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Photovoltaic properties of bulk heterojunction solar cells incorporating 2-hydroxylethyl- and fullerene-functionalized conjugated polymers

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Abstract

We have synthesized a series of maleimide–thiophene copolymers presenting pendent 2-hydroxylethyl and fullerene units for use as photo-energy conversion materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs), which we fabricated from blends of these maleimide–thiophene copolymers and the fullerene derivative [6, 6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). A too-homogenous distribution of the 2-hydroxylethyl-functionalized copolymer and PCBM inhibited charge separation and transport in the photoactive layer. Introducing fullerenes as pendent units of the copolymer promoted the formation of phase-separated interpenetrating networks with sizable PCBM domains in the photoactive layer, favorable for transporting charges to the electrodes. The photovoltaic performance and operational stability of PSCs based on the fullerene-functionalized copolymer/PCBM blends were superior to those based on the hydroxyethyl-functionalized copolymer/PCBM blends.

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Acknowledgment

We thank the National Science Council of Taiwan, ROC, for financial support (grant NSC99-2221-E-224-001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan

    Rong-Ho Lee

  2. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliu, Yunlin, 640, Taiwan

    Liang-Yuan Lee

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  1. Rong-Ho Lee
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  2. Liang-Yuan Lee
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Correspondence to Rong-Ho Lee.

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Fig. S1

Normalized UV–vis absorption spectra of PTM21-OH/PCBM and PTM21-C60/PCBM blend films. (JPEG 11 kb)

High resolution (TIFF 1763 kb)

Fig. S2

Normalized PL spectra of (a) PTM10/PCBM blend films, (b) PTM41-C60 and PTM41-OH/PCBM blend films, and (c) PTM21-C60 and PTM21-OH/PCBM blend films. (JPEG 13 kb)

High resolution (TIFF 1872 kb)

Fig. S3

AFM images of films of PTM41-C60/PCBM blends. (a, c, e) Topographic images; (b, d, f) phase images. PTM41-C60/PCBM ratios (w/w): (a, b) 1:1; (c, d) 1:2; (e, f) 1:4. Polymer films were dried at 80 °C for 1.0 h. (JPEG 41 kb)

High resolution (TIFF 316 kb)

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Lee, RH., Lee, LY. Photovoltaic properties of bulk heterojunction solar cells incorporating 2-hydroxylethyl- and fullerene-functionalized conjugated polymers. Colloid Polym Sci 289, 1215–1231 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-011-2439-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-011-2439-3

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