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Title: Petascale Simulations of the Morphology and the Molecular Interface of Bulk Heterojunctions

Journal Article · · ACS Nano
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [5];  [5];  [1];  [6]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences and Computer Science and Mathematics Division
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Energy Science and Engineering
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Center for Computational Sciences
  4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Spallation Neutron Source
  5. Lousiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States). Center for Computation and Technology and Cain Dept. of Chemical Engineering
  6. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Spallation Neutron Source; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Understanding how additives interact and segregate within bulk heterojunction (BHJ) thin films is critical for exercising control over structure at multiple length scales and delivering improvements in photovoltaic performance. The morphological evolution of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blends that are commensurate with the size of a BHJ thin film is examined using petascale coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. When comparing 2 component and 3 component systems containing short P3HT chains as additives undergoing thermal annealing we demonstrate that the short chains alter the morphol- ogy in apparently useful ways: They efficiently migrate to the P3HT/PCBM interface, increasing the P3HT domain size and interfacial area. Simulation results agree with depth profiles determined from neutron reflectometry measurements that reveal PCBM enrichment near substrate and air interfaces, but a decrease in that PCBM enrich- ment when a small amount of short P3HT chains are integrated into the BHJ blend. Atomistic simulations of the P3HT/PCBM blend interfaces show a non-monotonic dependence of the interfacial thickness as a function of number of repeat units in the oligomeric P3HT additive, and the thiophene rings orient parallel to the interfacial plane as they approach the PCBM domain. Using the nanoscale geometries of the P3HT oligomers, LUMO and HOMO energy levels calculated by density functional theory are found to be invariant across the donor/acceptor interface. Finally, these connections between additives, processing, and morphology at all length scales are generally useful for efforts to improve device performance.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; SC0012432
OSTI ID:
1286951
Journal Information:
ACS Nano, Vol. 10, Issue 7; ISSN 1936-0851
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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