Solvent additives for tuning the photovoltaic properties of polymer–fullerene solar cells

Sio, Antonietta De; Madena, Thomas; Huber, Ralph; Parisi, J.; Neyshtadt, Shany; Deschler, Felix; Como, Enrico Da; Esposito, Salvatore; Hauff, Elizabeth von

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2011.08.019

Cited by 39 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…12 Indeed, formation of a skin layer of polymer has also been observed in the literature. [21][22][23] Here we observe that V FB shifts significantly with the processing conditions from 0.47 V (solvent) to 0.35V (solvent + thermal). Preparing devices with full coverage of either polymer or fullerene (see Supporting Information) we can correlate these V FB values with fullerene coverage of 97% and 68%, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 59%

Role of Vertical Segregation in Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics

Коваленко

Guerrero

García-Belmonte

2015

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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In this work the efficiency of semitransparent Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices for low intensity applications is investigated as a function of the processing conditions.It is observed that a thermal treatment of the organic layer induces fullerene migration towards the active layer/air interface. This physical process gives rise to different vertical segregation profile of donor and acceptor molecules. Once the back contact is deposited the amount of fullerene covering the surface will determine the contact selectivity and leakage current of the device. Control of this leakage current may not be essential for devices fabricated for high illumination conditions applications. However, devices to be used under low illumination conditions may be highly influenced by the presence of this parasitic dark current which flows in the opposite direction to photogenerated current. At the proximity of the contacts the vertical segregation profile is inferred from optical and electrical measurements. In particular, External Quantum Efficiency (EQE) measurements carried out from a relatively opaque back contact provide local information on the materials spatially close to the light source.Alternatively, Capacitance-Voltage measurements enable calculation of the percentage of fullerene molecules covering the cathode contact. Overall, a versatile method that can be used in regular and inverted configuration is presented that explain the different behavior observed for devices to be used under low illumination conditions. Keywords: Organic photovoltaics, low illumination conditions, contact selectivity, Capacitance-Voltage, impedance spectroscopy. 2 I ntroductionOrganic Photovoltaics (OPV) have been studied for nearly 30 years and the technology is now on the verge of commercialization. With record power conversion efficiencies slightly exceeding 10 % OPV still lag behind other technologies such as Silicon-based photovoltaics that can provide 20 % in modules. 1 However, the benefits of OPV rely on the possibility to produce flexible and low weight products with a high degree of design freedom with very rapid payback times. 2 In addition, it has been claimed that OPV can overperform silicon technology under low light conditions. 3These advantages and the ease of handling in subsequent product-integration processes will enable its implementation into new consumer and portable electronics such as building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products.valueadded applications may be envisaged such as the use of semitransparent windows BIPV that permit both natural or color designed room illumination with production of solar electricity. Such a semitransparent device could additionally function during the night as a room light scavenger working under low illumination conditions to recover part of the wasted illumination energy. A range of different techniques have been developed to study segregation of donor and acceptor molecules within the active layer. 15 Amongst the different types some provide 3D structural information of the...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 59%

Role of Vertical Segregation in Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics

Коваленко

Guerrero

García-Belmonte

2015

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…In Figure 2 the AFM images for the different blends are shown. The average RMS roughness is about 1.1 nm and 4.6 nm for the blend prepared from oDCB and oDCB+THN, respectively [8]. In literature several authors report the positive correlation between increased blend surface roughness and increased solar cell efficiency in bulk heterojunction solar cells [8,[29][30][31].…”

Section: Noise Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The film ordering strongly influences the absorption spectra of the P3HT:PCBM layer. In particular, the shoulder located at 620 nm gives an indication of the P3HT crystallinity in the blend, for details see [8] and references therein. For the samples here investigated, the relative intensity of the shoulder at 620 nm appears to be more pronounced in the blend deposited from oDCB+THN [8].…”

Section: Electrical Transport and Structural Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the shoulder located at 620 nm gives an indication of the P3HT crystallinity in the blend, for details see [8] and references therein. For the samples here investigated, the relative intensity of the shoulder at 620 nm appears to be more pronounced in the blend deposited from oDCB+THN [8]. This means that the use of THN additive leads to a better phase segregation of the polymer and fullerene materials in the active blend.…”

Section: Electrical Transport and Structural Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In literature, several studies report the influence of the preparation conditions, such as deposition temperature and solvent additives, on the active layer morphology [7][8][9]. Different experimental techniques have been applied to investigate the carrier dynamics in the BHJ solar cell (e.g., the transient absorption spectroscopy and the method of time delayed collection field) [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Probing Temperature-Dependent Recombination Kinetics in Polymer:Fullerene Solar Cells by Electric Noise Spectroscopy

et al. 2017

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Abstract:The influence of solvent additives on the temperature behavior of both charge carrier transport and recombination kinetics in bulk heterojunction solar cells has been investigated by electric noise spectroscopy. The observed differences in charge carrier lifetime and mobility are attributed to a different film ordering and donor-acceptor phase segregation in the blend. The measured temperature dependence indicates that bimolecular recombination is the dominant loss mechanism in the active layer, affecting the device performance. Blend devices prepared with a high-boiling-point solvent additive show a decreased recombination rate at the donor-acceptor interface as compared to the ones prepared with the reference solvent. A clear correlation between the device performance and the morphological properties is discussed in terms of the temperature dependence of the mobility-lifetime product.

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A Study on the Effect of Cosolvent Addition Pathway on the Optical and Morphological Properties of P3HT: PCBM Composite Films

Nair

Kumar

Majumdar³

2014

Adv Polym Technol

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ABSTRACT:In this work, we present an exhaustive study on the effect of a cosolvent addition pathway on the optical, structural, and morphological characteristics of poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT): [6, 6]-phenyl C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) composite films. Our recommended pathway of cosolvent addition has shown to benefit the composite film by forming more crystallized and ordered P3HT polymer domains on the film surface as revealed by the UV-vis absorption, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD), and atomic force microscopy measurements. GI-XRD measurements that were carried out at three grazing incidence angles (0.11 ο , 0.13 ο , and 0.3 ο ) also substantiate a more prominent upright concentration gradient of the film processed through the modified method. The contact angle measurement reveals accumulation of more P3HT crystallites at the surface of co-solvent modified films. A highly quenched photoluminescence signal precise phase separation between the blended components of the modified film, promoting exciton dissociation at the donor-acceptor interfaces during photoinduced excitations. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 2014, 33, 21445; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.

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Solvent additives for tuning the photovoltaic properties of polymer–fullerene solar cells

Cited by 39 publications

References 46 publications

Role of Vertical Segregation in Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics

Role of Vertical Segregation in Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics

Probing Temperature-Dependent Recombination Kinetics in Polymer:Fullerene Solar Cells by Electric Noise Spectroscopy

A Study on the Effect of Cosolvent Addition Pathway on the Optical and Morphological Properties of P3HT: PCBM Composite Films

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