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

Etampawala, Thusitha; Ratnaweera, Dilru; Morgan, Brian; Diallo, Souleymane; Mamontov, Eugene; Dadmun, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2015.01.064

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

Journal Article · Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Polymer

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2015.01.064· OSTI ID:1261422

Etampawala, Thusitha ^[1]; Ratnaweera, Dilru ^[1]; Morgan, Brian ^[1]; Diallo, Souleymane ^[2]; Mamontov, Eugene ^[3]; Dadmun, Mark ^[4]

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Quantum Condensed Material Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Chemical & Engineering Material Division
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Chemical Sciences Division

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.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Spallation Neutron Source

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1261422

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1252341

Journal Information:: Polymer, Journal Name: Polymer Journal Issue: C Vol. 61; ISSN 0032-3861

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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