Bom, Sidhant; Ortel, Marlis; Wagner, Veit

doi:10.1002/pssa.201431059

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…[ 32,33 ] A similar effect is achieved by additional buffer layers which act as a selective barrier for charge transport such as ethoxylated polyethylenimine, fenoprofen, or electropolymerized polythiophene. [ 34,35 ] With these results we are able to explain the impact of (fl uoro)surfactant doped PEDOT:PSS on the solar cell characteristics. wileyonlinelibrary.com…”

Section: Impact Of Phase Separation and Molecular Orientation On Solamentioning

confidence: 81%

The Morphological Power of Soap: How Surfactants Lower the Sheet Resistance of PEDOT:PSS by Strong Impact on Inner Film Structure and Molecular Interface Orientation

Palumbiny

Schlipf

Hexemer

et al. 2016

Adv Elect Materials

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In the rapid development of organic electronics, there is a strong need for highly conductive and transparent electrode (TE) materials to act as charge transport layers. In this context, poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is a highly promising candidate, because it can act directly as TE. This makes the use of brittle, rare, and expensive indium tin oxide electrodes dispensable. Modification of the inner film morphology, e.g., by solvent additives can dramatically reduce the sheet resistance of PEDOT:PSS. In this work, it is investigated how the (fluoro)surfactant Zonyl and the co‐solvent ethylene glycol influence the electrical and optical properties of the film, namely, the sheet resistance, the transmission, and the figure of merit for TEs. The electronic characteristics are then related to the morphological changes investigated with grazing incidence small angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS) and polarized resonant soft X‐ray scattering (P‐SoXS). Using GISAXS, structure evolutions are related to sheet resistances and device characteristics in organic solar cells. Further, the influence of (fluoro)surfactant on the phase separation and relative molecular orientation at polymer interfaces is investigated utilizing P‐SoXS. Transparent PEDOT:PSS films with low sheet resistance are essential for market introduction and mark the next milestone for the success of future organic electronic materials.

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Section: Impact Of Phase Separation and Molecular Orientation On Solamentioning

confidence: 81%

The Morphological Power of Soap: How Surfactants Lower the Sheet Resistance of PEDOT:PSS by Strong Impact on Inner Film Structure and Molecular Interface Orientation

Palumbiny

Schlipf

Hexemer

et al. 2016

Adv Elect Materials

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“…48 Favored work function alignment was achieved by adding buffer layers between PEDOT:PSS and the active layer, such as polyethylenimine and electropolymerized polythiophene. 49,50 The self-organized Nafion-enriched layer on the film surface modifies the energy-level mismatch between the light absorber and the transport layer. The work functions of (PEDOT:PSS):-Nafion (10:1) and PEDOT:PSS are 5.49 and 5.05 eV, respectively, calculated from the UPS results in Figure 1b (detailed information is described in the Supporting Information).…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical–Electrical–Chemical Engineering of PEDOT:PSS by Incorporation of Hydrophobic Nafion for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Qiao

Cheng

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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In PIN-type perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the hydroscopicity and acidity of the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene-sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hole transport layer (HTL) have critical influences on the device stability. To eliminate these problems, Nafion, the hydrophobic perfluorosulfonic copolymer, is incorporated into PEDOT:PSS by a simple spin-coating process. For the modified film, Nafion/PSSH (poly(styrene sulfonate) acid) acts as an electron-blocking layer on the surface and the PEDOT-rich domain tends to gather into larger particles with better interchain charge transfer inside the film. Consequently, the modified PEDOT:PSS HTL shows enhanced conductivity and light transmittance as well as more favorable work function, ending up with the increased short-circuit current density (J) and open-circuit voltage (V) of the device. Finally, PSCs with Nafion-modified HTLs achieve the best power conversion efficiency of 16.72%, with 23.76% improvement compared with PEDOT:PSS-only devices (13.51%). Most importantly, the device stability is obviously enhanced because of the hydrophobicity and chemical and mechanical stability of the Nafion polymer that is enriched on the surface of the PEDOT:PSS film.

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“…14 After the exciton dissociation, free electrons are transported by the fullerene network to an electron transport layer (ETL) 16 and further to the cathode contact. On the other hand, free holes are transported by the polymer network to a hole transport layer (HTL) 17 and later to the anode contact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining Material-Specific Morphology of Bulk-Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells Using AFM Phase Imaging

et al. 2017

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A technique for determining the materialspecific morphology of a polymer−fullerene blend is presented. This technique is applied to solution processed bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells with different weight ratios of polymer−fullerene blend using the PTB7:PCBM material system. Optical and electrical characterizations show that the light absorption increases for larger polymer (PTB7) content, while the fill factor of the fabricated solar cells is improved for larger fullerene (PCBM) content. The materialspecific morphologies of polymer−fullerene bulk-heterojunctions are measured by employing AFM phase imaging. The measured AFM phase images reveal that fullerene material forms flake-like clusters which are embedded in the polymer network. The size of the flakes is increasing with larger content of fullerene material. By correlating the optical and electrical properties with the measured bulk-heterojunction morphologies, the relation between bulk-heterojunction structure and solar cell performances is discussed.

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Cyclic potential growth mechanism for electropolymerized polythiophenes as anode buffer layers in P3HT–PCBM solar cells

Cited by 7 publications

References 21 publications

The Morphological Power of Soap: How Surfactants Lower the Sheet Resistance of PEDOT:PSS by Strong Impact on Inner Film Structure and Molecular Interface Orientation

The Morphological Power of Soap: How Surfactants Lower the Sheet Resistance of PEDOT:PSS by Strong Impact on Inner Film Structure and Molecular Interface Orientation

Optical–Electrical–Chemical Engineering of PEDOT:PSS by Incorporation of Hydrophobic Nafion for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Determining Material-Specific Morphology of Bulk-Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells Using AFM Phase Imaging

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