Enhancement of P3HT/PCBM Photovoltaic Efficiency Using the Surfactant of Triblock Copolymer Containing Poly(3-hexylthiophene) and Poly(4-vinyltriphenylamine) Segments

Tsai, Jung-Hsun; Lai, Yi-Cang; Higashihara, Tomoya; Lin, Chih-Jung; Ueda, Mitsuru; Chen, Wen‐Chang

doi:10.1021/ma1011182

Cited by 103 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(104 reference statements)

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“…12 Another promising concept to reduce degradation in fullerene-based solar cells is the use of third components which can improve the mechanical, photo, air and thermal stability of organic solar cells. 13 Such third components can be crosslinkers, [14][15][16] conventional fullerenes, [17][18][19] modified fullerene derivatives, [20][21][22] compatibilizers 23,24 or insulating polymers. 25 In this work, we overcome the aggregation of the fullerene acceptor PC 61 BM during thermal annealing by employing ternary D-D-A blends comprising two commercially available donor polymers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced thermal stability of organic solar cells comprising ternary D-D-A bulk-heterojunctions

et al. 2017

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Ternary absorber blends have recently been identified as promising concepts to spectrally broaden the absorption of organic bulkheterojunction solar cells and hence to improve their power conversion efficiencies. In this work, we demonstrate that D-D-A ternary blends comprising two donor polymers and the acceptor PC 61 BM can also significantly enhance the thermal stability of the solar cell. Upon harsh thermal stress at 120°C for 2 h, the ternary solar cells show only a minor relative deterioration of 10%. Whereas the polymer/fullerene blend PTB7-Th:PC 61 BM is rather unstable under these conditions, its degradation was efficiently suppressed by incorporating the near infrared-absorbing polymer PDTP-DFBT. Spectroscopic ellipsometry investigations and an effective medium analysis of the ternary absorber blend revealed that the domain conformation in presence of PDTP-DFBT remains stable whereas the domain conformation changes in its absence. The ternary PTB7-Th:PDTP-DFBT:PC 61 BM solar cells yield thermally stable power conversion efficiencies of up to 6%.npj Flexible Electronics (2017) 1:11 ; doi:10.1038/s41528-017-0011-z INTRODUCTIONThe continuous improvement of materials and device architectures for organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells nowadays constantly enables power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) beyond 10%.1, 2 While the PCEs of state-of-the-art organic solar cells are sufficient to meet the demands of some first applications and hence to foster market entry, the device stability often drags behind. The stability of organic solar cells is often limited by a metastable bulk-heterojunction morphology, the diffusion of electrode or buffer layer components into adjacent layers, material decomposition through oxygen and water ingress, irradiation, mechanical stress or heat.3-5 Yet, excellent thermal stability of the organic solar cells is a prerequisite for most future applications. Besides thermal stress when the solar cell is exposed to the sun, the devices may have to endure harsh conditions during fabrication, e.g., when manufacturing car roofs, tiles or façade elements, typically requiring lamination temperatures of 120°C for several hours. 6,7 Upon thermal stress, one of the major degradation mechanisms is the aggregation of fullerene acceptors, commonly [6,6]-phenyl C 71 -butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM) or [6,6]-phenyl C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PC 61 BM). 8,9 In the recent literature, several methods were discussed to hamper fullerene aggregation-for example sample irradiation during annealing, 10 structural modification of fullerenes 11 or replacing fullerenes with non-fullerene acceptors.12 Another promising concept to reduce degradation in fullerene-based solar cells is the use of third components which can improve the mechanical, photo, air and thermal stability of organic solar cells.13 Such third components can be crosslinkers, [14][15][16] In this work, we overcome the aggregation of the fullerene acceptor PC 61 BM during thermal annealing by employing ternary D-D-A blends comprisi...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced thermal stability of organic solar cells comprising ternary D-D-A bulk-heterojunctions

et al. 2017

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“…Other than further development of more efficient light harvesting materials, some new concepts such as ternary solar cell [23,130], and modification of the solar cell structures [22,24], e.g., inverted solar cells, tandem solar cells, or tandem organic/inorganic solar cells would pave new ways to improve the efficiency of the solar cell. Further development of encapsulant materials with lower water/oxygen transmission rate would help the solar cells survive longer under ambient conditions [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are research attempts to incorporate various non-solvent additives, such as nanoparticles [126], carbon nanotubes [127], small molecules [128] and polymers [129], to create a ternary blend BHJ solar cell. These strategies have demonstrated how a third component in the polymer/fullerene blend influences the overall morphology and performance of the solar cell, which could be used as a potent routine method to enhance the performance of the device [130].…”

Section: Morphology Optimization By Device Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells — Opportunities and Challenges

Ye¹,

Xu²

2015

Solar Cells - New Approaches and Reviews

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“…Furthermore, it also attributed to the PC61BM diffusion toward favorable distribution along the vertical direction, which was clearly revealed by neutron reflectivity (NR) characterizations (Figure 3b). The highest PCEs of 4.4% for P3HT/PC61BM/copolymer ternary blends was reported by Tsai et al who designed and synthesized a coil-rod-coil tri-block copolymer: poly(4-vinyltriphenylamine)-b-poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(4-vinyltriphenylamin) (PTPA-P3HT-PTPA) with self-assemble periodic lamellar structure of 10-12 nm [37]. The high efficiency was resulted from the additive-induced sphere-like nanostructure (Figure 3c) for enhancing donor/acceptor interface area.…”

Section: Copolymermentioning

confidence: 96%

Morphological Control Agent in Ternary Blend Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

et al. 2014

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Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaic (OPV) promise low cost solar energy and have caused an explosive increase in investigations during the last decade. Control over the 3D morphology of BHJ blend films in various length scales is one of the pillars accounting for the significant advance of OPV performance recently. In this contribution, we focus on the strategy of incorporating an additive into BHJ blend films as a morphological control agent, i.e., ternary blend system. This strategy has shown to be effective in tailoring the morphology of BHJ through different inter-and intra-molecular interactions. We systematically review the morphological observations and associated mechanisms with respect to various kinds of additives, i.e., polymers, small molecules and inorganic nanoparticles. We organize the effects of morphological control (compatibilization, stabilization, etc.) and provide general guidelines for rational molecular design for additives toward high efficiency and high stability organic solar cells.

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Enhancement of P3HT/PCBM Photovoltaic Efficiency Using the Surfactant of Triblock Copolymer Containing Poly(3-hexylthiophene) and Poly(4-vinyltriphenylamine) Segments

Cited by 103 publications

References 38 publications

Enhanced thermal stability of organic solar cells comprising ternary D-D-A bulk-heterojunctions

Enhanced thermal stability of organic solar cells comprising ternary D-D-A bulk-heterojunctions

Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells — Opportunities and Challenges

Morphological Control Agent in Ternary Blend Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

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