Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics

Marks, Melissa; Holmes, Natalie P.; Sharma, Anirudh; Pan, Xun; Chowdhury, Riku; Barr, Matthew G.; Fenn, Coralie; Griffith, Matthew J.; Feron, Krishna; Kilcoyne, A. L.  David; Lewis, David A.; Andersson, Mats R.; Belcher, Warwick J.; Dastoor, Paul C.

doi:10.1039/c8cp07137c

Title: Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics

Journal Article · Tue Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp07137c· OSTI ID:1603507

Marks, Melissa ^[1];

^[1];

^[2]; Pan, Xun ^[3]; Chowdhury, Riku ^[1]; Barr, Matthew G. ^[1]; Fenn, Coralie ^[1]; Griffith, Matthew J. ^[1];

^[4];

^[5]; Lewis, David A. ^[3];

^[3]; Belcher, Warwick J. ^[1]; Dastoor, Paul C. ^[1]

Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia). Centre for Organic Electronics
Flinders Univ., Adelaide, SA (Australia). Flinders Inst. for Nanoscale Science and Technology; Univ. of Bordeaux (France). Lab. de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO)
Flinders Univ., Adelaide, SA (Australia). Flinders Inst. for Nanoscale Science and Technology
Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia). Centre for Organic Electronics; CSIRO Energy Centre, Mayfield West, NSW (Australia)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)

A modified synthesis method for aqueous nanoparticle printing inks, based upon vacuum-assisted solvent removal, is reported. Poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester nanoparticle inks were prepared via this modified miniemulsion method, leading to both an improvement in photoactive layer morphology and a substantial reduction in the ink fabrication time. A combination of UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy measurements revealed a nanoparticle morphology comprising highly intermixed donor–acceptor domains. Consistent with these measurements, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of the nanoparticles showed a glass transition temperature (T_g) of 104 °C, rather than a pure polymer phase or pure fullerene phase T_g. Together the spectroscopy, microscopy and thermomechanical data indicate that rapid solvent removal generates a more blended nanoparticle morphology. As such, this study highlights a new experimental lever for optimising nanostructure in the photoactive layer of nanoparticulate organic photovoltaic devices by enabling highly intermixed donor–acceptor architectures to be built from customised nanoparticulate inks.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Australian Research Council (ARC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1603507

Journal Information:: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP, Vol. 21, Issue 10; ISSN 1463-9076

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 19 works

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Title: Building intermixed donor–acceptor architectures for water-processable organic photovoltaics

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