Decreasing the aggregation of PCBM in P3HT/PCBM blend films by cooling the solution

Reduced Graphene Oxide–Epoxy Grafted Poly(Styrene-Co-Acrylate) Composites for Corrosion Protection of Mild Steel

Reduced graphene oxide–epoxy grafted poly(styrene-co-acrylate) composites (GESA) were prepared by anchoring different amount of epoxy modified poly(styrene-co-acrylate) (EPSA) onto reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets through π–π electrostatic attraction. The GESA composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The anti-corrosion properties of rGO/EPSA composites were evaluated by electro-chemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in hydroxyl-polyacrylate coating, and the results revealed that the corrosion rate was decreased from 3.509 × 10−1 to 1.394 × 10−6 mm/a.

Synthesis and organic solar cell performance of BODIPY and coumarin functionalized SWCNTs or graphene oxide nanomaterials

Organic solar cell performances of the nanomaterials based on rGO or SWCNTs functionalized by BODIPY or coumarin groups have been investigated.

Suppression of Thermally Induced Fullerene Aggregation in Polyfullerene-Based Multiacceptor Organic Solar Cells

A novel main-chain polyfullerene, poly[fullerene-alt-2,5-bis(octyloxy)terephthalaldehyde] (PPC4), is investigated for its hypothesized superior morphological stability as an electron-accepting material in organic photovoltaics relative to the widely used fullerene phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). When mixed with poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), PPC4 affords low-charge-generation yields because of poor intermixing within the blend. The adoption of a multiacceptor system, by introducing PCBM into the P3HT:polyfullerene blend, was found to lead to a 3-fold enhancement in charge generation, affording power conversion efficiencies very close to that of the prototypical P3HT:PCBM binary control. Upon thermal stressing and in contrast to the P3HT:PCBM binary, photovoltaic devices based on the multiacceptor system demonstrated significantly improved stability, outperforming the control because of suppression of the PCBM migration and aggregation processes responsible for rapid device failure. We rationalize the influence of the fullerene miscibility and its implications on the device performance in terms of a thermodynamic model based on Flory-Huggins solution theory. Finally, the potential universal applicability of this approach for thermal stabilization of organic solar cells is demonstrated, utilizing an alternative low-band-gap polymer-donor system.

Block Copolymer-Tuned Fullerene Electron Transport Layer Enhances the Efficiency of Perovskite Photovoltaics

In this study, we enhanced the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells by employing an electron transfer layer (ETL) comprising [6,6]phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) and, to optimize its morphology, a small amount of the block copolymer polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO), positioned on the perovskite active layer. When incorporating 0.375 wt % PS-b-PEO into PC61BM, the PCE of the perovskite photovoltaic device increased from 9.4% to 13.4%, a relative increase of 43%, because of a large enhancement in the fill factor of the device. To decipher the intricate morphology of the ETL, we used synchrotron grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering for determining the PC61BM cluster size, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy for probing the surface, and transmission electron microscopy for observing the aggregation of PC61BM in the ETL. We found that the interaction between PS-b-PEO and PC61BM resulted in smaller PC61BM clusters that further aggregated into dendritic structures in some domains, a result of the similar polarities of the PS block and PC61BM; this behavior could be used to tune the morphology of the ETL. The optimal PS-b-PEO-mediated PC61BM cluster size in the ETL was 17 nm, a large reduction from 59 nm for the pristine PC61BM layer. This approach of incorporating a small amount of nanostructured block copolymer into a fullerene allowed us to effectively tune the morphology of the ETL on the perovskite active layer and resulted in enhanced fill factors of the devices and thus their device efficiency.

High performance ternary solar cells based on P3HT:PCBM and ZnPc-hybrids

In this study, single walled carbon nanotubes and reduced graphene oxide covalently and non-covalently functionalised by ZnPc were added to P3HT:PCBM blend in order to investigate the effects of these hybrid materials on P3HT:PCBM organic solar cell performance.