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Isothermal crystallization of P3HT:PCBM blends studied by RHC

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Abstract

Defining appropriate annealing temperatures and times is vitally important for increasing the efficiency of bulk heterojunction solar cells by favoring the crystallinity of the polymer-fullerene blend components. In order to better understand the annealing process, the isothermal crystallization of poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend investigated by means of rapid heating cooling calorimetry (RHC). Isothermal crystallization experiments at temperatures in between the glass transition and melting, within the temperature range of 70–150 °C, can successfully be performed since RHC permits cooling at a sufficiently high rate in order to prevent crystallization during cooling. Crystallization isotherms were determined from the subsequent melting behavior of the blend. They were measured for a wide set of annealing temperatures and times, and the evolution of the crystallization rate with temperature is compared for annealing from the glassy state and from the melt state.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support by the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen) and TA Instruments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science, Faculty of Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Fatma Demir, Niko Van den Brande, Bruno Van Mele & Guy Van Assche

  2. Institute for Materials for Research, Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 1, 3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium

    Sabine Bertho, Dirk Vanderzande & Jean Manca

Authors
  1. Fatma Demir
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  2. Niko Van den Brande
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  3. Bruno Van Mele
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  4. Sabine Bertho
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  5. Dirk Vanderzande
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  6. Jean Manca
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  7. Guy Van Assche
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Correspondence to Guy Van Assche.

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Demir, F., Van den Brande, N., Van Mele, B. et al. Isothermal crystallization of P3HT:PCBM blends studied by RHC. J Therm Anal Calorim 105, 845–849 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1701-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1701-8

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