Polythiophene based bulk heterojunction solar cells: Morphology and its implications

Vanlaeke, Peter; Vanhoyland, G.; Aernouts, Tom; Cheyns, David; Deibel, Carsten; Manca, Jean; Heremans, Paul; Poortmans, Jef

doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2005.12.031

Cited by 121 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This may be a characteristic of the solvent which in this case was chloroform. Samples with chlorobenzene based solvents have been shown by Vanlaeke et al to show flatter regions in this area [22]. It can clearly be seen that the relative absorbance of both polymer blends containing ferroelectric nanoparticles is greater than those of P3HT/PCBM alone.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Route to enhance the efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells - by adding ferroelectric nanoparticles to P3HT/PCBM admixture

2014

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We have demonstrated that by adding ferroelectric nanoparticles to poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) photovoltaic devices the relative efficiency can be increased compared to the same blend without these nanoparticles. In this work samples of 20 mg/ml concentrations of P3HT and PCBM were prepared in a 1:1 ratio and the samples prepared using ferroelectric barium titanate (BT) and strontium titanate (ST) nanoparticles in a 1:1:0.5 ratio. The samples were spin coated onto ITO coated glass with a layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). A top electrode of aluminium 1 cm 2 was deposited. The current-voltage characteristics of the devices were determined using a solar simulator and the absorption characteristics by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The samples with BT and ST exhibited increased absorption around 490 nm and increased open circuit voltage and short circuit current compared to the control P3HT/PCBM sample. The possible mechanism that helps to understand the increase in open circuit voltage and short circuit current is also proposed in this work.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Route to enhance the efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells - by adding ferroelectric nanoparticles to P3HT/PCBM admixture

2014

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“…1b and c). The intensity of the characteristic peak around 2θ = 5.41°, which is assigned to the reflections of crystallographic (100) planes of the P3HT crystals [33,34], is enhanced abruptly with an increase in annealing tem-perature. This enhancement represents an improvement in the degree of crystallisation of the P3HT domains that was induced by annealing.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annealing effect of hybrid solar cells based on poly (3-hexylthiophene) and zinc-oxide nanostructures

et al. 2013

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Motaung, D. et al. (2013). Annealing effect of hybrid solar cells based on poly (3-hexylthiophene) and zinc-oxide nanostructures. Thin Solid Films, Abstract:The structural growth and optical and photovoltaic properties of the organic-inorganic hybrid structures of zinc oxide (ZnO)-nanorods/poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) and two variations of organic polymer blends of ZnO/ P3HT:C60 fullerene and ZnO/P3HT:6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester were studied in detail during thermal annealing. The ordering of the P3HT nanocrystals increased during annealing, which also improved hole transport in the hybrid structures. The optical constants of the ZnO/P3HT:[6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) films elevated with annealing temperature due to the improved crystallisation induced by the formation of P3HT crystalline domains. As a result, a maximum power conversion efficiency of approximately 1.03% was achieved for the annealed ZnO/P3HT:PCBM device at 140 °C. These findings indicate that ZnOnanorods/P3HT:PCBM films are stable at temperatures up to 160 °C. IntroductionSince the discovery of their electroluminescence [1], conjugated polymers have been extensively studied for a wide range of opto-electronic applications such as polymer light emitting diodes [2] and organic photovoltaic devices [3]. The advantage of conjugated polymers over other electronic materials is that they can be readily processed into thin films from solution using techniques such as spincoating or inkjet printing [4], thereby offering the prospect of low cost manufacturing processes. However, the morphology of a bulk heterojunction consisting of a binary blend cannot be easily controlled. The formation of the final blended structure is affected by several parameters, such as the blend composition, viscosity, solvent evaporation rate [5] and substrate surface energy, all of which present difficulties in the achievement of the desired blend morphology for maximum charge generation and transport [6].

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“…(Hoppea & Sariciftci, 2004;Padinger et al, 2003) Other methods used in the past to control the morphology of BHSC involve the use of appropriate solvents with specific boiling point that allow either the increase or decrease of the solvent evaporation rate. Shaheen et al, 2001;Yu et al, 1995) Other methods, such as reducing the drying speed of spin-coated films, (Li et al, 2005;Mihailetchi et al, 2006;Vanlaeke et al, 2006) solubility matching (Troshin et al, 2009) and the melting of bilayers have also been used. (Kim, Liu & Carroll, 2006) It was observed that chemical additives can substitute the post production treatment of BHSC.…”

Section: Methods To Control the Morphology Of Bhscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relation Between Nanomorphology and Performance of Polymer-Based Solar Cells

Pivrikas¹

2011

Solar Cells - New Aspects and Solutions

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Polythiophene based bulk heterojunction solar cells: Morphology and its implications

Cited by 121 publications

References 15 publications

Route to enhance the efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells - by adding ferroelectric nanoparticles to P3HT/PCBM admixture

Route to enhance the efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells - by adding ferroelectric nanoparticles to P3HT/PCBM admixture

Annealing effect of hybrid solar cells based on poly (3-hexylthiophene) and zinc-oxide nanostructures

Relation Between Nanomorphology and Performance of Polymer-Based Solar Cells

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