Nano-pathways: Bridging the divide between water-processable nanoparticulate and bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics
- Univ. of Newcastle, NSW (Australia)
- Univ. of Newcastle, NSW (Australia); CSIR-National Physical Lab., New Delhi (India)
- Univ. of South Australia, Adelaide, SA (Australia)
- Univ. of Newcastle, NSW (Australia); CSIRO Energy Flagship, Newcastle, NSW (Australia)
- Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD (Australia); Murdoch Univ., Perth, WA (Australia)
- Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Gothenburg (Sweden)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Univ. of South Australia, Adelaide, SA (Australia); Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Gothenburg (Sweden)
In this paper, we report the application of a conjugated copolymer based on thiophene and quinoxaline units, namely poly[2,3-bis-(3-octyloxyphenyl)quinoxaline-5,8-diyl-alt-thiophene-2,5-diyl] (TQ1), to nanoparticle organic photovoltaics (NP-OPVs). TQ1 exhibits more desirable material properties for NP-OPV fabrication and operation, particularly a high glass transition temperature (Tg) and amorphous nature, compared to the commonly applied semicrystalline polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). This study reports the optimisation of TQ1:PC71BM (phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester) NP-OPV device performance by the application of mild thermal annealing treatments in the range of the Tg (sub-Tg and post-Tg), both in the active layer drying stage and post-cathode deposition annealing stage of device fabrication, and an in-depth study of the effect of these treatments on nanoparticle film morphology. Finally and in addition, we report a type of morphological evolution in nanoparticle films for OPV active layers that has not previously been observed, that of PC71BM nano-pathway formation between dispersed PC71BM-rich nanoparticle cores, which have the benefit of making the bulk film more conducive to charge percolation and extraction.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) (Australia); Commonwealth of Australia; Australian Research Council (ARC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; ARC DECRA DE120102271; UQ ECR59-2011002311; UQ NSRSF-2011002734
- OSTI ID:
- 1393009
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1461032
- Journal Information:
- Nano Energy, Vol. 19; ISSN 2211-2855
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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Optimisation of purification techniques for the preparation of large-volume aqueous solar nanoparticle inks for organic photovoltaics
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journal | February 2018 |
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