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Title: Molecular dynamics and charge transport in organic semiconductors: a classical approach to modeling electron transfer

Journal Article · · Chemical Science
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sc04547b· OSTI ID:1353009
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  4. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
  5. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  6. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are a promising carbon-neutral energy conversion technology, with recent improvements pushing power conversion efficiencies over 10%. A major factor limiting OPV performance is inefficiency of charge transport in organic semiconducting materials (OSCs). Due to strong coupling with lattice degrees of freedom, the charges form polarons, localized quasi-particles comprised of charges dressed with phonons. These polarons can be conceptualized as pseudo-atoms with a greater effective mass than a bare charge. We propose that due to this increased mass, polarons can be modeled with Langevin molecular dynamics (LMD), a classical approach with a computational cost much lower than most quantum mechanical methods. Here we present LMD simulations of charge transfer between a pair of fullerene molecules, which commonly serve as electron acceptors in OSCs. We find transfer rates consistent with experimental measurements of charge mobility, suggesting that this method may provide quantitative predictions of efficiency when used to simulate materials on the device scale. Our approach also offers information that is not captured in the overall transfer rate or mobility: in the simulation data, we observe exactly when and why intermolecular transfer events occur. In addition, we demonstrate that these simulations can shed light on the properties of polarons in OSCs. Much remains to be learned about these quasi-particles, and there are no widely accepted methods for calculating properties such as effective mass and friction. Lastly, our model offers a promising approach to exploring mass and friction as well as providing insight into the details of polaron transport in OSCs.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308; AC52-06NA25396; AC02-06CH11357; CHE-1464804
OSTI ID:
1353009
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1340928; OSTI ID: 1352608
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-2C00-68402; LA-UR-16-22738; CSHCBM
Journal Information:
Chemical Science, Vol. 8, Issue 4; ISSN 2041-6520
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Stack the Bowls: Tailoring the Electronic Structure of Corannulene-Integrated Crystalline Materials journal July 2018
Building Blocks for High‐Efficiency Organic Photovoltaics: Interplay of Molecular, Crystal, and Electronic Properties in Post‐Fullerene ITIC Ensembles journal September 2019
Comparative density functional theory–density functional tight binding study of fullerene derivatives: effects due to fullerene size, addends, and crystallinity on band structure, charge transport and optical properties journal January 2017
Stack the Bowls: Tailoring the Electronic Structure of Corannulene-Integrated Crystalline Materials journal July 2018