Thermally stable bulk heterojunction prepared by sequential deposition of nanostructured polymer and fullerene

Heewon Hwang; Hoyeon Lee; Shafidah Shafian; Wooseop Lee; Jeesoo Seok; Ka Yeon Ryu; Du Yeol Ryu; Kyungkon Kim

doi:10.3390/polym9090456

Thermally stable bulk heterojunction prepared by sequential deposition of nanostructured polymer and fullerene

Heewon Hwang, Hoyeon Lee, Shafidah Shafian, Wooseop Lee, Jeesoo Seok, Ka Yeon Ryu, Du Yeol Ryu, Kyungkon Kim

Chemistry & Nanoscience

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23 Scopus citations

Abstract

A morphologically-stable polymer/fullerene heterojunction has been prepared by minimizing the intermixing between polymer and fullerene via sequential deposition (SqD) of a polymer and a fullerene solution. A low crystalline conjugated polymer of PCPDTBT (poly[2,6-(4,4- bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta [2,1-b;3,4-b0]dithiophene)-alt-4,7(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)]) has been utilized for the polymer layer and PC₇₁BM (phenyl-C₇₁-butyric-acid-methyl ester) for the fullerene layer, respectively. Firstly, a nanostructured PCPDTBT bottom layer was developed by utilizing various additives to increase the surface area of the polymer film. The PC₇₁BM solution was prepared by dissolving it in the 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), exhibiting a lower vapor pressure and slower diffusion into the polymer layer. The deposition of the PC₇₁BM solution on the nanostructured PCPDTBT layer forms an inter-digitated bulk heterojunction (ID-BHJ) with minimized intermixing. The organic photovoltaic (OPV) device utilizing the ID-BHJ photoactive layer exhibits a highly reproducible solar cell performance. In spite of restricted intermixing between the PC₇₁BM and the PCPDTBT, the efficiency of ID-BHJ OPVs (3.36%) is comparable to that of OPVs (3.87%) prepared by the conventional method (deposition of a blended solution of polymer:fullerene). The thermal stability of the ID-BHJ is superior to the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) prepared by the conventional method. The ID-BHJ OPV maintains 70% of its initial efficiency after thermal stress application for twelve days at 80 °C, whereas the conventional BHJ OPV maintains only 40% of its initial efficiency.

Original language	English
Article number	456
Journal	Polymers
Volume	9
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/polym9090456
State	Published - 17 Sep 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This research was supported by NRF under the program numbers NRF-2015M1A2A2057506 and NRF-2016M1A2A2940914 and by the New & Renewable Energy Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), who granted financial resources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea. (No. 20123010010140 and 20163030013900). The authors thank Mr. Sungmin Park and Mr. Yeongsik Kim for assistance with the GIWAXS characterization. The X-ray experiments at PLS-II (Beamline 9A U-SAXS), Korea, were supported in part by MSIP and POSTECH.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by the authors.

Keywords

Bulk heterojunction
Organic solar cell
Sequential deposition
Stability

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title = "Thermally stable bulk heterojunction prepared by sequential deposition of nanostructured polymer and fullerene",

abstract = "A morphologically-stable polymer/fullerene heterojunction has been prepared by minimizing the intermixing between polymer and fullerene via sequential deposition (SqD) of a polymer and a fullerene solution. A low crystalline conjugated polymer of PCPDTBT (poly[2,6-(4,4- bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta [2,1-b;3,4-b0]dithiophene)-alt-4,7(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)]) has been utilized for the polymer layer and PC71BM (phenyl-C71-butyric-acid-methyl ester) for the fullerene layer, respectively. Firstly, a nanostructured PCPDTBT bottom layer was developed by utilizing various additives to increase the surface area of the polymer film. The PC71BM solution was prepared by dissolving it in the 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), exhibiting a lower vapor pressure and slower diffusion into the polymer layer. The deposition of the PC71BM solution on the nanostructured PCPDTBT layer forms an inter-digitated bulk heterojunction (ID-BHJ) with minimized intermixing. The organic photovoltaic (OPV) device utilizing the ID-BHJ photoactive layer exhibits a highly reproducible solar cell performance. In spite of restricted intermixing between the PC71BM and the PCPDTBT, the efficiency of ID-BHJ OPVs (3.36%) is comparable to that of OPVs (3.87%) prepared by the conventional method (deposition of a blended solution of polymer:fullerene). The thermal stability of the ID-BHJ is superior to the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) prepared by the conventional method. The ID-BHJ OPV maintains 70% of its initial efficiency after thermal stress application for twelve days at 80 °C, whereas the conventional BHJ OPV maintains only 40% of its initial efficiency.",

keywords = "Bulk heterojunction, Organic solar cell, Sequential deposition, Stability",

author = "Heewon Hwang and Hoyeon Lee and Shafidah Shafian and Wooseop Lee and Jeesoo Seok and Ryu, {Ka Yeon} and Ryu, {Du Yeol} and Kyungkon Kim",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: This research was supported by NRF under the program numbers NRF-2015M1A2A2057506 and NRF-2016M1A2A2940914 and by the New & Renewable Energy Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), who granted financial resources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea. (No. 20123010010140 and 20163030013900). The authors thank Mr. Sungmin Park and Mr. Yeongsik Kim for assistance with the GIWAXS characterization. The X-ray experiments at PLS-II (Beamline 9A U-SAXS), Korea, were supported in part by MSIP and POSTECH. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 by the authors.",

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T1 - Thermally stable bulk heterojunction prepared by sequential deposition of nanostructured polymer and fullerene

AU - Hwang, Heewon

AU - Lee, Hoyeon

AU - Shafian, Shafidah

AU - Lee, Wooseop

AU - Seok, Jeesoo

AU - Ryu, Ka Yeon

AU - Ryu, Du Yeol

AU - Kim, Kyungkon

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments: This research was supported by NRF under the program numbers NRF-2015M1A2A2057506 and NRF-2016M1A2A2940914 and by the New & Renewable Energy Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), who granted financial resources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea. (No. 20123010010140 and 20163030013900). The authors thank Mr. Sungmin Park and Mr. Yeongsik Kim for assistance with the GIWAXS characterization. The X-ray experiments at PLS-II (Beamline 9A U-SAXS), Korea, were supported in part by MSIP and POSTECH. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 by the authors.

PY - 2017/9/17

Y1 - 2017/9/17

N2 - A morphologically-stable polymer/fullerene heterojunction has been prepared by minimizing the intermixing between polymer and fullerene via sequential deposition (SqD) of a polymer and a fullerene solution. A low crystalline conjugated polymer of PCPDTBT (poly[2,6-(4,4- bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta [2,1-b;3,4-b0]dithiophene)-alt-4,7(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)]) has been utilized for the polymer layer and PC71BM (phenyl-C71-butyric-acid-methyl ester) for the fullerene layer, respectively. Firstly, a nanostructured PCPDTBT bottom layer was developed by utilizing various additives to increase the surface area of the polymer film. The PC71BM solution was prepared by dissolving it in the 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), exhibiting a lower vapor pressure and slower diffusion into the polymer layer. The deposition of the PC71BM solution on the nanostructured PCPDTBT layer forms an inter-digitated bulk heterojunction (ID-BHJ) with minimized intermixing. The organic photovoltaic (OPV) device utilizing the ID-BHJ photoactive layer exhibits a highly reproducible solar cell performance. In spite of restricted intermixing between the PC71BM and the PCPDTBT, the efficiency of ID-BHJ OPVs (3.36%) is comparable to that of OPVs (3.87%) prepared by the conventional method (deposition of a blended solution of polymer:fullerene). The thermal stability of the ID-BHJ is superior to the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) prepared by the conventional method. The ID-BHJ OPV maintains 70% of its initial efficiency after thermal stress application for twelve days at 80 °C, whereas the conventional BHJ OPV maintains only 40% of its initial efficiency.

AB - A morphologically-stable polymer/fullerene heterojunction has been prepared by minimizing the intermixing between polymer and fullerene via sequential deposition (SqD) of a polymer and a fullerene solution. A low crystalline conjugated polymer of PCPDTBT (poly[2,6-(4,4- bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta [2,1-b;3,4-b0]dithiophene)-alt-4,7(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)]) has been utilized for the polymer layer and PC71BM (phenyl-C71-butyric-acid-methyl ester) for the fullerene layer, respectively. Firstly, a nanostructured PCPDTBT bottom layer was developed by utilizing various additives to increase the surface area of the polymer film. The PC71BM solution was prepared by dissolving it in the 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), exhibiting a lower vapor pressure and slower diffusion into the polymer layer. The deposition of the PC71BM solution on the nanostructured PCPDTBT layer forms an inter-digitated bulk heterojunction (ID-BHJ) with minimized intermixing. The organic photovoltaic (OPV) device utilizing the ID-BHJ photoactive layer exhibits a highly reproducible solar cell performance. In spite of restricted intermixing between the PC71BM and the PCPDTBT, the efficiency of ID-BHJ OPVs (3.36%) is comparable to that of OPVs (3.87%) prepared by the conventional method (deposition of a blended solution of polymer:fullerene). The thermal stability of the ID-BHJ is superior to the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) prepared by the conventional method. The ID-BHJ OPV maintains 70% of its initial efficiency after thermal stress application for twelve days at 80 °C, whereas the conventional BHJ OPV maintains only 40% of its initial efficiency.

KW - Bulk heterojunction

KW - Organic solar cell

KW - Sequential deposition

KW - Stability

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DO - 10.3390/polym9090456

M3 - Article

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ER -

Thermally stable bulk heterojunction prepared by sequential deposition of nanostructured polymer and fullerene

Abstract

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Keywords

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