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Title: Engineering Two-Phase and Three-Phase Microstructures from Water-Based Dispersions of Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cell Applications

Abstract

Nanoparticle organic photovoltaics, a subfield of organic photovoltaics (OPV), has attracted increasing interest in recent years due to the eco-friendly fabrication of solar modules afforded by colloidal ink technology. Importantly, using this approach it is now possible to engineer the microstructure of the light absorbing/charge generating layer of organic photovoltaics; decoupling film morphology from film deposition. In this study, single-component nanoparticles of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) were synthesized and used to generate a two-phase microstructure with control over domain size prior to film deposition. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and electron microscopy were used to characterize the thin film morphology. Uniquely, the measured microstructure was a direct input for a nanoscopic kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model allowing us to assess exciton transport properties that are experimentally inaccessible in these single-component particles. Photoluminescence, UV-vis spectroscopy measurements, and KMC results of the nanoparticle thin films enabled the calculation of an experimental exciton dissociation efficiency (ηED) of 37% for the two-phase microstructure. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the materials was characterized with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and thermal annealing led to an increase in ηED to 64% due to an increase in donor-acceptor interfaces in themore » thin film from both sintering of neighboring opposite-type particles in addition to the generation of a third mixed phase from diffusion of PC61BM into amorphous P3HT domains. Finally, this study demonstrates the higher level of control over donor-acceptor film morphology enabled by customizing nanoparticulate colloidal inks, where the optimal three-phase film morphology for an OPV photoactive layer can be designed and engineered.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [6];  [2];  [5]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [3];  [7];  [2];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia); Karlstad Univ. (Sweden)
  2. Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia)
  3. Univ. of Bath (United Kingdom)
  4. Flinders Univ., Adelaide, SA (Australia); Univ. of Bordeaux, Pessac (France)
  5. Flinders Univ., Adelaide, SA (Australia)
  6. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
  7. Karlstad Univ. (Sweden)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Karlstad University; Commonwealth of Austrlia
OSTI Identifier:
1604651
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Chemistry of Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 30; Journal Issue: 18; Journal ID: ISSN 0897-4756
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Holmes, Natalie P., Marks, Melissa, Cave, James M., Feron, Krishna, Barr, Matthew G., Fahy, Adam, Sharma, Anirudh, Pan, Xun, Kilcoyne, David A. L., Zhou, Xiaojing, Lewis, David A., Andersson, Mats R., van Stam, Jan, Walker, Alison B., Moons, Ellen, Belcher, Warwick J., and Dastoor, Paul C. Engineering Two-Phase and Three-Phase Microstructures from Water-Based Dispersions of Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cell Applications. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03222.
Holmes, Natalie P., Marks, Melissa, Cave, James M., Feron, Krishna, Barr, Matthew G., Fahy, Adam, Sharma, Anirudh, Pan, Xun, Kilcoyne, David A. L., Zhou, Xiaojing, Lewis, David A., Andersson, Mats R., van Stam, Jan, Walker, Alison B., Moons, Ellen, Belcher, Warwick J., & Dastoor, Paul C. Engineering Two-Phase and Three-Phase Microstructures from Water-Based Dispersions of Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cell Applications. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03222
Holmes, Natalie P., Marks, Melissa, Cave, James M., Feron, Krishna, Barr, Matthew G., Fahy, Adam, Sharma, Anirudh, Pan, Xun, Kilcoyne, David A. L., Zhou, Xiaojing, Lewis, David A., Andersson, Mats R., van Stam, Jan, Walker, Alison B., Moons, Ellen, Belcher, Warwick J., and Dastoor, Paul C. 2018. "Engineering Two-Phase and Three-Phase Microstructures from Water-Based Dispersions of Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cell Applications". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03222. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1604651.
@article{osti_1604651,
title = {Engineering Two-Phase and Three-Phase Microstructures from Water-Based Dispersions of Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cell Applications},
author = {Holmes, Natalie P. and Marks, Melissa and Cave, James M. and Feron, Krishna and Barr, Matthew G. and Fahy, Adam and Sharma, Anirudh and Pan, Xun and Kilcoyne, David A. L. and Zhou, Xiaojing and Lewis, David A. and Andersson, Mats R. and van Stam, Jan and Walker, Alison B. and Moons, Ellen and Belcher, Warwick J. and Dastoor, Paul C.},
abstractNote = {Nanoparticle organic photovoltaics, a subfield of organic photovoltaics (OPV), has attracted increasing interest in recent years due to the eco-friendly fabrication of solar modules afforded by colloidal ink technology. Importantly, using this approach it is now possible to engineer the microstructure of the light absorbing/charge generating layer of organic photovoltaics; decoupling film morphology from film deposition. In this study, single-component nanoparticles of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) were synthesized and used to generate a two-phase microstructure with control over domain size prior to film deposition. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and electron microscopy were used to characterize the thin film morphology. Uniquely, the measured microstructure was a direct input for a nanoscopic kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model allowing us to assess exciton transport properties that are experimentally inaccessible in these single-component particles. Photoluminescence, UV-vis spectroscopy measurements, and KMC results of the nanoparticle thin films enabled the calculation of an experimental exciton dissociation efficiency (ηED) of 37% for the two-phase microstructure. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the materials was characterized with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and thermal annealing led to an increase in ηED to 64% due to an increase in donor-acceptor interfaces in the thin film from both sintering of neighboring opposite-type particles in addition to the generation of a third mixed phase from diffusion of PC61BM into amorphous P3HT domains. Finally, this study demonstrates the higher level of control over donor-acceptor film morphology enabled by customizing nanoparticulate colloidal inks, where the optimal three-phase film morphology for an OPV photoactive layer can be designed and engineered.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03222},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1604651}, journal = {Chemistry of Materials},
issn = {0897-4756},
number = 18,
volume = 30,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

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Cited by: 21 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Rational design of a junction structure to realize an NIR-selective narrowband organic thin-film photodiode
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Manipulating nanoscale structure to control functionality in printed organic photovoltaic, transistor and bioelectronic devices
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Green-solvent-processable strategies for achieving large-scale manufacture of organic photovoltaics
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Unravelling donor–acceptor film morphology formation for environmentally-friendly OPV ink formulations
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Printable ionizing radiation sensors fabricated from nanoparticulate blends of organic scintillators and polymer semiconductors
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