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- Bergqvist, Jonas, et al.
(author)
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Sub-glass transition annealing enhances polymer solar cell performance
- 2014
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In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2050-7488. ; 2:17, s. 6146-6152
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Thermal annealing of non-crystalline polymer: fullerene blends typically results in a drastic decrease in solar cell performance. In particular aggressive annealing above the glass transition temperature results in a detrimental coarsening of the blend nanostructure. We demonstrate that mild annealing below the glass transition temperature is a viable avenue to control the nanostructure of a non-crystalline thiophene-quinoxaline copolymer: fullerene blend. Direct imaging methods indicate that coarsening of the blend nanostructure can be avoided. However, a combination of absorption and luminescence spectroscopy reveals that local changes in the polymer conformation as well as limited fullerene aggregation are permitted to occur. As a result, we are able to optimise the solar cell performance evenly across different positions of the coated area, which is a necessary criterion for large-scale, high throughput production.
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- Bergqvist, J., et al.
(author)
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Sub-glass transition annealing enhances polymer solar cell performance
- 2014
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In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 2:17, s. 6146-6152
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Thermal annealing of non-crystalline polymer:fullerene blends typically results in a drastic decrease in solar cell performance. In particular aggressive annealing above the glass transition temperature results in a detrimental coarsening of the blend nanostructure. We demonstrate that mild annealing below the glass transition temperature is a viable avenue to control the nanostructure of a non-crystalline thiophene–quinoxaline copolymer:fullerene blend. Direct imaging methods indicate that coarsening of the blend nanostructure can be avoided. However, a combination of absorption and luminescence spectroscopy reveals that local changes in the polymer conformation as well as limited fullerene aggregation are permitted to occur. As a result, we are able to optimise the solar cell performance evenly across different positions of the coated area, which is a necessary criterion for large-scale, high throughput production.
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- Bergqvist, Jonas, et al.
(author)
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Time-resolved morphology formation of solution cast polymer : fullerene blends revealed by in-situ photoluminescence spectroscopy
- 2015
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The nanoscale morphology of the photo-active layer in organic solar cells is critical for device efficiency. The photoactive layer is cast from solution and during drying both the polymer and the fullerene self-assemble to form a blend. Here, we introduce in-situ spectroscopic photoluminescence (PL) combined with laser reflectometry to monitor the drying process of an amorphous polymer:fullerene blend. When casting only the pristine components (polymer or PCBM only), the strength of PL emission is proportional to the solid content of the drying solution, and both kinetics reveal a rapid aggregation onset at the final stage of film drying. On the contrary, when casting polymer:fullerene blends, the strength of PL emission is proportional to the wet film thickness and reveals polymer/fullerene charge transfer (CT) already at the earliest stages of film drying, i.e. in dilute solutions. The proposed method allows to detect polymer/fullerene phase separation during film casting – from a reduction in the PL quenching rate as the film dries. Poor solvents lead to phase separation already at early stages of film drying (low solid content), resulting in a coarse final morphology as confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We therefore anticipate that the proposed method will be an important tool in the future development of processing inks, not only for solution-cast polymer:fullerene solar cells but also for organic heterojunctions in general.
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