Self-Propagating Molecular Assemblies as Interlayers for Efficient Inverted Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells

Abstract

Here we report the first use of self-propagating molecule-based assemblies (SPMAs) as efficient electron-transporting layers for inverted organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. P3HT-PCBM cells functionalized with optimized SPMAs exhibit power conversion efficiencies approaching 3.6% (open circuit voltage = 0.6 V) vs 1.5% and 2.4% for the bare ITO and Cs(2)CO(3)-coated devices, respectively. The dependence of cell response parameters on interlayer thickness is investigated, providing insight into how to further optimize device performance.

Predicting thermal stability of organic solar cells through an easy and fast capacitance measurement

“…Recently, laboratory-scale bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells have reached the milestone of 11% [4], through a synergic development of increasingly high performing photoactive materials [5][6][7][8][9], understanding of the morphological film nanostructure [10,11] and device structure optimization [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. However, the achievement of high performance has little technological impact if the resulting device lifetime is unsuitable for the technological requirements.…”

Benzothiadiazole[1,2-b:4,3-b′]dithiophene, a new ladder-type multifused block: Synthesis and photovoltaic application

“…The reaction was quenched by added 10 mL water and stirred for 30 min. The organic phase was separated and washed with water and dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 . The crude product was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (CH 2 Cl 2 /petroleum ether = 1:3) to give 4 as a yellow solid (99.1 mg, 45%).…”

“…Tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)-palladium(0) (35 mg, 0.03 mmol) was added to the mixture and refluxed for 48 h. After the mixture was cooled to room temperature, the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure, and then dissolved in 50 mL acetic ether and extensively washed with water and brine. The organic phase was separated and dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 . After removal of the solvent by vacuum evaporation, the residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (CH 2 Cl 2 /petroleum ether = 1:10) to give 6 as a yellow solid (308 mg, 80% …”

“…After the mixture was stirred for 12 h, NaHCO 3 solution was added, and the mixture was extracted with dichloromethane. The organic layer was washed with water and brine and then dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 . The solvent was removed by vacuum evaporation, and the residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (CH 2 Cl 2 / petroleum ether = 1:10), then dissolved in 1 mL ether and added portion-wise to 100 mL methanol and deposited …”

“…Thus, significant progress has been made through modified interfacial layers [3,4], engineered device architectures [5][6][7], optimized film morphologies [8,9], and design and synthesis of new active materials [10][11][12][13]. The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of the PSCs over 9% have been reported [14,15].…”