Modulation spectroscopy study on additive-induced efficiency enhancement of PTB7:PC71BM organic photovoltaic devices

Additives have been known to play an important role for improving the photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells. However, the reasons why additives improve the performance have not been clearly known yet. We employed an electrical modulated optical spectroscopy to investigate the relationship between the photovoltaic performance and additive concentration in organic photovoltaic devices. Our measured modulation spectra of a sample without additive showed both first- (-α’) and second-derivative (α”) components of the absorption spectrum. The second-derivative (α”) component in the modulation spectrum increased with the additive concentration. These results indicate that the sample without additive contains both localized (or Frenkel type) and relatively delocalized excitons and the added additive results in a significant increase of the relatively delocalized excitons. We conclude that the increased delocalized excitons lead to a significant additive-induced improvement of the photovoltaic-device performance.     

Impact of side‐chain length on the phase structures of P3ATs and P3AT:PCBM films as revealed by SSNMR and FTIR

It is known that poly(3‐alkylthiophene) (P3AT) side‐chain length notably influences the photovoltaic performances of relating devices. However, comprehensively study on its impact on the structures of P3ATs and their blends with [6, 6]‐phenyl‐C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) is insufficient. By using solid‐state NMR and FTIR techniques, four P3ATs and their PCBM blends are investigated in this work, focusing on the phase structures as modulated by side‐chain length. Recently, we revealed multiple crystalline main‐chain packings of packing a and b together with a mesophase in poly(3‐butylthiophene) (P3BT) films (DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.6b01828). Here, the semicrystalline structures are investigated on poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT), poly(3‐octylthiophene) (P3OT), and poly(3‐dodecylthiophene) (P3DDT) with traditional form I modification, where packing a and the amorphous phase are probed. Furthermore, crystallized side chain within packing a is detected in both P3OT and P3DDT films, which shows a FTIR absorption at 806 cm⁻¹. Structural studies are also conducted on P3AT:PCBM blends. Compared with the pure P3ATs, the polymer crystallinities of the blends show reduction of about 40% for P3OT and P3DDT, whereas only about 10% for P3HT. Moreover, in P3BT:PCBM and P3HT:PCBM, the crystalline polymers and PCBM are phase separated, while in P3OT:PCBM and P3DDT:PCBM, blend components are mostly miscible. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 751–761     

Isoregic Thienylene‐Phenylene Polymers: The Effects of Structural Variation and Application to Photovoltaic Devices

Isoregic conjugated polymers composed of thiophene and dialkoxybenzene units were designed to harvest incident light in the mid‐visible energy range (band gap of 2.1 eV). Poly(1,4‐bis(2‐thienyl)‐2,5‐diheptoxybenzene) (PBTB(OC₇H₁₅)₂) and poly(1,4‐bis(2‐thienyl)‐2,5‐didodecyloxybenzene) (PBTB(OC₁₂H₂₅)₂) have shown significant photovoltaic performance as an electron donor when used in tandem with the electron acceptor [6, 6]‐phenyl C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) in bulk hetero‐junction photovoltaic devices. Photovoltaic devices incorporating PBTB(OC₇H₁₅)₂ and PCBM have shown AM1.5 efficiencies of ～0.6% with a short circuit current density of 2.5 mA/cm², an open circuit voltage of 0.74 V, and a fill factor of 0.32. Incident Photon‐to‐Current Efficiency (IPCE) of the device was found to be ca. 16% at 410 nm. In order to examine the relationship between the molecular structure of the polymers and their electronic energy levels, and to correlate this with photovoltaic performance, optoelectronic and electrochemical results are discussed in relation to the I‐V characteristics of the devices. Additionally, a computer‐aided simulation is used to gain further insight into the effect of polymer structure on the energetic relationships in the bulk heterojunction devices.     

Temperature dependence of the convex solubility parameters of organic semiconductors

Solubility parameter methods have also proven very useful in an array of theoretical and practical applications, particularly regarding the mutual solubility of polymers and organic semiconductors in bulk‐heterojunction composites. The temperature dependence of the solubility and miscibility of organic semiconductors offers a promising route for directing the organization of materials and composites toward optimal morphologies. Here, the convex solubility parameter (CSP) approach is used to investigate the temperature dependence of three organic semiconductors: PCBM, P3HT, and PCPDTBT. The CSPs and mutual solubility regions are computed at several temperatures between 25 °C and 140 °C, and the results are compared to those obtained from a traditional spherical‐fitting algorithm. In addition, the impact that constant and varying thermal expansion coefficients have on the computed solubility parameters across this temperature range is investigated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 81–88     

The enhanced performance of organic light-emitting diodes by using PCBM as the anode modification layer

[6,6]-Phenyl C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) is used to modify an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated substrate. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) using PCBM as the anode modification layer are fabricated. The dependence of performance on different PCBM thicknesses is also investigated. When the thickness of the PCBM film is appropriate, the brightness and efficiency of OLEDs are enhanced, which is attributed to an enhanced hole injection and an improved carrier balance. The enhancement of hole injection was ascribed to the formation of a dipole layer at the anode/organic interface.     

Shape‐ and Trap‐Controlled Nanocrystals for Giant‐Performance Improvement of All‐Inorganic Perovskite Photodetectors

In the last few years, all‐inorganic perovskite CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted tremendous attention for its high carrier mobility, long carrier diffusion length, excellent visible light absorption, and more importantly superior air stability. In fact, photodetectors (PDs) are designed and fabricated using the CsPbBr₃ NCs with very high performance. Herein, by optimizing the NC shape, size, and surface passivation, the CsPbBr₃ PDs are developed with an even higher performance. It is found that the PDs based on CsPbBr₃ nanoribbons show the best photoresponse among all common NC structures synthesized. Moreover, it is found that 6,6‐phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid ethyl ester can be used to passivate defects on the CsPbBr₃ nanoribbon surface and shows the charge transfer. As a result, the device displays superior photoresponsivity (R = 18.4 A W⁻¹), excellent signal‐to‐noise ratio, as high as 10⁴, and a very sharp rise/decay time (8.7/3.5 ms). The method demonstrated may offer an attractive strategy to improve sensitivity for all‐inorganic perovskite PDs in general.     

Electronic structure of PCBM

We have studied the electronic structure of [6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric-acid-methyl-ester (PCBM) using synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) measurements and first-principles calculations. The PES spectrum of the entire occupied valence band is reported, which exhibits abundant spectral features from the Fermi level to ～24 eV binding energy. All the spectral features are broadened as compared with the cases of C₆₀. The reasons for the broadening are analysed by comparing the experimental data with the calculated energy levels and density of states. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the C₆₀ highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-1 derived states, which can play a crucial role in the bonding at the interfaces of PCBM/polymer blenders or PCBM/electrodes. Besides the well-known energy level splitting of the C₆₀ backbone caused by the lowered symmetry, C 2p states from the side chain mix or hybridize with the molecular orbitals of parent C₆₀. The contribution of the O 2p states can substantially modify the PES spectrum.     

Preheated solvent exposure on P3HT:PCBM thin film: A facile strategy to enhance performance in bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells

In this study, we explored the ability of a preheated solvent (methanol) to induce characteristic changes at the organic active layer/metal interface, thereby improving the performance of fabricated organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells composed of poly(3-hexylthiopene) (P3HT) and a [6,6]-phenyl-C₇₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) photoactive blend. Our results demonstrate that exposure to methanol (at room temperature, or preheated at 45 °C or 65 °C) improves the performance of the fabricated OPV cells. After preheated methanol exposure, the P3HT:PCBM thin films were tested for crystallinity, morphology, mobility, and photovoltaic characteristics. Our results revealed that use of the preheated solvent on the organic active layer significantly influences the micro/nano scale morphology and phase segregation of the P3HT:PCBM thin films, as well as the charge carrier mobility. It is hypothesized that the side chain ordering of P3HT and redistribution of PCBM could be results of the modified active layer. Consequently, OPV cells modified with the methanol preheated at 65 °C exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.36%, with open-circuit voltage of 0.59 V, short-circuit current density of 13.83 mA/cm², and fill-factor of 0.41. In contrast, the unmodified P3HT:PCBM thin film (without methanol exposure) showed a PCE of only 2.13%.