Cationic photopolymerizations of thick polymer systems: Active center lifetime and mobility

Cationic photopolymerizations are essentially non-terminating and the long-lived active centers may lead to “dark cure” long after the illumination has ceased. In this contribution, it is shown that long cationic active center lifetimes known to be responsible for dark cure can also lead to “shadow cure” of unilluminated regions of thick systems. “Shadow cure” occurs when the active centers migrate out of the illuminated region, leading to polymerization of unexposed monomer. Photopolymerizations of a cycloaliphatic diepoxide monomer were performed in which active centers were produced in the first 0.7 mm of a thick system by illuminating one end of the sample, and the shadow cure was monitored up to 8 h. A polymerization front (with a highly crosslinked polymer matrix on one side and unreacted monomer on the other) was observed to move from the illuminated region into the shadow region at a rate proportional to the square root of time. The effective shadow cure diffusion coefficient at 50 °C was found to be 1 × 10⁻⁵ cm²/s, and the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient was well described by the Arrhenius relationship with an activation energy of 89 kJ/mol. Studies based upon photoinitiator counter-ions of differing size revealed that the system with the larger counter-ion (and therefore a correspondingly higher propagation rate constant) exhibited a significantly higher effective shadow cure diffusion coefficient. All of the experimental observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the active center mobility responsible for shadow cure arises largely from reactive diffusion.     

Effect of solvent additives on bulk heterojunction morphology of organic photovoltaics and their impact on device performance

Morphology of the active layer in an organic photovoltaic (OPV) device is known to have a significant impact on the device performance. It is, however, difficult to characterize nanoscale morphologies in detail, especially at the ensemble level. Herein, we report the utilization of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) to investigate variations in the nanoscale morphologies of the active layer of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl):[6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) bulk heterojunction OPV depending on the composition of casting solvent. Both the power law and the poly hard sphere model were utilized to characterize the state of the donor and acceptor components, respectively, from the obtained SANS data. Furthermore, the relationship between the nanoscale morphology and device performance is outlined. It was found that the use of 2-chlorophenol, a poor solvent for P3HT and, at the same time, a very good solvent for PCBM, leads to nanomorphology featuring ordered, highly crystalline P3HT and small (15.2 nm) PCBM domains. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 128–134     

基于磷光材料的低给体比例有机太阳能电池

本文以低比例的磷光材料作为给体,制备了基于MoOx/C60:x%Ir(ppy)3的有机太阳能电池(OPV)器件.其中,C60为高比例的受体材料,金属配合物Ir(ppy)3为低比例的给体材料,MoOx为阳极缓冲层.通过一系列不同Ir(ppy)3比例的OPV器件对比研究,得出了最优器件结构.研究发现,当Ir(ppy)3比例足够小时,器件表现为肖特基势垒,开路电压(VOC)较大,短路电流(JSC)较小;随着Ir(ppy)3比例的增加,VOC逐渐减少,而JSC逐渐增大;当进一步增加Ir(ppy)3比例时,VOC趋于稳定,JSC开始减小.结果显示,5%Ir(ppy)3比例的器件性能最佳,效率达1.7%.为了使器件效率得到进一步提升,本研究组采用吸收光谱范围比C60更宽的C70作为受体材料,使光电转换效率进一步提升至3.0%.     

Synthesis and white electroluminescent properties of multicomponent copolymers containing polyfluorene,oligo(phenylenevinylene), and porphyrin derivatives

Two novel multicomponent copolymers ( P1 and P2 ) containing polyfluorene (PF), oligo(phenylenevinylene) ( OPV ), and porphyrin ( Por ) derivatives were synthesized according to the Suzuki polymerization method. The structures, optical, and electrochemical properties of the two model compounds ( OPV and Por ) and multicomponent copolymers were characterized by ¹H NMR, FTIR, elemental analysis, UV–vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and cyclic voltammetry, respectively. Both of the copolymers exhibit thermotropic liquid crystalline properties and represent the characteristic Schlieren textures in a wide temperature range. Electroluminescence spectra of these copolymers exhibit broadband emissions covering the entire visible region from 400 to 700 nm. The single layer polymer light emitting diodes device based on P2 with a configuration of indium tin oxide/poly(ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid)/polymers/Ca/Al emits white light with the Commission Internationale de l′Eclairage chromaticity coordinates of (0.29, 0.30), maximum brightness of 443 cd/m². The white‐light‐emitting devices based on the novel multicomponent copolymers exhibit low turn‐on voltage, and good color stability at different driving voltages as well. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5291–5303, 2009     

Bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells based on tetra-methyl substituted copper(II) phthalocyanine:P3HT:PCBM composite

Insoluble CuMePc nanocrystals were incorporated into P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells to increase the carrier mobility and photon harvesting. The P1C1-based (weight ratio of P3HT:?CuMePc = 1:1) OPV cell exhibited the best photovoltaic performance with a J(SC) of 16.3 mA cm(-2), V(OC) of 0.58 V, FF of 0.56 and PCE of 5.3%.     

New conjugated copolymers based on benzo[1,2‐b; 3,4‐b′]dithiophene and derivatives of benzo[g]quinoxaline for bulk heterojunction solar cells

A series of new low‐band gap copolymers based on dioctyloxybenzo[1,2‐b;3,4‐b′] dithiophene and bis(2‐thienyl)‐2,3‐diphenylbenzo[g]quinoxaline monomers have been synthesized via a Stille reaction. The effect of different functional groups attached to bis(2‐thienyl)‐2,3‐diphenylbenzo[g]quinoxaline was investigated and compared with their optical, electrochemical, hole mobility, and photovoltaic properties. Polymer solar cell (PSC) devices of the copolymers were fabricated with a configuration of ITO/ PEDOT: PSS/copolymers: PCBM (1:4 wt ratio)/Ca/Al. The best performance of the PSC device was obtained by using PbttpmobQ as the active layer. A power conversion efficiency of 1.42% with an open‐circuit voltage of 0.8 V, a short‐circuit current (JSC) of 5.73 mA cm⁻², and a fill factor of 30.9% was achieved under the illumination of AM 1.5, 100 mW cm⁻². © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of amorphous polymers based on dithienylbenzothiadiazole‐triphenylamine with hexyl side chains on different positions of thienyl groups

We synthesized and characterized three new amorphous dithienylbenzothiadiazole (TBT)‐triphenylamine (TPA) polymers for application in bulk‐heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. Poly(3HTBT‐TPA) has hexyl side chains on the thienyl groups (pointing toward the benzothiadiazole (BTD) unit), and poly(4HTBT‐TPA) has hexyl side chains on the thienyl groups (pointing outward from the BTD unit). The incident photon to current conversion efficiencies (IPCEs) in the region from 550 to 650 nm for the OPV cells prepared using poly(4HTBT‐TPA) were higher than those for the OPV cells prepared using poly(3HTBT‐TPA) because the absorption spectrum for the poly(4HTBT‐TPA) has a slightly red‐shifted absorption edge. We also demonstrated that the poly(4HTBT‐TPA)‐based OPV performance is independent of the fabrication process, so using an amorphous film to fabricate BHJ OPV cells offers great advantages over using a polycrystalline film in terms of the high reproducibility of the OPV performance. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2536–2544     

Enhancing Fullerene‐Based Solar Cell Lifetimes by Addition of a Fullerene Dumbbell

Cost‐effective, solution‐processable organic photovoltaics (OPV) present an interesting alternative to inorganic silicon‐based solar cells. However, one of the major remaining challenges of OPV devices is their lack of long‐term operational stability, especially at elevated temperatures. The synthesis of a fullerene dumbbell and its use as an additive in the active layer of a PCDTBT:PCBM‐based OPV device is reported. The addition of only 20 % of this novel fullerene not only leads to improved device efficiencies, but more importantly also to a dramatic increase in morphological stability under simulated operating conditions. Dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (DSIMS) and TEM are used, amongst other techniques, to elucidate the origins of the improved morphological stability.     

Wafer-scale periodic nanohole arrays templated from two-dimensional nonclose-packed colloidal crystals

This communication reports a simple yet versatile nonlithographic approach for fabricating wafer-scale periodic nanohole arrays from a large variety of functional materials, including metals, semiconductors, and dielectrics. Spin-coated two-dimensional (2D) nonclose-packed colloidal crystals are used as first-generation shadow masks during physical vapor deposition to produce isolated nanohole arrays. These regular nanoholes can then be used as second-generation etching masks to create submicrometer void arrays in the substrates underneath. Complex patterns with micrometer-scale resolution can be made by standard microfabrication techniques for potential device applications. These 2D-ordered nanohole arrays may find important technological applications ranging from subwavelength optics to interferometric biosensors.     

Self‐assembly of oligo(p‐phenylenevinylene)‐block‐poly(ethylene oxide) in polar media and solubilization of an oligo(p‐phenylenevinylene) homooligomer inside the assembly

Rod–coil amphiphilic diblock copolymers, consisting of oligo(p‐phenylenevinylene) (OPV) as a rod and hydrophobic block and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a coil and hydrophilic block, were synthesized by a convergent method. The aggregation behavior of the block copolymers in a selective solvent (tetrahydrofuran/H₂O) was probed with the absorption and emission of the OPV block. With increasing H₂O concentration, the absorption maximum was blueshifted, the emission from the molecularly dissolved OPV decreased, and that from the aggregated OPV increased. This indicated that the OPV blocks formed H‐type aggregates in which the OPV blocks aligned in a parallel orientation with one another. The transmission electron microscopy observation revealed that the block copolymers with PEO weight fractions of 41 and 62 wt % formed cylindrical aggregates with a diameter of 6–8 nm and a length of several hundreds nanometers, whereas the block copolymer with 79 wt % PEO formed distorted spherical aggregates with an average diameter of 13 nm. Furthermore, the solubilization of an OPV homooligomer with the block copolymer was studied. When the total polymer concentration was less than 0.1 wt %, the block copolymer solubilized OPV with a 50 mol % concentration. The structure of the aggregates was a cylinder with a relatively large diameter distribution. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1569–1578, 2005     

Correlating the scattered intensities of P3HT and PCBM to the current densities of polymer solar cells

Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction and rocking scans have quantified the structure of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]-phenyl-C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester in the active layers of organic solar cells. Our study reveals that the device J(SC) correlates with the local structural development of pure PCBM and, to second order, the extent of out-of-plane P3HT π-stacking.     

Solvent-free luminescent organic liquids

Illuminating! Isolation of a π-core by covalently attached flexible hydrocarbon chains has been employed to synthesize blue-emitting oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV) liquids with tunable viscosity and optical properties. A solvent-free, stable, white-light emitting ink/paint, which can be applied onto various surfaces and even onto LEDs, was made by blending of liquid OPVs with emissive solid dopants.     

Growth of single-crystal Ca10(Pt4As8)(Fe(1.8)Pt(0.2)As2)5 nanowhiskers with superconductivity up to 33 K

Single-crystal Ca(10)(Pt(4)As(8))(Fe(1.8)Pt(0.2)As(2))(5) superconducting (SC) nanowhiskers with widths down to hundreds of nanometers were successfully grown in a Ta capsule in an evacuated quartz tube by a flux method. Magnetic and electrical properties measurements demonstrate that the whiskers have excellent crystallinity with critical temperature of up to 33 K, upper critical field of 52.8 T, and critical current density of J(c) of 6.0 × 10(5) A/cm(2) (at 26 K). Since cuprate high-T(c) SC whiskers are fragile ceramics, the present intermetallic SC whiskers with high T(c) have better opportunities for device applications. Moreover, although the growth mechanism is not understood well, the technique can be potentially useful for growth of other whiskers containing toxic elements.     

Suppressing the environmental dependence of the open‐circuit voltage in inverted polymer solar cells through a radical polymer anodic modifier

Developing stable, readily‐synthesized, and solution‐processable transparent conducting polymers for interfacial modifying layers in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices has become of great importance. Here, the radical polymer, poly(2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyloxy methacrylate (PTMA), is shown to not affect the absorption of the well‐studied poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) active layer when incorporated into inverted OPV devices, as it is highly transparent in the visible spectrum due to the non‐conjugated nature of the PTMA backbone. The inclusion of this radical polymer as an anode‐modifying layer enhanced the open‐circuit voltage and short‐circuit current density values over devices that did not contain an anodic modifier. Importantly, devices fabricated with the PTMA interlayer had performance metrics that were time‐independent over the entire course of multiples days of testing after exposing the OPV devices to ambient conditions. Furthermore, these high performance values were independent of the metal used as the top electrode contact in the inverted OPV devices. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 311–316     

AAO-CNTs electrode on microfluidic flow injection system for rapid iodide sensing

In this work, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanoarrays in anodized aluminum oxide (AAO-CNTs) nanopore is integrated on a microfluidic flow injection system for in-channel electrochemical detection of iodide. The device was fabricated from PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) microchannel bonded on glass substrates that contains three-electrode electrochemical system, including AAO-CNTs as a working electrode, silver as a reference electrode and platinum as an auxiliary electrode. Aluminum, stainless steel catalyst, silver and platinum layers were sputtered on the glass substrate through shadow masks. Aluminum layer was then anodized by two-step anodization process to form nanopore template. CNTs were then grown in AAO template by thermal chemical vapor deposition. The amperometric detection of iodide was performed in 500-μm-wide and 100-μm-deep microchannels on the microfluidic chip. The influences of flow rate, injection volume and detection potential on the current response were optimized. From experimental results, AAO-CNTs electrode on chip offers higher sensitivity and wider dynamic range than CNTs electrode with no AAO template.     

A thermal stable cathode buffer based on an inexpensive tetranuclear zinc(II) complex for organic photovoltaic devices

An inexpensive material,i.e.,tetranuclear zinc(Ⅱ) complex,(Zn4O(AID)6) [AID = 7-azaindolate],was utilized as a cathode buffer in organic photovoltaic(OPV) devices,leading to the improvement of device performance.Compared to OPV devices based on a conventional cathode buffer of TPBi(1,3,5-tris(2-N-phenylbenzimidazolyl)benzene),although the freshly prepared devices showed similar performance,when heated to a series of high temperatures under air,the short circuit current and the open circuit voltage of the Zn4O(AID)6 devices dropped more slowly,indicating the superiority of using Zn4O(AID)6 as a cathode buffer over TPBi in OPV devices.     

Multidirectional Wrinkle Patterns Programmed by Sequential Uniaxial Strain with Conformal yet Nontraceable Masks

Surface wrinkling is a promising route to control the mechanical, electrical, and optical properties of materials in a wide range of applications. However, previous artificial wrinkles are restricted to single or random orientation and lacks selectivity. To address this challenge, this study presents multidirectional wrinkle patterns with high selectivity and orientation through sequential uniaxial strain with conformal polymeric shadow masks. The conformal but nontraceable polymeric stencil with microapertures are adhered to a flat substrate prior to oxidation, which forms discrete and parallel wrinkles in confined domains without any contamination. By fully investigating the process, this study displays compound topography of wrinkles consisting of wrinkle islands and surrounding secondary wrinkles on the same surface. With this topography, various diffusion properties are presented: from semi‐transparent yet diffusive films to multidirectional diffusive films, which will be available for new types of optical diffuser applications.     

Enhancing Device Performance of Small Molecular Organic Photovoltaic Cells by Controlling the Deposition Rate of Fullerene

To improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of small molecular weight organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) it is proposed to use a simple fabrication method by controlling the deposition rate of the acceptor material fullerene (C₆₀) in planar heterojunction OPV structures of ITO/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/C₆₀/bathocuproine (BCP)/Ag. In our optimised device, the highest PCE of 1.7% was obtained through a deposition rate of C60 equal to 0.3 nm/s due to the superior charge balance in the CuPc/C₆₀ heterojunction. Such a charge balance condition increased the fill factor from 52.4% to 56.1% by reducing the carrier accumulation in the OPV device. The electron only device was fabricated with the purpose of analysing the electron mobility of C₆₀ as a function of the deposition rate. In addition, the effects of the deposition rates on the performance of planar OPV devices were exhaustively analysed by examining the absorption properties and the surface morphologies.     

An Azulene‐Containing Low Bandgap Small Molecule for Organic Photovoltaics with High Open‐Circuit Voltage

A simple azulene‐containing squaraine dye ( AzUSQ ) showing bandgap of 1.38 eV and hole mobility up to 1.25×10^?4 cm² V^?1 s^?1 was synthesized. With its low bandgap, an organic photovoltaic (OPV) device based on it has been made that exhibits an impressive open‐circuit voltages (V_oc) of 0.80 V. Hence, azulene might be a promising structural unit to construct OPV materials with simultaneous low bandgap, high hole mobility and high V_oc.