Nano-pathways: Bridging the divide between water-processable nanoparticulate and bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics
Journal article, 2016
Here we report the application of a conjugated copolymer based on thiophene and quinoxaline units, namely poly[2,3-bis-(3-octyloxyphenyl)quinoxaline-5,8-diyl-alt-thiophene-2,5-di yl] (TQ1), to nanoparticle organic photovoltaics (NP-OPVs). TQ1 exhibits more desirable material properties for NP-OPV fabrication and operation, particularly a high glass transition temperature (T-g) and amorphous nature, compared to the commonly applied semicrystalline polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). This study reports the optimisation of TQ1:PC71BM (phenyl C-71 butyric acid methyl ester) NP-OPV device performance by the application of mild thermal annealing treatments in the range of the T-g (sub-T-g and post-T-g), both in the active layer drying stage and post-cathode deposition annealing stage of device fabrication, and an in-depth study of the effect of these treatments on nanoparticle film morphology. In addition, we report a type of morphological evolution in nanoparticle films for OPV active layers that has not previously-been observed, that of PC71BM nano-pathway formation between dispersed PC71BM-rich nanoparticle cores, which have the benefit of making the bulk film more conducive to charge percolation and extraction.
Organic photovoltaic
Blend morphology
Nanoparticle
Glass transition
Water processable solar cells
Author
N. P. Holmes
University of Newcastle
M. Marks
University of Newcastle
P. Kumar
University of Newcastle
National Physical Laboratory India
Renee Kroon
University of South Australia
M. G. Barr
University of Newcastle
N. Nicolaidis
University of Newcastle
K. Feron
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
University of Newcastle
A. Pivrikas
Murdoch University
University of Queensland
A. Fahy
University of Newcastle
Amaia Diaz de Zerio Mendaza
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
A. L. D. Kilcoyne
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Christian Müller
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
X. J. Zhou
University of Newcastle
Mats Andersson
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
P. Dastoor
University of Newcastle
W. J. Belcher
University of Newcastle
Nano Energy
2211-2855 (ISSN)
Vol. 19 495-510Subject Categories
Polymer Chemistry
DOI
10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.11.021