Optimized optical and morphological properties of thin MEH-PPV: PC71BM films deposited on glass substrates for photovoltaic applications

IF 3.3 3区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

Optical and Quantum Electronics Pub Date : 2024-11-18 DOI:10.1007/s11082-024-06524-2

Adonijah Anindo, Austine A. Mulama, Francis Otieno

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Abstract

Organic solar cells (OSCs) made of at least two electronically dissimilar molecules have attracted a lot of attention due to their low-cost solution manufacturing and color tunability. Bulk-heterojunction active layer usually achieved through spin-coating provide an appealing technique. These cells generate Frenkel excitons through photo-absorption in one molecule combined with acceptor resulting in the formation of free charge carriers that emerge after exciton dissociation at the donor–acceptor interface. These processes highly depend on optimization of the blend composition and deposition parameters such that we form an interpenetrating bi-continuous network with the domain sizes roughly twice of the exciton diffusion length. The choice of materials plays a major role in ensuring that sufficient energy offset at the donor/acceptor interface leads to an efficient charge separation. The study focused on probing a blend of poly [2-methoxy-5-(2’-ethylhexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene (MEH-PPV) and fullerene derivatives of phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) forming a bulk heterojunction active layer. We investigate the optical and morphological properties of MEH-PPV: PC₇₁BM spin-coated films at varied spin-coating parameters such as spin-rates and spin-step as well as blend properties including solution concentration, deposition techniques and donor–acceptor blend ratios. We related how deposition parameters affect the exciton quenching capabilities at donor–acceptor interface, film-surface homogeneity and light absorption in deposited films. From the optimized results obtained, deep photoluminescence quenching was observed for MEH-PPV doped with 75% PC₇₁BM in addition to reduced optical band gap energy (1.88 eV), a signature of improved charge transfer rate and photon-absorption. The optimized MEH-PPV: PC₇₁BM systems are possible candidates for photovoltaic applications especially in the production of thin organic photovoltaic solar cells.

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用于光伏应用的沉积在玻璃基板上的 MEH-PPV: PC71BM 薄膜的优化光学和形态特性

有机太阳能电池（OSC）至少由两种电子异构分子构成，由于其低成本的溶液制造和色彩可调性而备受关注。通常通过旋涂实现的大块异质结活性层提供了一种极具吸引力的技术。这些电池通过一个分子与受体结合的光吸收产生弗伦克尔激子，从而形成自由电荷载流子，这些载流子在供体-受体界面激子解离后出现。这些过程在很大程度上取决于混合成分和沉积参数的优化，这样才能形成一个相互渗透的双连续网络，畴的大小大约是激子扩散长度的两倍。材料的选择在确保供体/受体界面有足够的能量偏移以实现高效电荷分离方面起着重要作用。本研究重点探究了聚[2-甲氧基-5-（2'-乙基己氧基）-1, 4-亚苯基乙烯（MEH-PPV）和苯基-C71-丁酸甲酯富勒烯衍生物（PC71BM）的混合物形成的体异质结活性层。我们研究了不同旋涂参数（如旋涂速率和旋涂步骤）下 MEH-PPV：PC71BM 旋涂薄膜的光学和形态特性，以及混合特性（包括溶液浓度、沉积技术和供体-受体混合比）。我们研究了沉积参数如何影响供体-受体界面的激子淬灭能力、薄膜表面均匀性和沉积薄膜的光吸收。从获得的优化结果来看，掺杂了 75% PC71BM 的 MEH-PPV 除了光带隙能降低（1.88 eV）之外，还出现了深度光致发光淬灭，这是电荷转移率和光吸收改善的标志。经过优化的 MEH-PPV：PC71BM 系统有可能应用于光伏领域，尤其是生产薄型有机光伏太阳能电池。

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来源期刊

Optical and Quantum Electronics 工程技术-工程：电子与电气

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

20.00%

发文量

810

审稿时长

3.8 months

期刊介绍： Optical and Quantum Electronics provides an international forum for the publication of original research papers, tutorial reviews and letters in such fields as optical physics, optical engineering and optoelectronics. Special issues are published on topics of current interest. Optical and Quantum Electronics is published monthly. It is concerned with the technology and physics of optical systems, components and devices, i.e., with topics such as: optical fibres; semiconductor lasers and LEDs; light detection and imaging devices; nanophotonics; photonic integration and optoelectronic integrated circuits; silicon photonics; displays; optical communications from devices to systems; materials for photonics (e.g. semiconductors, glasses, graphene); the physics and simulation of optical devices and systems; nanotechnologies in photonics (including engineered nano-structures such as photonic crystals, sub-wavelength photonic structures, metamaterials, and plasmonics); advanced quantum and optoelectronic applications (e.g. quantum computing, memory and communications, quantum sensing and quantum dots); photonic sensors and bio-sensors; Terahertz phenomena; non-linear optics and ultrafast phenomena; green photonics.