Charge transport and exciton dissociation in organic solar cells consisting of dipolar donors mixed with
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
We investigate dipolar donor materials mixed with a C70 acceptor in an organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell. Dipolar donors that have donor-acceptor-acceptor (d-a-a') structure result in high conductivity pathways due to close coupling between neighboring molecules in the mixed films. We analyze the charge transfer properties of the dipolar donor:C70 mixtures and corresponding neat donors using a combination of time-resolved electroluminescence from intermolecular polaron pair states and conductive tip atomic force microscopy, from which we infer that dimers of the d-a-a' donors tend to form a continuous network of nanocrystalline clusters within the blends. Additional insights are provided by quantum-mechanical calculations of hole transfer coupling and hopping rates between donor molecules using nearest-neighbor donor packing motifs taken from crystal structural data. The approximation using only nearest-neighbor interactions leads to good agreement between donor hole hopping rates and the conductive properties of the donor:C70 blends. Furthermore, this represents a significant simplification from requiring details of the nano- and mesoscale morphologies of thin films to estimate their electronic characteristics. Using these dipolar donors, we obtain a maximum power conversion efficiency of 9.6 ± 0.5% under 1 sun, AM1.5G simulated illumination for an OPV comprised of an active layer containing a dipolar donor mixed with C70.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Solar and Thermal Energy Conversion (CSTEC)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0000957
- OSTI ID:
- 1370069
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1209175
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 92, Issue 8; Related Information: CSTEC partners with University of Michigan (lead); Kent State University; ISSN 1098-0121
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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