Fullerene Nucleating Agents: A Route Towards Thermally Stable Photovoltaic Blends
Journal article, 2014
The bulk-heterojunction nanostructure of non-crystalline polymer: fullerene blends has the tendency to rapidly coarsen when heated above its glass transition temperature, which represents an important degradation mechanism. We demonstrate that fullerene nucleating agents can be used to thermally arrest the nanostructure of photovoltaic blends that comprise a non-crystalline thiophene-quinoxaline copolymer and the widely used fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). To this end, C-60 fullerene is employed to efficiently nucleate PCBM crystallization. Sub-micrometer-sized fullerene crystals are formed when as little as 2 wt% C-60 with respect to PCBM is added to the blend. These reach an average size of only 200 nanometers upon introduction of more than 8 wt% C-60. Solar cells based on C-60-nucleated blends indicate significantly improved thermal stability of the bulk-heterojunction nanostructure even after annealing at an elevated temperature of 130 degrees C, which lies above the glass transition temperature of the blend. Moreover, we find that various other compounds, including C-70 fullerene, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and sodium benzoate, as well as a number of commercial nucleating agents-commonly used to clarify isotactic polypropylene-permit to control crystallization of the fullerene phase.
Author
Camilla Lindqvist
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology
J. Bergqvist
Linköping University
Ching-Chiao Feng
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology
Stefan Gustafsson
SuMo Biomaterials
Chalmers, Applied Physics, Eva Olsson Group
Olof Bäcke
Chalmers, Applied Physics, Eva Olsson Group
N. D. Treat
Imperial College London
C. Bounioux
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Patrik Henriksson
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology
Renee Kroon
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology
Ergang Wang
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology
Anke Sanz-Velasco
Chalmers, Applied Physics, Electronics Material and Systems
Per Magnus Kristiansen
University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Enginnering
N. Stingelin
Imperial College London
Eva Olsson
Chalmers, Applied Physics, Eva Olsson Group
Olle Inganaes
Linköping University
Mats Andersson
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology
Christian Müller
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology
Advanced Energy Materials
1614-6832 (ISSN) 1614-6840 (eISSN)
Vol. 4 9 1301437- 1301437Areas of Advance
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Energy
Materials Science
Subject Categories
Materials Engineering
Energy Engineering
Physical Sciences
Chemical Sciences
DOI
10.1002/aenm.201301437