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Title: Monitoring the dynamics of miscible P3HT:PCBM blends: A quasi elastic neutron scattering study of organic photovoltaic active layers

Abstract

Our work reports on the detailed molecular dynamic behavior of miscible blends of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and their pure counterparts by quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements (QENS). The study provides the measure of relaxation processes on pico-to-nanosecond time scales. A single relaxation process was observed in pure P3HT and PCBM while two relaxation processes, one fast and one slow, were observed in the blends. The fast process was attributed to the dynamics of P3HT while the slow process was correlated to the dynamics of PCBM. The results show that the relaxation process is a balance between two opposing effects: increased mobility due to thermal activation of P3HT molecules and decrease mobility due to the presence of PCBM which is correlated to the percent crystallinity of P3HT and local packing density of PCBM in the amorphous phase. The threshold for the domination of the thermally activated relaxation is between 5 and 9 vol.% of PCBM loading. Two distinct spatial dependences of the relaxation processes, in which the crossover length scale depends neither on temperature nor composition, were observed for all the samples. They were attributed to the collective motions of the hexyl side chains and the rotationalmore » motions of the C-C single bonds of the side chains. Finally, these results provide an understanding of the effects of PCBM loading and temperature on the dynamics of the polymer-fullerene blends which provides a tool to optimize the efficiency of charge carrier and exciton transport within the organic photovoltaic (OPV) active layer to improve the high performance of organic solar cells.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
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  1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Quantum Condensed Material Division
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Chemical & Engineering Material Division
  4. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Chemical Sciences Division
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Spallation Neutron Source (SNS)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1261422
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1252341
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725; DMR-1005987
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Polymer
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 61; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0032-3861
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; 14 SOLAR ENERGY; Organic photovoltaic; Neutron scattering; Dynamics

Citation Formats

Etampawala, Thusitha, Ratnaweera, Dilru, Morgan, Brian, Diallo, Souleymane, Mamontov, Eugene, and Dadmun, Mark. Monitoring the dynamics of miscible P3HT:PCBM blends: A quasi elastic neutron scattering study of organic photovoltaic active layers. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2015.01.064.
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Etampawala, Thusitha, Ratnaweera, Dilru, Morgan, Brian, Diallo, Souleymane, Mamontov, Eugene, & Dadmun, Mark. Monitoring the dynamics of miscible P3HT:PCBM blends: A quasi elastic neutron scattering study of organic photovoltaic active layers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2015.01.064
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Etampawala, Thusitha, Ratnaweera, Dilru, Morgan, Brian, Diallo, Souleymane, Mamontov, Eugene, and Dadmun, Mark. Mon . "Monitoring the dynamics of miscible P3HT:PCBM blends: A quasi elastic neutron scattering study of organic photovoltaic active layers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2015.01.064. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1261422.
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@article{osti_1261422,
title = {Monitoring the dynamics of miscible P3HT:PCBM blends: A quasi elastic neutron scattering study of organic photovoltaic active layers},
author = {Etampawala, Thusitha and Ratnaweera, Dilru and Morgan, Brian and Diallo, Souleymane and Mamontov, Eugene and Dadmun, Mark},
abstractNote = {Our work reports on the detailed molecular dynamic behavior of miscible blends of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and their pure counterparts by quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements (QENS). The study provides the measure of relaxation processes on pico-to-nanosecond time scales. A single relaxation process was observed in pure P3HT and PCBM while two relaxation processes, one fast and one slow, were observed in the blends. The fast process was attributed to the dynamics of P3HT while the slow process was correlated to the dynamics of PCBM. The results show that the relaxation process is a balance between two opposing effects: increased mobility due to thermal activation of P3HT molecules and decrease mobility due to the presence of PCBM which is correlated to the percent crystallinity of P3HT and local packing density of PCBM in the amorphous phase. The threshold for the domination of the thermally activated relaxation is between 5 and 9 vol.% of PCBM loading. Two distinct spatial dependences of the relaxation processes, in which the crossover length scale depends neither on temperature nor composition, were observed for all the samples. They were attributed to the collective motions of the hexyl side chains and the rotational motions of the C-C single bonds of the side chains. Finally, these results provide an understanding of the effects of PCBM loading and temperature on the dynamics of the polymer-fullerene blends which provides a tool to optimize the efficiency of charge carrier and exciton transport within the organic photovoltaic (OPV) active layer to improve the high performance of organic solar cells.},
doi = {10.1016/j.polymer.2015.01.064},
journal = {Polymer},
number = C,
volume = 61,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
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