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Title: | Improved thermal stability of bulk heterojunctions based on side-chain functionalized poly(3-alkylthiophene) copolymers and PCBM | Authors: | BERTHO, Sabine CAMPO, Bert PIERSIMONI, Fortunato SPOLTORE, Donato D'HAEN, Jan LUTSEN, Laurence MAES, Wouter VANDERZANDE, Dirk MANCA, Jean |
Issue Date: | 2013 | Publisher: | ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV | Source: | SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS, 110, p. 69-76 | Abstract: | P3HT:PCBM blends applied as active layers for bulk heterojunction organic solar cells generally show unstable morphologies upon prolonged thermal annealing, severely limiting the lifetime of the devices. As such, the thermodynamic instability of the blend is a limiting factor in the overall performance of organic photovoltaics, and a strong disadvantage in the fierce competition with other photovoltaic technologies. This paper shows whether different blend preparation conditions and intrinsic structural changes in the side chains of poly(3-alkylthiophene) (P3AT) derivatives can influence the thermal stability of the resulting solar cells. A combination of Bright Field Transmission Electron Microscopy (BFTEM) and the analysis of Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) patterns revealed that the investigated preparation conditions do not really affect the thermal stability, whereas the introduction of a small ratio (10%) of specific functional moieties in the side chains of random P3AT copolymers does improve the thermal stability significantly. It was demonstrated that demixing of the blend components upon prolonged thermal annealing is strongly delayed in the functionalized P3AT:PCBM blends. The enhanced thermal stability was confirmed by in-situ monitoring of the short circuit current of organic solar cells based on the respective active layers. The introduction of functionalized side chains hence represents an attractive approach to increase the operational stability of organic photovoltaics based on the bulk heterojunction concept. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. | Notes: | [Bertho, Sabine; Piersimoni, Fortunato; Spoltore, Donato; D'Haen, Jan; Manca, Jean] Hasselt Univ, Inst Mat Res IMO IMOMEC, Organ & Nanostruct Elect & Energy Convers ONE2, Elect & Phys Characterizat ELPHYC, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. [Campo, Bert; Maes, Wouter; Vanderzande, Dirk] Hasselt Univ, Inst Mat Res IMO IMOMEC, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. [Lutsen, Laurence; Vanderzande, Dirk; Manca, Jean] IMEC, IMOMEC Assoc Lab, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. sabine.bertho@uhasselt.be | Keywords: | P3AT copolymers; Blend morphology; Thermal stability; Organic solar cells;Energy & Fuels; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Physics, Applied | Document URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/14868 | ISSN: | 0927-0248 | e-ISSN: | 1879-3398 | DOI: | 10.1016/j.solmat.2012.12.007 | ISI #: | 000315360700010 | Category: | A1 | Type: | Journal Contribution | Validations: | ecoom 2014 |
Appears in Collections: | Research publications |
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