Influence of fullerene photodimerization on the PCBM crystallization in polymer: Fullerene bulk heterojunctions under thermal stress

For an increased lifetime of polymer:fullerene bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, an understanding of the chemical and morphological degradation phenomena taking place under operational conditions is crucial. Phase separation between polymer and fullerene induced by thermal stress has been pointed out as a major issue to overcome. While often the effect of thermal stress on the morphology of polymer:fullerene BHJ is investigated in the darkness, here we observe that light exposure slows down fullerene crystallization and phase separation induced at elevated temperatures. The observed photo-stabilizing effect on active layer morphology is quite independent on the polymer and is attributed to light-induced dimerization of the fullerene. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Effect of molecular weight on morphology and photovoltaic properties in P3HT:PCBM solar cells

The molecular weight of poly(3-hexylthiophene) is an important factor influencing the photovoltaic properties of bulk heterojunction organic solar cells based on this material. However, since different synthetic processes or repetitive soxhlet extractions - generally applied to obtain the different molecular weight batches under study - result in samples with simultaneously varying regioregularity (RR) and polydispersity index (PDI), it has not been possible yet to find an unambiguous correlation between the molecular weight and the photovoltaic performance. In the present work preparative gel permeation chromatography is introduced as a versatile technique to fractionate the donor polymer and thereby obtain a systematic variation of the number average molecular weight (M-n = 11-91 kg mol (1)) with an almost constant PDI and RR. Polymer crystallinity and conjugation length are evaluated by UV-Vis spectroscopy, rapid heat-cool calorimetry and selected area electron diffraction, and are found to be deeply affected by Mn. This in turn influences the behavior of the charge transfer state energy, measured via Fourier transform photocurrent spectroscopy, and therefore the open-circuit voltage. The short-circuit current is also affected by Mn, but mainly due to a change in absorption coefficient. The apparent recombination order is shown to be linked to the morphology of the polymer: fullerene blend and is determined using transient photovoltage and photocurrent techniques. Finally, a correlation between recombination and fill factor is also suggested. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Simultaneous Enhancement of Solar Cell Efficiency and Stability by Reducing the Side Chain Density on Fluorinated PCPDTQx Copolymers

The performance of polymer solar cells is strongly dependent on the morphology of the photoactive layer, which can be optimized by tuning the polymer side chain pattern. Whereas most studies focus on length and bulkiness, the side chain density receives much less attention. In this work, the effect of the number of side chains on PCPDTQx­(2F) low bandgap copolymers on material properties and solar cell characteristics is investigated. The active layer morphology is strongly affected, affording more favorable finely intermixed blends when decreasing the side chain density. As a result, the efficiency increases to a maximum of 5.63% for the device based on the copolymer with intermediate side chain density. Moreover, removal of the side chains also has a positive effect on device stability under prolonged thermal stress. A single structural parameteralkyl side chain densityis hence used for simultaneous enhancement of both solar cell efficiency and lifetime