Suppression of Thermally Induced Fullerene Aggregation in Polyfullerene-Based Multiacceptor Organic Solar Cells

Dowland SA, Salvador MF, Perea Ospina JD, Gasparini N, Langner S, Rajoelson S, Ramanitra HH, Lindner B, Osvet A, Brabec C, Hiorns RC, Egelhaaf HJ (2017)


Publication Language: English

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2017

Journal

Publisher: American Chemical Society

Book Volume: 9

Pages Range: 10971-10982

Journal Issue: 12

DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b00401

Abstract

A novel main-chain polyfullerene, poly[fullerene-alt-2,5-bis(octyloxy)terephthalaldehyde] (PPC4), is investigated for its hypothesized superior morphological stability as an electron-accepting material in organic photovoltaics relative to the widely used fullerene phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). When mixed with poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), PPC4 affords low-charge-generation yields because of poor intermixing within the blend. The adoption of a multiacceptor system, by introducing PCBM into the P3HT:polyfullerene blend, was found to lead to a 3-fold enhancement in charge generation, affording power conversion efficiencies very close to that of the prototypical P3HT:PCBM binary control. Upon thermal stressing and in contrast to the P3HT:PCBM binary, photovoltaic devices based on the multiacceptor system demonstrated significantly improved stability, outperforming the control because of suppression of the PCBM migration and aggregation processes responsible for rapid device failure. We rationalize the influence of the fullerene miscibility and its implications on the device performance in terms of a thermodynamic model based on Flory-Huggins solution theory. Finally, the potential universal applicability of this approach for thermal stabilization of organic solar cells is demonstrated, utilizing an alternative low-band-gap polymer-donor system.

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How to cite

APA:

Dowland, S.A., Salvador, M.F., Perea Ospina, J.D., Gasparini, N., Langner, S., Rajoelson, S.,... Egelhaaf, H.-J. (2017). Suppression of Thermally Induced Fullerene Aggregation in Polyfullerene-Based Multiacceptor Organic Solar Cells. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 9(12), 10971-10982. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b00401

MLA:

Dowland, Simon A., et al. "Suppression of Thermally Induced Fullerene Aggregation in Polyfullerene-Based Multiacceptor Organic Solar Cells." ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 9.12 (2017): 10971-10982.

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