Solvent-vapor treatment induced performance enhancement of poly(3-hexylthiophene):methanofullerene bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic cells

The authors report enhanced poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):methanofullerene (PCBM) bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic cells via 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB) vapor treatment and thermal annealing. DCB vapor treatment can induce P3HT self-organizing into ordered structure leading to enhanced absorption and high hole mobility. Further annealing the device at a high temperature, PCBM molecules begin to diffuse into aggregates and together with the ordered P3HT phase form bicontinuous pathways in the entire layer for efficient charge separation and transport. Compared to the control device that is merely annealed, optical absorption, short-circuit current, and power conversion efficiency are increased for the DCB vapor-treated cell.

[1]  Donal D. C. Bradley,et al.  Device annealing effect in organic solar cells with blends of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) and soluble fullerene , 2005 .

[2]  C. Brabec,et al.  Plastic Solar Cells , 2001 .

[3]  Xiong Gong,et al.  Thermally Stable, Efficient Polymer Solar Cells with Nanoscale Control of the Interpenetrating Network Morphology , 2005 .

[4]  V. Mihailetchi,et al.  Space-charge limited photocurrent. , 2005, Physical review letters.

[5]  Valentin D. Mihailetchi,et al.  Hole Transport in Poly(phenylene vinylene)/Methanofullerene Bulk‐Heterojunction Solar Cells , 2004 .

[6]  Vladimir Dyakonov,et al.  Influence of nanomorphology on the photovoltaic action of polymer–fullerene composites , 2004 .

[7]  Christoph J. Brabec,et al.  Correlation Between Structural and Optical Properties of Composite Polymer/Fullerene Films for Organic Solar Cells , 2005 .

[8]  J. Hummelen,et al.  Polymer Photovoltaic Cells: Enhanced Efficiencies via a Network of Internal Donor-Acceptor Heterojunctions , 1995, Science.

[9]  Yang Yang,et al.  High-efficiency solution processable polymer photovoltaic cells by self-organization of polymer blends , 2005 .

[10]  Valentin D. Mihailetchi,et al.  Charge Transport and Photocurrent Generation in Poly(3‐hexylthiophene): Methanofullerene Bulk‐Heterojunction Solar Cells , 2006 .

[11]  Michael D. McGehee,et al.  Conjugated Polymer Photovoltaic Cells , 2004 .

[12]  Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci,et al.  Effects of Postproduction Treatment on Plastic Solar Cells , 2003 .

[13]  Xiaoniu Yang,et al.  Nanoscale morphology of high-performance polymer solar cells. , 2005, Nano letters.