Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics
Abstract
A modified synthesis method for aqueous nanoparticle printing inks, based upon vacuum-assisted solvent removal, is reported. Poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester nanoparticle inks were prepared via this modified miniemulsion method, leading to both an improvement in photoactive layer morphology and a substantial reduction in the ink fabrication time. A combination of UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy measurements revealed a nanoparticle morphology comprising highly intermixed donor–acceptor domains. Consistent with these measurements, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of the nanoparticles showed a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 104 °C, rather than a pure polymer phase or pure fullerene phase Tg. Together the spectroscopy, microscopy and thermomechanical data indicate that rapid solvent removal generates a more blended nanoparticle morphology. As such, this study highlights a new experimental lever for optimising nanostructure in the photoactive layer of nanoparticulate organic photovoltaic devices by enabling highly intermixed donor–acceptor architectures to be built from customised nanoparticulate inks.
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia). Centre for Organic Electronics
- Flinders Univ., Adelaide, SA (Australia). Flinders Inst. for Nanoscale Science and Technology; Univ. of Bordeaux (France). Lab. de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO)
- Flinders Univ., Adelaide, SA (Australia). Flinders Inst. for Nanoscale Science and Technology
- Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia). Centre for Organic Electronics; CSIRO Energy Centre, Mayfield West, NSW (Australia)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Australian Research Council (ARC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1603507
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 21; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1463-9076
- Publisher:
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; Nanostructure; morphology; organic photovoltaic; scanning transmission X-ray microscopy; exciton dissociation; colloidal inks; eco-friendly processing
Citation Formats
Marks, Melissa, Holmes, Natalie P., Sharma, Anirudh, Pan, Xun, Chowdhury, Riku, Barr, Matthew G., Fenn, Coralie, Griffith, Matthew J., Feron, Krishna, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Lewis, David A., Andersson, Mats R., Belcher, Warwick J., and Dastoor, Paul C. Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1039/c8cp07137c.
Marks, Melissa, Holmes, Natalie P., Sharma, Anirudh, Pan, Xun, Chowdhury, Riku, Barr, Matthew G., Fenn, Coralie, Griffith, Matthew J., Feron, Krishna, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Lewis, David A., Andersson, Mats R., Belcher, Warwick J., & Dastoor, Paul C. Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics. United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp07137c
Marks, Melissa, Holmes, Natalie P., Sharma, Anirudh, Pan, Xun, Chowdhury, Riku, Barr, Matthew G., Fenn, Coralie, Griffith, Matthew J., Feron, Krishna, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Lewis, David A., Andersson, Mats R., Belcher, Warwick J., and Dastoor, Paul C. Tue .
"Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics". United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp07137c. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1603507.
@article{osti_1603507,
title = {Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics},
author = {Marks, Melissa and Holmes, Natalie P. and Sharma, Anirudh and Pan, Xun and Chowdhury, Riku and Barr, Matthew G. and Fenn, Coralie and Griffith, Matthew J. and Feron, Krishna and Kilcoyne, A. L. David and Lewis, David A. and Andersson, Mats R. and Belcher, Warwick J. and Dastoor, Paul C.},
abstractNote = {A modified synthesis method for aqueous nanoparticle printing inks, based upon vacuum-assisted solvent removal, is reported. Poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester nanoparticle inks were prepared via this modified miniemulsion method, leading to both an improvement in photoactive layer morphology and a substantial reduction in the ink fabrication time. A combination of UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy measurements revealed a nanoparticle morphology comprising highly intermixed donor–acceptor domains. Consistent with these measurements, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of the nanoparticles showed a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 104 °C, rather than a pure polymer phase or pure fullerene phase Tg. Together the spectroscopy, microscopy and thermomechanical data indicate that rapid solvent removal generates a more blended nanoparticle morphology. As such, this study highlights a new experimental lever for optimising nanostructure in the photoactive layer of nanoparticulate organic photovoltaic devices by enabling highly intermixed donor–acceptor architectures to be built from customised nanoparticulate inks.},
doi = {10.1039/c8cp07137c},
journal = {Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP},
number = 10,
volume = 21,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Tue Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}
Web of Science
Works referenced in this record:
Ternary organic solar cells offer 14% power conversion efficiency
journal, December 2017
- Xiao, Zuo; Jia, Xue; Ding, Liming
- Science Bulletin, Vol. 62, Issue 23
On the Glass Transition of Polymer Semiconductors and Its Impact on Polymer Solar Cell Stability
journal, March 2015
- Müller, Christian
- Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 8
Room to Improve Conjugated Polymer-Based Solar Cells: Understanding How Thermal Annealing Affects the Fullerene Component of a Bulk Heterojunction Photovoltaic Device
journal, November 2008
- Ayzner, Alexander L.; Wanger, Darcy D.; Tassone, Christopher J.
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 112, Issue 48
Robot-Based High-Throughput Engineering of Alcoholic Polymer: Fullerene Nanoparticle Inks for an Eco-Friendly Processing of Organic Solar Cells
journal, June 2018
- Xie, Chen; Tang, Xiaofeng; Berlinghof, Marvin
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 10, Issue 27
The origin of performance limitations in miniemulsion nanoparticulate organic photovoltaic devices
journal, February 2018
- Al-Mudhaffer, Mohammed F.; Griffith, Matthew J.; Feron, Krishna
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 175
Surfactant-free nanoparticulate organic photovoltaics
journal, February 2014
- Darwis, Darmawati; Holmes, Natalie; Elkington, Daniel
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 121
Interferometer-controlled scanning transmission X-ray microscopes at the Advanced Light Source
journal, February 2003
- Kilcoyne, A. L. D.; Tyliszczak, T.; Steele, W. F.
- Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, Vol. 10, Issue 2
Determining exciton coherence from the photoluminescence spectral line shape in poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films
journal, February 2009
- Spano, Frank C.; Clark, Jenny; Silva, Carlos
- The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 130, Issue 7
Multiscale Active Layer Morphologies for Organic Photovoltaics Through Self-Assembly of Nanospheres
journal, August 2014
- Gehan, Timothy S.; Bag, Monojit; Renna, Lawrence A.
- Nano Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 9
Aqueous Processing of Low-Band-Gap Polymer Solar Cells Using Roll-to-Roll Methods
journal, April 2011
- Andersen, Thomas R.; Larsen-Olsen, Thue T.; Andreasen, Birgitta
- ACS Nano, Vol. 5, Issue 5
Nano-pathways: Bridging the divide between water-processable nanoparticulate and bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics
journal, January 2016
- Holmes, Natalie P.; Marks, Melissa; Kumar, Pankaj
- Nano Energy, Vol. 19
Fabrication conditions for efficient organic photovoltaic cells from aqueous dispersions of nanoparticles
journal, January 2014
- Bag, Monojit; Gehan, Timothy S.; Renna, Lawrence A.
- RSC Adv., Vol. 4, Issue 85
Determining the structural motif of P3HT:PCBM nanoparticulate organic photovoltaic devices
journal, March 2013
- Ulum, Syahrul; Holmes, Natalie; Darwis, Darmawati
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 110
Unravelling the Thermomechanical Properties of Bulk Heterojunction Blends in Polymer Solar Cells
journal, April 2017
- Sharma, Anirudh; Pan, Xun; Campbell, Jonathan A.
- Macromolecules, Vol. 50, Issue 8
Preparation and Characterization of Water Self-dispersible Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Particles
journal, November 2007
- Shimizu, Hidenobu; Yamada, Mamiko; Wada, Risei
- Polymer Journal, Vol. 40, Issue 1
Nano-domain behaviour in P3HT:PCBM nanoparticles, relating material properties to morphological changes
journal, October 2013
- Holmes, Natalie P.; Burke, Kerry B.; Sista, Prakash
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 117
Roll-to-Roll Printed Large-Area All-Polymer Solar Cells with 5% Efficiency Based on a Low Crystallinity Conjugated Polymer Blend
journal, March 2017
- Gu, Xiaodan; Zhou, Yan; Gu, Kevin
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 14
High Efficiency Polymer Solar Cells with Long Operating Lifetimes
journal, April 2011
- Peters, Craig H.; Sachs-Quintana, I. T.; Kastrop, John P.
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 1, Issue 4
Preparation and Characterization of Fulleroid and Methanofullerene Derivatives
journal, February 1995
- Hummelen, Jan C.; Knight, Brian W.; LePeq, F.
- The Journal of Organic Chemistry, Vol. 60, Issue 3
Cost analysis of roll-to-roll fabricated ITO free single and tandem organic solar modules based on data from manufacture
journal, January 2014
- Machui, Florian; Hösel, Markus; Li, Ning
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 7, Issue 9
Green-solvent-processable organic solar cells
journal, November 2016
- Zhang, Shaoqing; Ye, Long; Zhang, Hao
- Materials Today, Vol. 19, Issue 9
Semiconducting Polymer Nanospheres in Aqueous Dispersion Prepared by a Miniemulsion Process
journal, May 2002
- Landfester, K.; Montenegro, R.; Scherf, U.
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 14, Issue 9
Water-based nanoparticulate solar cells using a diketopyrrolopyrrole donor polymer
journal, January 2014
- Vaughan, Ben; Williams, Evan L.; Holmes, Natalie P.
- Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 6
Structural Hierarchy in Melt-Processed Poly(3-hexyl thiophene)−Montmorillonite Clay Nanocomposites: Novel Physical, Mechanical, Optical, and Conductivity Properties
journal, February 2006
- Kuila, Biplab K.; Nandi, Arun K.
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol. 110, Issue 4
Efficient Charge Transport in Assemblies of Surfactant-Stabilized Semiconducting Nanoparticles
journal, August 2013
- Bag, Monojit; Gehan, Timothy S.; Algaier, Dana D.
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 25, Issue 44
Eco-Friendly Fabrication of 4% Efficient Organic Solar Cells from Surfactant-Free P3HT:ICBA Nanoparticle Dispersions
journal, September 2014
- Gärtner, Stefan; Christmann, Marco; Sankaran, Sivaramakrishnan
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 38
Analysis of Charge Transport and Device Performance in Organic Photovoltaic Devices with Active Layers of Self-Assembled Nanospheres
journal, November 2015
- Han, Xu; Bag, Monojit; Gehan, Timothy S.
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 119, Issue 46
25th Anniversary Article: Rise to Power - OPV-Based Solar Parks
journal, October 2013
- Krebs, Frederik C.; Espinosa, Nieves; Hösel, Markus
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 1
Probing the origin of photocurrent in nanoparticulate organic photovoltaics
journal, September 2015
- Holmes, Natalie P.; Nicolaidis, Nicolas; Feron, Krishna
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 140
Structural and photo-physical properties of spin-coated poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films
journal, July 2009
- Motaung, David E.; Malgas, Gerald F.; Arendse, Christopher J.
- Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 1
The effect of polymer molecular weight on P3HT:PCBM nanoparticulate organic photovoltaic device performance
journal, September 2014
- Holmes, Natalie P.; Ulum, Syahrul; Sista, Prakash
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 128
A Phase Diagram of the P3HT:PCBM Organic Photovoltaic System: Implications for Device Processing and Performance
journal, April 2011
- Hopkinson, Paul E.; Staniec, Paul A.; Pearson, Andrew J.
- Macromolecules, Vol. 44, Issue 8
Overcoming efficiency and stability limits in water-processing nanoparticular organic photovoltaics by minimizing microstructure defects
journal, December 2018
- Xie, Chen; Heumüller, Thomas; Gruber, Wolfgang
- Nature Communications, Vol. 9, Issue 1
25th Anniversary Article: Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells: Understanding the Mechanism of Operation
journal, December 2013
- Heeger, Alan J.
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 1
Engineering the vertical concentration distribution within the polymer:fullerene blends for high performance inverted polymer solar cells
journal, January 2017
- Wang, Yaping; Zhu, Honglu; Shi, Zhenzhen
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 5, Issue 5
Polymer Photovoltaic Cells: Enhanced Efficiencies via a Network of Internal Donor-Acceptor Heterojunctions
journal, December 1995
- Yu, G.; Gao, J.; Hummelen, J. C.
- Science, Vol. 270, Issue 5243, p. 1789-1791
Sub-glass transition annealing enhances polymer solar cell performance
journal, January 2014
- Bergqvist, Jonas; Lindqvist, Camilla; Bäcke, Olof
- J. Mater. Chem. A, Vol. 2, Issue 17
The future of organic photovoltaics
journal, January 2015
- Mazzio, Katherine A.; Luscombe, Christine K.
- Chemical Society Reviews, Vol. 44, Issue 1
Engineering Two-Phase and Three-Phase Microstructures from Water-Based Dispersions of Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cell Applications
journal, August 2018
- Holmes, Natalie P.; Marks, Melissa; Cave, James M.
- Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 18
Aqueous Nanoparticle Polymer Solar Cells: Effects of Surfactant Concentration and Processing on Device Performance
journal, April 2017
- Colberts, Fallon J. M.; Wienk, Martijn M.; Janssen, René A. J.
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 9, Issue 15
Diketopyrrolopyrrole-based polymer:fullerene nanoparticle films with thermally stable morphology for organic photovoltaic applications
journal, February 2017
- Holmes, Natalie P.; Vaughan, Ben; Williams, Evan L.
- MRS Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1
Fabrication of polymer solar cells from organic nanoparticle dispersions by doctor blading or ink-jet printing
journal, January 2016
- Sankaran, Sivaramakrishnan; Glaser, Konstantin; Gärtner, Stefan
- Organic Electronics, Vol. 28
Incorporating an Electrode Modification Layer with a Vertical Phase Separated Photoactive Layer for Efficient and Stable Inverted Nonfullerene Polymer Solar Cells
journal, December 2017
- Shi, Zhenzhen; Liu, Hao; Wang, Yaping
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 9, Issue 50
Charge transport model for photovoltaic devices based on printed polymer: Fullerene nanoparticles
journal, October 2015
- Yamamoto, Natasha A. D.; Payne, Margaret E.; Koehler, Marlus
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 141
Overcoming Microstructural Limitations in Water Processed Organic Solar Cells by Engineering Customized Nanoparticulate Inks
journal, January 2018
- Xie, Chen; Classen, Andrej; Späth, Andreas
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 13
Eco-friendly fabrication of PBDTTPD:PC71BM solar cells reaching a PCE of 3.8% using water-based nanoparticle dispersions
journal, March 2017
- D'Olieslaeger, Lien; Pirotte, Geert; Cardinaletti, Ilaria
- Organic Electronics, Vol. 42
Spray coated silver nanowires as transparent electrodes in OPVs for Building Integrated Photovoltaics applications
journal, December 2016
- Ding, Z.; Stoichkov, V.; Horie, M.
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 157
Regiocontrolled Synthesis of Poly(3-alkylthiophenes) Mediated by Rieke Zinc: Their Characterization and Solid-State Properties
journal, January 1995
- Chen, Tian-An; Wu, Xiaoming; Rieke, Reuben D.
- Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 117, Issue 1, p. 233-244
High performance polymer solar cells with electron extraction and light-trapping dual functional cathode interfacial layer
journal, January 2017
- Li, Cong; Zhu, Honglu; Wang, Yaping
- Nano Energy, Vol. 31
Works referencing / citing this record:
Green-solvent-processable strategies for achieving large-scale manufacture of organic photovoltaics
journal, January 2019
- Ma, Zongwen; Zhao, Biao; Gong, Yongshuai
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 7, Issue 40
Manipulating nanoscale structure to control functionality in printed organic photovoltaic, transistor and bioelectronic devices
journal, December 2019
- Griffith, Matthew J.; Holmes, Natalie P.; Elkington, Daniel C.
- Nanotechnology, Vol. 31, Issue 9