1
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Nadtochiy A, Kozachenko V, Korotchenkov O, Schlosser V. Nickel-Fullerene Nanocomposites as Thermoelectric Materials. NANOMATERIALS 2022; 12:nano12071163. [PMID: 35407281 PMCID: PMC9000331 DOI: 10.3390/nano12071163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Nickel films with nanovoids filled with fullerene molecules have been fabricated. The thermoelectric properties of the nanocomposites have been measured from room temperature down to about 30 K. The main idea is that the phonon scattering can be enhanced at the C60/matrix heterointerface. The distribution of atoms within the Ni and Ni-C60 layers has been characterized by Auger depth profiling. The morphology of the grown samples has been checked using cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity have been addressed employing an automatic home-built measuring system. It has been found that nanostructuring using Ar+ ion treatment increases the thermopower magnitude over the entire temperature range. Incorporating C60 into the resulting voids further increased the thermopower magnitude below ≈200 K. A maximum increase in the Seebeck coefficient has been measured up to four times in different fabricated samples. This effect is attributed to enhanced scattering of charge carriers and phonons at the Ni/C60 boundary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andriy Nadtochiy
- Department of Physics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine; (A.N.); (V.K.)
| | - Viktor Kozachenko
- Department of Physics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine; (A.N.); (V.K.)
| | - Oleg Korotchenkov
- Department of Physics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine; (A.N.); (V.K.)
- Correspondence: (O.K.); (V.S.); Tel.: +43-1-4277-72611 (V.S.)
| | - Viktor Schlosser
- Department of Electronic Properties of Materials, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, A-1090 Wien, Austria
- Correspondence: (O.K.); (V.S.); Tel.: +43-1-4277-72611 (V.S.)
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2
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Du B, Yi J, Yan H, Wang T. Temperature Induced Aggregation of Organic Semiconductors. Chemistry 2020; 27:2908-2919. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.202002559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Baocai Du
- School of Materials Science and Engineering Wuhan University of Technology Wuhan 430070 China
| | - Jicheng Yi
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay Hong Kong
| | - He Yan
- Department of Chemistry and Energy Institute The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay Hong Kong
| | - Tao Wang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering Wuhan University of Technology Wuhan 430070 China
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3
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Chen X, Qi S, Zhang X, Yan D. Influence of Small-Scale Correlation on the Interface Evolution of Semiflexible Homopolymer Blends. ACS OMEGA 2020; 5:7593-7600. [PMID: 32280903 PMCID: PMC7144130 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c00421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Within the framework of a dynamic self-consistent field theory, we study the effect of the correlations in a small scale on polymer dynamics, adopting the semiflexible homopolymer blends as the model system. This is accomplished by taking the pair correlation function of ideal semiflexible chains as the Onsager coefficient and the Debye function as an approximation to the Onsager coefficient. Relying on the difference of the two pair correlation functions in the small-scale region, we can identify the effect of small-scale correlations. In the equilibrium state, with the chain length growing, the interface width has a continuous transition from the contour length to radius of gyration. The investigation of interfacial evolution and chain orientation reveals that strong small-scale correlations would accelerate the small-scale dynamic process. We also expect that such a small-scale effect should be highlighted in the process where microscopic phase separation happens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinxiang Chen
- Department
of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Shuanhu Qi
- School
of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Xinghua Zhang
- School
of Science, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
| | - Dadong Yan
- Department
of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
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4
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Comparative solvent quality dependent crystallization in solvent vapor annealing of P3HT:PCBM thin films by in-situ GIWAXS. POLYMER 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2018.12.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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5
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Leysen P, Teyssandier J, De Feyter S, Koeckelberghs G. Controlled Synthesis of a Helical Conjugated Polythiophene. Macromolecules 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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6
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Radchenko ES, Anokhin DV, Gerasimov KL, Rodygin AI, Rychkov AA, Shabratova ED, Grigorian S, Ivanov DA. Impact of the solubility of organic semiconductors for solution-processable electronics on the structure formation: a real-time study of morphology and electrical properties. SOFT MATTER 2018; 14:2560-2566. [PMID: 29561034 DOI: 10.1039/c7sm02408h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The control of structure formation in the active layers of organic solar cells allows for improvement in their processability and enhancement of the efficiency of the final devices. In the present work, in situ studies of film formation from binary toluene solutions of an electron donor, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), and an electron acceptor such as [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) or indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) have been conducted. These experiments were carried out using GIWAXS with simultaneous electric current measurements. The comparative analysis of the intensity of the amorphous halo, and the 100 and 020 peaks of P3HT reveals the development of the semicrystalline morphology of the donor through a partly-ordered phase. The experiments show the impact of the chemical structure of the acceptor, as well as that of the donor : acceptor ratio on the kinetics of drying and crystallization. The optimal bulk heterojunction morphology was achieved for P3HT : ICBA 1 : 1, which exhibited the highest value of current. A more efficient phase separation in non-annealed P3HT:ICBA films as compared to P3HT:PCBM was accounted for by the differences in solubility of the components in toluene. The structure formation during solvent evaporation can be subdivided into three stages, including the ordering of the polymer in solution, phase separation during precipitation, and the perfectioning of P3HT crystals in the dry film.
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Affiliation(s)
- E S Radchenko
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskiy per. 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russian Federation and Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Physical and Chemical Engineering, Leninskie Gory 1/51, 119991, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - D V Anokhin
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskiy per. 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russian Federation and Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Physical and Chemical Engineering, Leninskie Gory 1/51, 119991, Moscow, Russian Federation and Institute for Problems of Chemical Physics RAS, Semenov Av. 1, Chernogolovka, Moscow Region, 142432, Russian Federation
| | - K L Gerasimov
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskiy per. 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russian Federation and Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Physical and Chemical Engineering, Leninskie Gory 1/51, 119991, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - A I Rodygin
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskiy per. 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russian Federation and Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Physical and Chemical Engineering, Leninskie Gory 1/51, 119991, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - A A Rychkov
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskiy per. 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russian Federation and Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Physical and Chemical Engineering, Leninskie Gory 1/51, 119991, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - E D Shabratova
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskiy per. 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russian Federation
| | - S Grigorian
- Department Physics, University of Siegen, Walter-Flex-Strasse 3, 57072 Siegen, D-57068, Germany
| | - D A Ivanov
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskiy per. 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russian Federation and Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Physical and Chemical Engineering, Leninskie Gory 1/51, 119991, Moscow, Russian Federation and Institut de Sciences des Matériaux de Mulhouse (CNRS UMR 7361), 15 rue Jean Starcky, B.P. 2488, Mulhouse, 68057, France.
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7
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Qi S, Schmid F. Dynamic Density Functional Theories for Inhomogeneous Polymer Systems Compared to Brownian Dynamics Simulations. Macromolecules 2017. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.7b02017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Shuanhu Qi
- Institut für
Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudingerweg
7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Friederike Schmid
- Institut für
Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudingerweg
7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
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8
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Richter LJ, DeLongchamp DM, Amassian A. Morphology Development in Solution-Processed Functional Organic Blend Films: An In Situ Viewpoint. Chem Rev 2017; 117:6332-6366. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lee J. Richter
- Material
Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Dean M. DeLongchamp
- Material
Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Aram Amassian
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC) and Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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9
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Liu F, Ferdous S, Wan X, Zhu C, Schaible E, Hexemer A, Wang C, Russell TP. Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization. J Vis Exp 2017. [PMID: 28190050 DOI: 10.3791/53710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Polymer-based materials hold promise as low-cost, flexible efficient photovoltaic devices. Most laboratory efforts to achieve high performance devices have used devices prepared by spin coating, a process that is not amenable to large-scale fabrication. This mismatch in device fabrication makes it difficult to translate quantitative results obtained in the laboratory to the commercial level, making optimization difficult. Using a mini-slot die coater, this mismatch can be resolved by translating the commercial process to the laboratory and characterizing the structure formation in the active layer of the device in real time and in situ as films are coated onto a substrate. The evolution of the morphology was characterized under different conditions, allowing us to propose a mechanism by which the structures form and grow. This mini-slot die coater offers a simple, convenient, material efficient route by which the morphology in the active layer can be optimized under industrially relevant conditions. The goal of this protocol is to show experimental details of how a solar cell device is fabricated using a mini-slot die coater and technical details of running in situ structure characterization using the mini-slot die coater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Liu
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
| | - Sunzida Ferdous
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
| | - Xianjian Wan
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
| | - Chenhui Zhu
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
| | - Eric Schaible
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
| | | | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
| | - Thomas P Russell
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst;
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10
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Engmann S, Ro HW, Herzing A, Snyder CR, Richter LJ, Geraghty PB, Jones DJ. Film morphology evolution during solvent vapor annealing of highly efficient small molecule donor/acceptor blends. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY. A 2016; 4:15511-15521. [PMID: 28210491 PMCID: PMC5304213 DOI: 10.1039/c6ta05056e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Solution-processable small molecule photovoltaics based on the novel molecular donor, benzodithiophene terthiophene rhodanine (BTR), recently have shown maximum power conversion efficiencies above 8 % for active layer thicknesses up to 400 nm, using post process solvent vapor annealing (SVA) with tetrahydrofuran (THF). Here we report an in-situ study on the morphology evolution during SVA using the moderate solvent THF and the good solvent chloroform (CF). The combination of real-time grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) allows us to draw a complete picture of the evolution of crystallinity and phase purity during post process annealing. We find that the relative crystallinity compared to the as-cast films is only modestly affected by SVA and solvent choice. However, both the phase purity and the characteristic domain sizes within the film vary significantly and are controlled by the solvent quality as well as exposure time. Using THF, films with high phase purity and desirable characteristic length scales of about 30 nm can be achieved, while the use of CF rapidly leads to excessive film coarsening and less preferable domain sizes on the order of 60 nm, too large for optimized charge separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Engmann
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Hyun Wook Ro
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Andrew Herzing
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Chad R Snyder
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Lee J Richter
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Paul B Geraghty
- School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - David J Jones
- School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
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11
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Roth SV. A deep look into the spray coating process in real-time-the crucial role of x-rays. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2016; 28:403003. [PMID: 27537198 DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/28/40/403003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Tailoring functional thin films and coating by rapid solvent-based processes is the basis for the fabrication of large scale high-end applications in nanotechnology. Due to solvent loss of the solution or dispersion inherent in the installation of functional thin films and multilayers the spraying and drying processes are strongly governed by non-equilibrium kinetics, often passing through transient states, until the final structure is installed. Therefore, the challenge is to observe the structural build-up during these coating processes in a spatially and time-resolved manner on multiple time and length scales, from the nanostructure to macroscopic length scales. During installation, the interaction of solid-fluid interfaces and between the different layers, the flow and evaporation themselves determine the structure of the coating. Advanced x-ray scattering methods open a powerful pathway for observing the involved processes in situ, from the spray to the coating, and allow for gaining deep insight in the nanostructuring processes. This review first provides an overview over these rapidly evolving methods, with main focus on functional coatings, organic photovoltaics and organic electronics. Secondly the role and decisive advantage of x-rays is outlined. Thirdly, focusing on spray deposition as a rapidly emerging method, recent advances in investigations of spray deposition of functional materials and devices via advanced x-ray scattering methods are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan V Roth
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Notkestr. 85, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany. Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 56-58, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
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12
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Buss F, Schmidt-Hansberg B, Sanyal M, Munuera C, Scharfer P, Schabel W, Barrena E. Gaining Further Insight into the Solvent Additive-Driven Crystallization of Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells by in Situ X-ray Scattering and Optical Reflectometry. Macromolecules 2016. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.6b00193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Felix Buss
- Institute
of Thermal Process Engineering, Thin Film Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Benjamin Schmidt-Hansberg
- Institute
of Thermal Process Engineering, Thin Film Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Monamie Sanyal
- Department
of Metastable and Low-Dimensional Materials, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Carmen Munuera
- Instituto de Ciencia
de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, Madrid 28049, Spain
| | - Philip Scharfer
- Institute
of Thermal Process Engineering, Thin Film Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Wilhelm Schabel
- Institute
of Thermal Process Engineering, Thin Film Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Esther Barrena
- Instituto de Ciencia
de Materiales de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, Bellaterra 08193, Spain
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13
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Liu F, Ferdous S, Schaible E, Hexemer A, Church M, Ding X, Wang C, Russell TP. Fast printing and in situ morphology observation of organic photovoltaics using slot-die coating. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2015; 27:886-891. [PMID: 25503869 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201404040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2014] [Revised: 10/19/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The mini-slot-die coater offers a simple, convenient, materials-efficient route to print bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) that show efficiencies similar to spin-coating. Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and GI small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) methods are used in real time to characterize the active-layer formation during printing. A polymer-aggregation-phase-separation-crystallization mechanism for the evolution of the morphology describes the observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Liu
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA; Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
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14
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Willot P, Moerman D, Leclère P, Lazzaroni R, Baeten Y, Van der Auweraer M, Koeckelberghs G. One-Pot Synthesis and Characterization of All-Conjugated Poly(3-alkylthiophene)-block-poly(dialkylthieno[3,4-b]pyrazine). Macromolecules 2014. [DOI: 10.1021/ma501757e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - David Moerman
- Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials, Center of Innovation and Research in Materials & Polymers (CIRMAP), University of Mons − UMONS/Materia Nova, Place du Parc 20, B7000 Mons, Belgium
| | - Philippe Leclère
- Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials, Center of Innovation and Research in Materials & Polymers (CIRMAP), University of Mons − UMONS/Materia Nova, Place du Parc 20, B7000 Mons, Belgium
| | - Roberto Lazzaroni
- Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials, Center of Innovation and Research in Materials & Polymers (CIRMAP), University of Mons − UMONS/Materia Nova, Place du Parc 20, B7000 Mons, Belgium
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15
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Richards JJ, Whittle CL, Shao G, Pozzo LD. Correlating structure and photocurrent for composite semiconducting nanoparticles with contrast variation small-angle neutron scattering and photoconductive atomic force microscopy. ACS NANO 2014; 8:4313-4324. [PMID: 24707810 DOI: 10.1021/nn405914g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Aqueous dispersions of semiconducting nanoparticles have shown promise as a robust and scalable platform for the production of efficient polymer/fullerene active layers in organic photovoltaic applications. Semiconducting nanoparticles are a composite of both an n-type and p-type semiconductor contained within a single nanoparticle. In order to realize efficient organic solar cells from these materials, there is a need to understand how the size and internal distribution of materials within each nanoparticle contributes to photocurrent generation in a nanoparticle-derived device. Therefore, characterizing the internal distribution of conjugated polymer and fullerene within the dispersion is the first step to improving performance. To date, study of polymer/fullerene structure within these nanoparticles has been limited to microscopy techniques of deposited nanoparticles. In this work, we use contrast variation with small-angle neutron scattering to determine the internal distribution of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester inside the composite nanoparticles as a function of formulation while in dispersion. On the basis of these measurements, we connect the formulation of these nanoparticles with their internal structure. Using electrostatic deposited monolayers of these nanoparticles, we characterize intrinsic charge generation using photoconductive atomic force microscopy and correlate this with structures determined from small-angle neutron scattering measurements. These techniques combined show that the best performing composite nanoparticles are those that have a uniform distribution of conjugated polymer and fullerene throughout the nanoparticle volume such that electrons and holes are easily transported out of the particle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey J Richards
- Department of Chemical Engineering and ‡Department of Chemistry, University of Washington , Seattle Washington 98195, United States
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