| 1. |
- Liu, Yanfeng, et al.
(författare)
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In Situ Optical Spectroscopy Demonstrates the Effect of Solvent Additive in the Formation of All-Polymer Solar Cells
- 2022
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7185. ; 13:50, s. 11696-11702
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1-Chloronaphthalene (CN) has been a common solvent additive in both fullerene- A nd nonfullerene-based organic solar cells. In spite of this, its working mechanism is seldom investigated, in particular, during the drying process of bulk heterojunctions composed of a donor:acceptor mixture. In this work, the role of CN in all-polymer solar cells is investigated by in situ spectroscopies and ex situ characterization of blade-coated PBDB-T:PF5-Y5 blends. Our results suggest that the added CN promotes self-aggregation of polymer donor PBDB-T during the drying process of the blend film, resulting in enhanced crystallinity and hole mobility, which contribute to the increased fill factor and improved performance of PBDB-T:PF5-Y5 solar cells. Besides, the nonradiative energy loss of the corresponding device is also reduced by the addition of CN, corresponding to a slightly increased open-circuit voltage. Overall, our observations deepen our understanding of the drying dynamics, which may guide further development of all-polymer solar cells.
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| 2. |
- Yao, Nannan, et al.
(författare)
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In Situ Study the Dynamics of Blade-Coated All-Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Formation and Impact on Photovoltaic Performance of Solar Cells
- 2023
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Ingår i: Solar RRL. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2367-198X. ; , s. 1-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have achieved impressive progress by employing acceptors polymerized from well performing small-molecule non-fullerene acceptors. Herein, the device performance and morphology evolution in blade-coated all-PSCs based on PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends prepared from two different solvents, chlorobenzene (CB), and ortho-xylene (o-XY) are studied. The absorption spectra in CB solution indicate more ordered conformation for PF5–Y5. The drying process of PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends is monitored by in situ multifunctional spectroscopy and the final film morphology is characterized with ex situ techniques. Finer-mixed donor/acceptor nanostructures are obtained in CB-cast film than that in o-XY-cast ones, corresponding to more efficient charge generation in the solar cells. More importantly, the conformation of polymers in solution determines the overall film morphology and the device performance. The relatively more ordered structure in CB-cast films is beneficial for charge transport and reduced non-radiative energy loss. Therefore, to achieve high-performance all-PSCs with small energy loss, it is crucial to gain favorable aggregation in the initial stage in solution.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Hillerström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Ibuprofen loading into mesostructured silica using liquid carbon dioxide as a solvent
- 2009
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Ingår i: Green Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9262 .- 1463-9270. ; 11:5, s. 662-667
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been demonstrated that the pharmaceutical molecule, Ibuprofen, can be loaded into mesoporous silica using liquid (near-critical) carbon dioxide as the solvent, and that the resulting material had a high Ibuprofen content (300 mg Ibuprofen/g SiO2). A high enrichment (300 times) of Ibuprofen in the pores was observed in comparison to the Ibuprofen concentration in the solution. When similar experiments were performed in CO2 (l) mixed with minor amounts (5 mol-%) of other organic cosolvents (cyclohexane, acetone or methanol), a significantly lower loading capacity of Ibuprofen into the mesoporous material was achieved. The drug-loaded mesoporous silica material was analyzed with Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), confocal Raman microscopy, X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). It was found that the Ibuprofen loaded into the mesoporous silica host was amorphous and that Ibuprofen was present both at the surface and in the centre of the mesoporous silica particles. Furthermore, the SEM images did not reveal any large flakes of Ibuprofen molecules outside the mesoporous silica particles.
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| 5. |
- Hillerström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Solvent strategies for loading and release in mesoporous silica
- 2014
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Ingår i: Colloid and Interface Science Communications. - Amsterdam : Elsevier BV. - 2215-0382. ; 3, s. 5-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A model molecule, ibuprofen, was loaded in the pores of mesoporous silica by adsorption from nonpolar solvents (liquid carbon dioxide and cyclohexane) and from a polar solvent (methanol). It was sufficient with a very low concentration of ibuprofen in the nonpolar solvents to achieve maximum loading of ibuprofen in the mesoporous particles. When using liquid carbon dioxide, the pores of the mesoporous silica particles were filled completely with ibuprofen at a lower ibuprofen concentration than similar experiments performed with cyclohexane. When methanol was used, the maximum amount of loaded ibuprofen was never achieved. Furthermore, x-ray scattering showed that all ibuprofen loaded into the mesoporous particles were in an amorphous state. Ibuprofen was released from the mesoporous particles to water within a couple of minutes, regardless of solvent used for loading. It was found that the release of ibuprofen from mesoporous silica was much faster than that of crystalline ibuprofen.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Jalan, Ishita, 1991-, et al.
(författare)
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Donor-acceptor polymer complex formation in solution confirmed by spectroscopy and atomic-scale modelling
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry C. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2050-7526 .- 2050-7534. ; 11:27, s. 9316-9326
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In all-polymer solar cells, high performance is attributed to the fine-grained morphology of the film in the active layer. However, the mechanism by which this fine-grained morphology is achieved remains unknown. Polymeric non-fullerene acceptors have the potential to restrict the self-aggregation, typical of non-fullerene small molecule acceptors. Here we employed a blend of the polymeric acceptor PF5-Y5 and the donor polymer PBDB-T to investigate the balance between molecular interactions in solution. Temperature-dependent absorption spectra show evidence of temperature-induced disaggregation of both donor and acceptor polymers, where the donor polymer disaggregation depends on the solvent polarity. Concentration-dependent fluorescence spectra of blend solutions display blue-shifted acceptor emission upon dilution, similar to that observed in acceptor solutions, and a decreased tendency for charge transfer from donor to acceptor upon dilution. Excitation spectra of dilute blend solutions contain an increased contribution to the long-wavelength acceptor emission, as compared to pure acceptor solutions, from a chromophore that absorbs in a region where the donor does not absorb. These observations can be explained by donor-acceptor complexation in dilute blend solutions, that is stabilized in more polar solvents. Moreover, the near IR-region of the absorption spectrum could be matched with the calculated electronic excitations of donor-acceptor complexes of PBDB-T and PF5-Y5 oligomers. The results corroborate that the interaction between segments of the donor and acceptor polymer chains favours the formation of donor-acceptor charge transfer complexes, stabilized by hybridization of the molecular orbitals, which reduces the electronic energy. The proposed donor-acceptor complex formation competes with the donor and acceptor self-aggregation and is influenced by the solvent environment. These pre-formed donor-acceptor complexes in low-concentration solutions can be expected to have important consequences on the film morphology of all-polymer blends. The results from this joint experimental-theoretical spectroscopy study provide insights that can guide the design of compatible donor and acceptor polymers for future high-performance organic solar cells.
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| 8. |
- Anselmo, Ana Sofia, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Tuning the Vertical Phase Separation in Polyfluorene: Fullerene Blend Films by Polymer Functionalization
- 2011
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Ingår i: Chemistry of Materials. - Washington : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5002 .- 0897-4756. ; 23:9, s. 2295-2302
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Achieving control over the nanomorphology of blend films of the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester, PCBM, with light-absorbing conjugated polymers is an important challenge in the development of efficient solution-processed photovoltaics. Here, three new polyfluorene copolymers are presented, tailored for enhanced miscibility with the fullerene through the introduction of polymer segments with modified side chains, which enhance the polymer's polar character. The composition of the spincoated polymer:PCBM films is analyzed with dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (dSIMS). The dSIMS depth profiles demonstrate compositional variations perpendicular to the surface plane, as a result of vertical phase separation, directed by the substrate. These variations propagate to a higher degree through the film for the polymers with a larger fraction of modified side chains. The surface composition of the films is studied by Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS). Quantitative analysis of the NEXAFS spectra through a linear combination fit with the spectra of the pure components yields the surface composition. The resulting blend ratios reveal polymer-enrichment of the film surface for all three blends, which also becomes stronger as the polar character of the polymer increases. Comparison of the NEXAFS spectra collected with two different sampling depths shows that the vertical composition gradient builds up already in the first nanometers underneath the surface of the films. The results obtained with this new series of polymers shed light on the onset of formation of lamellar structures in thin polymer:PCBM films prepared from highly volatile solvents.
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