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Unraveling the Photovoltaic, Mechanical, and Microstructural Properties and Their Correlations in Simple Poly(3‐pentylthiophene) Solar Cells

Journal Article · · Macromolecular Rapid Communications
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 China
  2. State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710049 China
  3. Engineering Research Center for Nanomaterials Henan University Kaifeng 475004 China
  4. School of Materials Science and Engineering Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 China; Energy Materials and Optoelectronics Unit Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory Dongguan 523808 China

Abstract

The power conversion efficiency of polythiophene organic solar cells is constantly refreshed. Despite the renewed device efficiency, very few efforts have been devoted to understanding how the type of electron acceptor alters the photovoltaic and mechanical properties of these low‐cost solar cells. Herein, the authors conduct a thorough investigation of photovoltaic and mechanical characteristics of a simple yet less‐explored polythiophene, namely poly(3‐pentylthiophene) (P3PT), in three different types of organic solar cells, where ZY‐4Cl, PC71BM, and N2200 are employed as three representative acceptors, respectively. Compared with the reference poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT)‐based solar cells, P3PT‐based devices, all perform more efficiently. Particularly, the P3PT:ZY‐4Cl blend exhibits the highest efficiency (ca. 10%) among the six combinations and outperforms the prior top‐performance system P3HT:ZY‐4Cl. Furthermore, the blend films based on N2200 exhibit a high crack‐onset strain of ∼38% on average, which is approximately 15‐ and 17‐times higher than those of ZY‐4Cl and PC71BM, respectively. The microstructural origins for the above difference are well elucidated by detailed grazing incidence X‐ray scattering and microscopy analysis. This work not only underlines the potential of P3PT in prolific solar cell research but also demonstrates the superior tensile properties of polythiophene‐based all‐polymer blends for the preparation of stretchable solar cells.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2422755
Journal Information:
Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Journal Name: Macromolecular Rapid Communications Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 43; ISSN 1022-1336
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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