Distinguishing the importance of fullerene phase separation from polymer ordering in the performance of low band gap polymer: Bis-fullerene heterojunctions

Journal Article · Tue Sep 16 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Advanced Functional Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201401419· OSTI ID:1265393

Chen, Huipeng ^[1]; Hsiao, Yu -Che ^[1]; Chen, Jihua ^[2]; Hu, Bin ^[1]; Dadmun, Mark D. ^[3]

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1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

It is known, one way to improve power conversion efficiency (PCE) of polymer based bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic cells is to increase the open circuit voltage (V_oc). Replacing PCBM with bis-adduct fullerenes significantly improves V_oc and the PCE in devices based on the conjugated polymer poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT). However, for the most promising low band-gap polymer (LBP) system, replacing PCBM with ICBA results in poor short-circuit current (J_sc) and PCE although V_oc is significantly improved. The optimization of the morphology of as-cast LBP/bis-fullerene BHJ photovoltaics is attempted by adding a co-solvent to the polymer/fullerene solution prior to film deposition. Varying the solubility of polymer and fullerene in the co-solvent, bulk heterojunctions are fabricated with no change of polymer ordering, but with changes in fullerene phase separation. The morphologies of the as-cast samples are characterized by small angle neutron scattering and neutron reflectometry. A homogenous dispersion of ICBA in LBP is found in the samples where the co-solvent is selective to the polymer, giving poor device performance. Aggregates of ICBA are formed in samples where the co-solvent is selective to ICBA. Furthermore, the resultant morphology improves PCE by up to 246%. Finally, a quantitative analysis of the neutron data shows that the interfacial area between ICBA aggregates and its surrounding matrix is improved, facilitating charge transport and improving the PCE.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1265393
• Journal Information: Advanced Functional Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Functional Materials Journal Issue: 46 Vol. 24; ISSN 1616-301X
• Publisher: Wiley
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE