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- Title
Nanostructured organic pn junctions towards 3D photovoltaics.
- Authors
Martens, T.; Munters, T.; Goris, L.; D'Haen, J.; Schouteden, K.; D'Olieslaeger, M.; Lutsen, L.; Vanderzande, D.; Geens, W.; Poortmans, J.; De Schepper, L.; Manca, J.V.
- Abstract
The working principle of so-called organic bulk heterojunction solar cells prepared with blends of poly(2-methoxy-5-(3’,7’-dimethyl-octyloxy))-p-phenylene vinylene (MDMO-PPV), acting as an electron donor, and (6,6)-phenyl-C[sub 61]-butyric-acid methyl ester (PCBM) (a soluble C60 derivative), acting as electron acceptor, is based on the presence of three-dimensional nanostructured pn junctions and percolation paths for charge transport. At high PCBM contents, spontaneous phase separation occurs giving rise to PCBM-rich spherical/ellipsoidal regions (electron transport) embedded in a MDMO-PPV-rich matrix (hole transport). With transmission electron microscopy and scanning probe microscopy techniques it has been demonstrated that the size of the PCBM-rich region depends strongly on the preparation conditions such as solvents and drying conditions. The morphology of the active films in high-performance bulk heterojunction solar cells is characterized by a significantly higher number and a smaller size (nanoscale) of the PCBM-rich regions than for the low-performance cells. This morphology yields both an increase of the useful photoactive volume and an increase of the percolation paths for charge transport. Towards mature and high-performance organic-based three-dimensional photovoltaics, it is clear that besides mastering the electro-optical properties of the constituting materials it also of key importance to control the nanomorphology of the solid-state blends in order to obtain efficient interpenetrating pn networks.
- Subjects
SOLAR cells; HETEROJUNCTIONS; NANOSTRUCTURED materials; ELECTRON transport; PHOTOVOLTAIC cells; ELECTROOPTICS
- Publication
Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing, 2004, Vol 79, Issue 1, p27
- ISSN
0947-8396
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00339-003-2497-6