Solution Phase Exciton Diffusion Dynamics of a Charge-Transfer Copolymer PTB7 and a Homopolymer P3HT

Cho, Sung; Rolczynski, Brian S.; Xu, Tao; Yu, Luping; Chen, Lin X.

doi:10.1021/jp5111345

Solution Phase Exciton Diffusion Dynamics of a Charge-Transfer Copolymer PTB7 and a Homopolymer P3HT

Journal Article · Sun Jan 25 23:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/jp5111345· OSTI ID:1210442

Cho, Sung ^[1]; Rolczynski, Brian S. ^[2]; Xu, Tao ^[3]; Yu, Luping ^[3]; Chen, Lin X. ^[2]

Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center (ANSER); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Chonnam National Univ., Gwangju (Korea)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center (ANSER); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

Using ultrafast polarization-controlled transient absorption (TA) measurements, dynamics of the initial exciton states were investigated in this work on the time scale of tens of femtoseconds to about 80 ps in two different types of conjugated polymers extensively used in active layers of organic photovoltaic devices. These polymers are poly(3-fluorothienothiophenebenzodithiophene) (PTB7) and poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT), which are charge-transfer polymers and homopolymers, respectively. In PTB7, the initial excitons with excess vibrational energy display two observable ultrafast time constants, corresponding to coherent exciton diffusion before the vibrational relaxation, and followed by incoherent exciton diffusion processes to a neighboring local state after the vibrational relaxation. In contrast, P3HT shows only one exciton diffusion or conformational motion time constant of 34 ps, even though its exciton decay kinetics are multiexponential. Based on the experimental results, an exciton dynamics mechanism is conceived taking into account the excitation energy and structural dependence in coherent and incoherent exciton diffusion processes, as well as other possible deactivation processes including the formation of the pseudo-charge-transfer and charge separate states, as well as interchain exciton hopping or coherent diffusion.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center (ANSER)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division; National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001059; AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1210442

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1384811
OSTI ID: 1393970

Journal Information:: Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry, Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 119; ISSN 1520-6106

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
bio-inspired
catalysis (heterogeneous)
catalysis (homogeneous)
charge transport
defects
diffusion
electrodes - solar
energy
excitons
hydrogen and fuel cells
materials and chemistry by design
membrane
optics
organic polymers
photosynthesis (natural and artificial)
polarization
solar (fuels)
solar (photovoltaic)
spin dynamics
synthesis (novel materials)
synthesis (self-assembly)

Solution Phase Exciton Diffusion Dynamics of a Charge-Transfer Copolymer PTB7 and a Homopolymer P3HT

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References (37)

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