TY - JOUR
T1 - Engineering Two-Phase and Three-Phase Microstructures from Water-Based Dispersions of Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cell Applications
AU - Holmes, Natalie
AU - Marks, Melissa
AU - Cave, James
AU - Feron, Krishna
AU - Barr, Matt
AU - Fahy, Adam
AU - Sharma, Anirudh
AU - Pan, Xun
AU - Kilcoyne, David
AU - Zhou, Xiaojing
AU - Lewis, David
AU - Andersson, Mats R.
AU - van Stam, Jan
AU - Walker, Alison B.
AU - Moons, Ellen
AU - Belcher, Warwick
AU - Dastoor, Paul
PY - 2018/9/25
Y1 - 2018/9/25
N2 -
Nanoparticle organic photovoltaics, a subfield of organic photovoltaics (OPV), has attracted increasing interest in recent years due to the eco-friendly fabrication of solar modules afforded by colloidal ink technology. Importantly, using this approach it is now possible to engineer the microstructure of the light absorbing/charge generating layer of organic photovoltaics; decoupling film morphology from film deposition. In this study, single-component nanoparticles of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C
61
butyric acid methyl ester (PC
61
BM) were synthesized and used to generate a two-phase microstructure with control over domain size prior to film deposition. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and electron microscopy were used to characterize the thin film morphology. Uniquely, the measured microstructure was a direct input for a nanoscopic kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model allowing us to assess exciton transport properties that are experimentally inaccessible in these single-component particles. Photoluminescence, UV-vis spectroscopy measurements, and KMC results of the nanoparticle thin films enabled the calculation of an experimental exciton dissociation efficiency (η
ED
) of 37% for the two-phase microstructure. The glass transition temperature (T
g
) of the materials was characterized with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and thermal annealing led to an increase in η
ED
to 64% due to an increase in donor-acceptor interfaces in the thin film from both sintering of neighboring opposite-type particles in addition to the generation of a third mixed phase from diffusion of PC
61
BM into amorphous P3HT domains. As such, this study demonstrates the higher level of control over donor-acceptor film morphology enabled by customizing nanoparticulate colloidal inks, where the optimal three-phase film morphology for an OPV photoactive layer can be designed and engineered.
AB -
Nanoparticle organic photovoltaics, a subfield of organic photovoltaics (OPV), has attracted increasing interest in recent years due to the eco-friendly fabrication of solar modules afforded by colloidal ink technology. Importantly, using this approach it is now possible to engineer the microstructure of the light absorbing/charge generating layer of organic photovoltaics; decoupling film morphology from film deposition. In this study, single-component nanoparticles of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C
61
butyric acid methyl ester (PC
61
BM) were synthesized and used to generate a two-phase microstructure with control over domain size prior to film deposition. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and electron microscopy were used to characterize the thin film morphology. Uniquely, the measured microstructure was a direct input for a nanoscopic kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model allowing us to assess exciton transport properties that are experimentally inaccessible in these single-component particles. Photoluminescence, UV-vis spectroscopy measurements, and KMC results of the nanoparticle thin films enabled the calculation of an experimental exciton dissociation efficiency (η
ED
) of 37% for the two-phase microstructure. The glass transition temperature (T
g
) of the materials was characterized with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and thermal annealing led to an increase in η
ED
to 64% due to an increase in donor-acceptor interfaces in the thin film from both sintering of neighboring opposite-type particles in addition to the generation of a third mixed phase from diffusion of PC
61
BM into amorphous P3HT domains. As such, this study demonstrates the higher level of control over donor-acceptor film morphology enabled by customizing nanoparticulate colloidal inks, where the optimal three-phase film morphology for an OPV photoactive layer can be designed and engineered.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052858083&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03222
DO - 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03222
M3 - Article
VL - 30
SP - 6521
EP - 6531
JO - Chemistry of Materials
JF - Chemistry of Materials
SN - 0897-4756
IS - 18
ER -