Sub-glass transition annealing enhances polymer solar cell performance
Date
2014
Authors
Bergqvist, J.
Lindqvist, C.
Backe, O.
Ma, Z.
Tang, Z.
Tress, W.
Gustafsson, S.
Wang, E.
Olsson, E.
Andersson, M.R.
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Journal article
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Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2014; 2(17):6146-6152
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Abstract
Thermal annealing of non-crystalline polymer:fullerene blends typically results in a drastic decrease in solar cell performance. In particular aggressive annealing above the glass transition temperature results in a detrimental coarsening of the blend nanostructure. We demonstrate that mild annealing below the glass transition temperature is a viable avenue to control the nanostructure of a non-crystalline thiophene–quinoxaline copolymer:fullerene blend. Direct imaging methods indicate that coarsening of the blend nanostructure can be avoided. However, a combination of absorption and luminescence spectroscopy reveals that local changes in the polymer conformation as well as limited fullerene aggregation are permitted to occur. As a result, we are able to optimise the solar cell performance evenly across different positions of the coated area, which is a necessary criterion for large-scale, high throughput production.
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Copyright 2014 Royal Society of Chemistry