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Looking at bulk-heterojunction organic photovoltaics from two viewpoints: morphology development and charge transfer

Book Contribution - Book Chapter Conference Contribution

In this paper, a combined experimental and theoretical study was performed on the P3HT:PCBM system used in organic photovoltaics. Fast-scanning differential chip calorimetry, an advanced thermal analysis technique, was used to simulate the thermal annealing used in the production of P3HT: PCBM solar cells to increase the degree of crystallinity, and thus efficiency. The main advantage of this technique for stuying the thermal annealing are the very high rates of heating and cooling that can be used, up to 10(6) K.s(-1), permitting one to avoid crystallization during cooling. In parallel with the experimental study, the charge transfer between donor (P3HT) and acceptor (PCBM) at the interface is studied using density functional theory. The charge separation between donor and acceptor present for the ground state of the combined system, diminished when the first triplet was investigated. This was explained by the formation of a bridge state, formed after population by the LUMO with one electron. Such a molecular orbital can facilitate charge transfer.
Book: Proceedings of SPIE
Volume: 8435
ISBN:978-0-8194-9127-5
Publication year:2012
Keywords:Organic solar cells, Chip calorimetry, DFT, Advanced thermal analysis, Photovoltaics
  • ORCID: /0000-0002-5324-6261/work/83780930
  • ORCID: /0000-0003-3472-9863/work/82862790
  • Scopus Id: 84862289233