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- Björström, Cecilia M., et al.
(author)
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Control of phase separation in blends of polyfluorene (co)polymers and the C60-derivative PCBM
- 2005
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In: Synthetic metals. - : Elsevier. - 0379-6779 .- 1879-3290. ; 152:1-3, s. 109-112
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- When creating thin films of polymer blends, interesting morphologies are formed because of phaseseparation. In particular for conjugated polymers, which are used as active material in optoelectronic devices, it is very important to understand the parameters that influence the phaseseparation process and to achieve control over the morphology. The overall goal of this blend morphology study is to contribute to the design of device structures with desired performance.Here we present results of morphology studies on thin films of polyfluorene-based blends with the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). The polymers used are poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (F8) and four different copolymers of F8. The thin films are spin coated from chloroform solutions onto silicon substrates and their surface morphology is imaged by tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM). We observe that the size and the shape of the domains in the film depend on the structure of the polymer. The nature of the monomer that, together with F8, is building the repeating unit in the copolymers has a strong effect on the phaseseparation in the polymer: PCBMblend. Since phaseseparation is influenced by interactions between components of the blend and the solvent, these results indicate that the degree of chemical interaction between polymer, solvent and PCBM, is different for the different blends. For the systems that form larger domains there is a clear correlation between the domain size (area) and the polymer/PCBMblend ratio. We also observe that the spin speed affects the thickness of the films and that the domain size increases with increasing thickness, primarily due to longer drying times
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- Björström, Cecilia M., et al.
(author)
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Influence of solvents and substrates on the morphology and the performance of low-bandgap polyfluorene:PCBM photovoltaic devices
- 2006
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In: Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering. - Cardiff : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. ; 6192, s. 61921X-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Spin-coated thin films of poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole)] (APFO-3) blended with [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) are used as the active material in polymer photovoltaic cells. Such blends are known for their tendency to phase separate during film formation. Tuning the morphology of the blend in a controlled way is one possible road towards higher efficiency. We studied the effect of adding chlorobenzene to chloroform-based blend solutions before spin-coating on the conversion efficiency of APFO-3:PCBM photodiodes, and related that to the lateral and vertical morphology of thin films of the blend. The lateral morphology is imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the vertical compositional profile is obtained by dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The profiles reveal compositional variations consisting of multilayers of alternating polymer-rich and PCBM-rich domains in the blend film spin-coated from chloroform. The vertical compositional variations are caused by surface-directed spinodal waves and are frozen in during the rapid evaporation of a highly volatile solvent. With addition of the low-vapour pressure solvent chlorobenzene, a more homogeneous vertical composition is found. The conversion efficiency for solar cells of this blend was found to be optimal for chloroform:chlorobenzene mixtures with a volume-ratio of 80:1. We have also investigated the role of the substrate on the morphology. We found that blend films spin-coated from chloroform solutions on PEDOT:PSS-coated ITO show a similar compositional structure as the films on silicon, and that changing the substrate from silicon to gold only affects the vertical phase separation in a region close to the substrate interface
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- Björström, Cecilia M., et al.
(author)
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Multilayer formation in spin-coated thin films of low-bandgap polyfluorene:PCBM blends
- 2005
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In: Journal of Physics. - Philadelphia : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0953-8984 .- 1361-648X. ; 17:50, s. L529-L534
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Blends of the low-bandgap polymer poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-5,5- (4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole] (APFO-3) and the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl–C61–butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) were spin-coated from chloroform solution into thin films, which were examined with dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry. For blends with high PCBM content, the depth profiles show composition waves that were caused by surface-directed phase separation during spin-coating. The formation of such multilayer structures by spontaneous self-stratification is likely to have implications for optimization strategies for the performance of organic solar cells
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- Budkowski, Andrzej, et al.
(author)
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Polymer Blends Spin-Cast into Films with Complementary Elements for Electronics and Biotechnology
- 2012
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In: Journal of Applied Polymer Science. - Malden, MA : John Wiley & Sons. - 0021-8995 .- 1097-4628. ; 125:6, s. 4275-4284
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Versatility of solution-processing strategy based on the simultaneous rather than additive deposition of different functional molecules is discussed. It is shown that spin-cast polymer blends result in films with domains that could form elements with complementary functions of (i) solar cells, (ii) electronic circuitries, and (iii) test plates for protein micro-arrays: Alternating layers, rich in electrondonating polyfluorene and electron-accepting fullerene derivative, result in optimized solar power conversion. Surface patterns, made by soft lithography, align conductive paths of conjugated poly(3-alkylthiophene) in dielectric polystyrene. Proteins, preserving their biologically activity, are adsorbed to hydrophobic domains of polystyrene in hydrophilic matrix of poly(ethylene oxide). The authors report the research progress on structure formation in three polymer blend families, resulting in films with complementary elements for electronics and biotechnology. Blend film structures are determined with secondary ion mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy. In addition, the authors present recent results on (i) structure formation in fullerene derivative/poly(3-alkylthiophene) blends intended for solar cells, (ii) 3-dimensional SIMS imaging of conductive paths of poly(3-alkylthiophene) in dielectric polystyrene, (iii) test lates for multiprotein micro-arrays fabricated with blend films of hydrophobic polystyrene and thermoresponsive poly (N-sopropylacrylamide).
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