Enhanced regeneration of degraded polymer solar cells by thermal annealing
- CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr. K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012 (India)
- Centre for Organic Electronics, Physics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW-2308 (Australia)
The degradation and thermal regeneration of poly(3-hexylethiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl-C{sub 61}-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and P3HT:indene-C{sub 60} bisadduct (ICBA) polymer solar cells, with Ca/Al and Ca/Ag cathodes and indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene-dioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate anode have been investigated. Degradation occurs via a combination of three primary pathways: (1) cathodic oxidation, (2) active layer phase segregation, and (3) anodic diffusion. Fully degraded devices were subjected to thermal annealing under inert atmosphere. Degraded solar cells possessing Ca/Ag electrodes were observed to regenerate their performance, whereas solar cells having Ca/Al electrodes exhibited no significant regeneration of device characteristics after thermal annealing. Moreover, the solar cells with a P3HT:ICBA active layer exhibited enhanced regeneration compared to P3HT:PCBM active layer devices as a result of reduced changes to the active layer morphology. Devices combining a Ca/Ag cathode and P3HT:ICBA active layer demonstrated ∼50% performance restoration over several degradation/regeneration cycles.
- OSTI ID:
- 22280367
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 19 Vol. 104; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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