1
|
Nguyen TP, Shim JH. Hybrid density functional study on the electronic structures and properties of P3HT-PbS and P3HT-CdS hybrid interface for photovoltaic applications. J Comput Chem 2018; 39:1990-1999. [PMID: 30315588 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.25378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The efficiency of charge transport mainly depends on the interfacial energy level alignment between the conjugated polymer and the inorganic substrate. It provides an accurate understanding, predicting as well as controlling the optimal power conversion efficiency of various type of hybrid photovoltaic systems. In this article, we use hybrid functional (HSE06) to study the electronic structures and properties at the interface of poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)/CdS and P3HT/PbS for solar cell applications. We found that the dangling bonds at the inorganic surface introduce in-gap states and greatly reduce the device performance. We used pseudo-hydrogen atoms as the passivation agent to remove the dangling bonds and eliminate the in-gap states to construct the energy alignment at the hybrid interface. The calculated interfacial density of states reveal a better performance in P3HT/CdS, compared to P3HT/PbS. P3HT/CdS possesses a LUMOP3HT /CBMCdS and HOMOP3HT /VBMCdS energy offset large enough for sufficient exciton separation across the interface and prevents charge recombination. In contrast, the reason for low power conversion efficiency in P3HT/PbS lies on its HOMOP3HT /VBMPbS offset which is too small to break the exciton binding energy for charge separation. Moreover, we reported the dependency of the energy level alignment and open circuit voltage on the interfacial molecular orientations. Our DFT calculation can be used to predict candidate materials for the development of efficiency optoelectronic devices. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thao P Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 37673, Korea
| | - Ji Hoon Shim
- Division of Advanced Nuclear Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 790-784, Korea
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Harun K, Mansor N, Ahmad ZA, Mohamad AA. Electronic Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized by Sol-gel Method: A LDA+U Calculation and Experimental Study. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.proche.2016.03.125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
|
3
|
Wu G, Li Z, Zhang X, Lu G. Charge Separation and Exciton Dynamics at Polymer/ZnO Interface from First-Principles Simulations. J Phys Chem Lett 2014; 5:2649-2656. [PMID: 26277958 DOI: 10.1021/jz500980q] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Charge separation and exciton dynamics play a crucial role in determining the performance of excitonic photovoltaics. Using time-dependent density functional theory with a range-separated exchange-correlation functional as well as nonadiabatic ab initio molecular dynamics, we have studied the formation and dynamics of charge-transfer (CT) excitons at polymer/ZnO interface. The interfacial atomic structure, exciton density of states and conversions between exciton species are examined from first-principles. The exciton dynamics exhibits both adiabatic and nonadiabatic characters. While the adiabatic transitions are facilitated by C═C vibrations along the polymer (P3HT) backbone, the nonadiabatic transitions are realized by exciton hopping between the excited states. We find that the localized ZnO surface states lead to localized low-energy CT states and poor charge separation. In contrast, the surface states of crystalline C60 are indistinguishable from the bulk states, resulting in delocalized CT states and efficient charge separation in polymer/fullerene (P3HT/PCBM) heterojunctions. The hot CT states are found to cool down in an ultrafast time scale and may not play a major role in charge separation of P3HT/ZnO. Finally we suggest that the dimensions of nanostructured acceptors can be tuned to obtain both efficient charge separation and high open circuit voltages.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guangfen Wu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8268, United States
| | - Zi Li
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8268, United States
| | - Xu Zhang
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8268, United States
| | - Gang Lu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8268, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Musselman KP, Albert-Seifried S, Hoye RLZ, Sadhanala A, Muñoz-Rojas D, MacManus-Driscoll JL, Friend RH. Improved Exciton Dissociation at Semiconducting Polymer:ZnO Donor:Acceptor Interfaces via Nitrogen Doping of ZnO. ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS 2014; 24:3562-3570. [PMID: 25520604 PMCID: PMC4228972 DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201303994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2013] [Revised: 01/05/2014] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Exciton dissociation at the zinc oxide/poly(3-hexylthiophene) (ZnO/P3HT) interface as a function of nitrogen doping of the zinc oxide, which decreases the electron concentration from approximately 1019 cm-3 to 1017 cm-3, is reported. Exciton dissociation and device photocurrent are strongly improved with nitrogen doping. This improved dissociation of excitons in the conjugated polymer is found to result from enhanced light-induced de-trapping of electrons from the surface of the nitrogen-doped ZnO. The ability to improve the surface properties of ZnO by introducing a simple nitrogen dopant has general applicability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin P Musselman
- Department of Physics University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory JJ Thomson Ave Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK E-mail:
| | - Sebastian Albert-Seifried
- Department of Physics University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory JJ Thomson Ave Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK E-mail:
| | - Robert L Z Hoye
- Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy University of Cambridge 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB3 0FS, UK
| | - Aditya Sadhanala
- Department of Physics University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory JJ Thomson Ave Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK E-mail:
| | - David Muñoz-Rojas
- Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy University of Cambridge 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB3 0FS, UK ; Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Barcelona ICMAB-CSIC, Campus de la UAB Bellaterra, 08193, Spain
| | - Judith L MacManus-Driscoll
- Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy University of Cambridge 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB3 0FS, UK
| | - Richard H Friend
- Department of Physics University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory JJ Thomson Ave Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Tarafder K, Surendranath Y, Olshansky JH, Alivisatos AP, Wang LW. Hole Transfer Dynamics from a CdSe/CdS Quantum Rod to a Tethered Ferrocene Derivative. J Am Chem Soc 2014; 136:5121-31. [DOI: 10.1021/ja500936n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kartick Tarafder
- Materials
Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department
of Physics, BITS-PILANI Hyderabad Campus, Andhra Pradesh 500078, India
| | - Yogesh Surendranath
- Materials
Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Kavli Energy Nanosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Jacob H. Olshansky
- Materials
Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Kavli Energy Nanosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - A. Paul Alivisatos
- Materials
Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Kavli Energy Nanosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Lin-Wang Wang
- Materials
Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Sitkiewicz SP, Mikołajczyk MM, Toman P, Zaleśny R, Bartkowiak W. Towards first-principles based modeling of poly-3-alkylthiophenes: The nature of interactions in 2,2′-bithiophene dimer. Chem Phys Lett 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2013.02.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
7
|
Della Sala F, Blumstengel S, Henneberger F. Electrostatic-field-driven alignment of organic oligomers on ZnO surfaces. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2011; 107:146401. [PMID: 22107217 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.107.146401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2010] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
We study the physisorption of organic oligomers on the strongly ionic ZnO(1010) surface by using first-principles density-functional theory and nonempirical embedding methods. It turns out that the in-plane variation of the molecule-substrate interaction energy and the bonding dipole in the vertical direction are linked up by a linear relationship originating from the electrostatic coupling of the molecule with the periodic dipolar electric field generated by the Zn-O surface dimers. Long oligomers with a highly axial π-electron system such as sexiphenyl become well oriented with alignment energies of several 100 meV along rows of a positive electric field, in full agreement with recent experiments. These findings define a new route towards the realization of highly ordered self-assembled arrays of oligomers or polymers on ZnO(1010) and similar surfaces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- F Della Sala
- National Nanotechnology Laboratory, Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, Via per Arnesano, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Bouclé J, Ackermann J. Solid-state dye-sensitized and bulk heterojunction solar cells using TiO2 and ZnO nanostructures: recent progress and new concepts at the borderline. POLYM INT 2011. [DOI: 10.1002/pi.3157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
|
9
|
Baeten L, Conings B, Boyen HG, D'Haen J, Hardy A, D'Olieslaeger M, Manca JV, Van Bael MK. Towards efficient hybrid solar cells based on fully polymer infiltrated ZnO nanorod arrays. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2011; 23:2802-5. [PMID: 21506174 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201100414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2011] [Revised: 03/08/2011] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Linny Baeten
- Institute for Materials Research, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Hasselt University, Agoralaan building D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Influence of sodium dodecyl sulfate on the fabrication of zinc oxide nanoparticles. RESEARCH ON CHEMICAL INTERMEDIATES 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s11164-011-0250-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
|