Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV14)
Publication date: 1st March 2014
Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs) are a promising low-cost technology for solar energy conversion devices. One critical aspect in the preparation of semiconductors for OPV applications and in the manufacture of solar cells is the need to minimise the presence of contaminants or impurities. Often, these impurities will have a detrimental impact on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and lifetime of OPV devices by influencing the electronic properties of the cell, for example by acting as charge carrier traps [1].
In this study a high efficiency semiconducting polymer for OPV applications is used to investigate the effects of polymer purity on the performance and operational stability of OPV devices. Specifically, we study the effects of Palladium (Pd) content mixed with PCDTBT; Pd is used as a catalyst in the polymerisation process of PCDTBT, during which it forms nanoparticles [2] that bind to conjugated polymers. A series of solar cell devices were fabricated using a blend of PCDTBT and [6,6]-Phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM), with Pd concentrations up to 0.25 wt%. The power conversion efficiency of these devices were measured over 140 hours giving insight into the operation stability of such solar cells.
To provide additional insight into the effects of Pd contamination; optical microscopy, laser beam induced current mapping, energy filtered transmission electron microscopy and space charge limited current techniques are used to further characterise the solar cell blend thin films. These results help rationalise the solar cell characteristics and identify a tolerance threshold for Pd content, below which the photovoltaic efficiency of a device is relatively unaffected.
Power conversion efficiencies of solar cell devices with increasing palladium concentrations before and after 140 hours of illumination. Black squares are initial efficiencies and red circles are efficiencies after 140 hours of illumination.
[1] Leong, W. L.; Hernandez-Sosa, G.; Cowan, S. R.; Moses, D.; Heeger, A. J. Manifestation of Carrier Relaxation Through the Manifold of Localized States in PCDTBT:PC60BM Bulk Heterojunction Material: The Role of PC84BM Traps on the Carrier Transport. Advanced Materials 2012, 24, 2273-2277. [2] Nielsen, K. T.; Bechgaard, K.; Krebs, F. C.; Removal of Palladium Nanoparticles from Polymer Materials. Macromolecules 2005, 38, 658-659.
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