School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406-5050, United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2013 Jul 10;5(13):6136-46. doi: 10.1021/am4010489. Epub 2013 Jun 21.
Nanoparticles have been shown in some cases to improve phase separation and morphology in bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells. In this study, the effect of incorporation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) molecules of different structures in air processed poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) films and photovoltaic cells was evaluated. Morphology and composition of the nanoscalephase-separated domains were determined via conductive atomic force microscopy in conjunction with nanomechanical mapping and Raman imaging. UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy analysis of the films was performed at different stages of the process and with different levels of solvent vapor and thermal annealing. It was found that POSS molecules of selected structures provided enhancement in morphology control in films, translating to improvements in fill factor and power conversion efficiency of laboratory-scale OPV cells. The findings indicate the potential for further improvements in solar cell performance with specifically tailored POSS/polymer phase-separated systems.
纳米粒子在某些情况下已被证明可以改善体异质结有机光伏电池中的相分离和形态。在这项研究中，评估了不同结构的多面体低聚倍半硅氧烷（POSS）分子在空气中处理的聚（3-己基噻吩-2,5-二基）（P3HT）和[6,6]-苯基 C61 丁酸甲酯（PCBM）薄膜和光伏电池中的效果。通过导电原子力显微镜结合纳米力学映射和拉曼成像，确定了纳米尺度相分离域的形态和组成。在不同的处理阶段以及不同水平的溶剂蒸气和热退火条件下，对薄膜进行了 UV-vis 和荧光光谱分析。结果发现，选定结构的 POSS 分子提供了对薄膜中形态控制的增强，从而提高了实验室规模 OPV 电池的填充因子和功率转换效率。这些发现表明，通过专门设计的 POSS/聚合物相分离系统，有可能进一步提高太阳能电池的性能。
