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PUBLICATIONS

Towards fast screening of organic solar cell blends

Published

Author(s)

Lee J. Richter, Artem Levistsky, Giovanni M. Matrone, Aditi Khirbat, Ilaria Bargigia, Xiaolei Chu, Oded Nahor, Tamar Segal-Perez, Adam Moule, Carlos Silva, Natalie Stingelin, Gitti L. Frey

Abstract

The ever increasing library of materials systems developed for organic solar-cells, including highly promising non-fullerene acceptors and new, high-efficiency donor polymers, demands the development of methodologies that (i) allow fast screening of a large number of donor:acceptor combinations prior to device fabrication and (ii) permit rapid elucidation of how processing affects the final morphology/microstructure of the active device layers. Efficient, fast screening will ensure that important materials combinations are not missed; it will accelerate the technological development of this alternative solar-cell platform towards larger-area production; and it will permit understanding of the structural changes that may occur in the active layer over time. Using the relatively high-efficiency poly[(5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4,7-diyl)-alt-(3,3'''-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2';5',2'';5'',2'''-quaterthiophen-5,5'''-diyl)] (PCE11) : phenyl-C61-butyric acid-methyl-ester acceptor (PCBM) blend systems, we demonstrate that by means of straight-forward thermal analysis, vapor-phase-infiltration imaging and transient-absorption spectroscopy, we can rapidly screen various blend compositions and processing methodologies, obtain information on promising combinations, identify reliability issues with respect to reproducibility of thin-film formation and gain insights into how processing aids, such as nucleating agents, affect structure formation.
Citation
Advanced Science
Volume
7
Pub Type
Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

photovoltaic, polymer, bulk heterojunciton, solar
Polymers, Molecular characterization, Condensed matter and Alternative energy

Citation

Richter, L. , Levistsky, A. , Matrone, G. , Khirbat, A. , Bargigia, I. , Chu, X. , Nahor, O. , Segal-Perez, T. , Moule, A. , Silva, C. , Stingelin, N. and Frey, G. (2020), Towards fast screening of organic solar cell blends, Advanced Science, [online], https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202000960 (Accessed May 18, 2024)

Issues

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Created August 5, 2020, Updated April 11, 2023