Issue 12, 2014

Benzothiadiazole-based polymer for single and double junction solar cells with high open circuit voltage

Abstract

Single and double junction solar cells with high open circuit voltage were fabricated using poly{thiophene-2,5-diyl-alt-[5,6-bis(dodecyloxy)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole]-4,7-diyl} (PBT-T1) blended with fullerene derivatives in different weight ratios. The role of fullerene loading on structural and morphological changes was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD and AFM measurements showed that a higher fullerene mixing ratio led to breaking of inter-chain packing and hence resulted in smaller disordered polymer domains. When the PBT-T1:PC60BM weight ratio was 1 : 1, the polymer retained its structural order; however, large aggregated domains formed, leading to poor device performance due to low fill factor and short circuit current density. When the ratio was increased to 1 : 2 and then 1 : 3, smaller amorphous domains were observed, which improved photovoltaic performance. The 1 : 2 blending ratio was optimal due to adequate charge transport pathways giving rise to moderate short circuit current density and fill factor. Adding 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) additive into the 1 : 2 blend films further improved both the short circuit current density and fill factor, leading to an increased efficiency to 4.5% with PC60BM and 5.65% with PC70BM. These single junction solar cells exhibited a high open circuit voltage at ∼0.9 V. Photo-charge extraction by linearly increasing voltage (Photo-CELIV) measurements showed the highest charge carrier mobility in the 1 : 2 film among the three ratios, which was further enhanced by introducing the DIO. The Photo-CELIV measurements with varying delay times showed significantly higher extracted charge carrier density for cells processed with DIO. Tandem devices using P3HT:IC60BA as bottom cell and PBT-T1:PC60BM as top cell exhibited a high open circuit voltage of 1.62 V with 5.2% power conversion efficiency.

Graphical abstract: Benzothiadiazole-based polymer for single and double junction solar cells with high open circuit voltage

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Feb 2014
Accepted
11 Apr 2014
First published
16 Apr 2014

Nanoscale, 2014,6, 7093-7100

Benzothiadiazole-based polymer for single and double junction solar cells with high open circuit voltage

S. Venkatesan, E. C. Ngo, Q. Chen, A. Dubey, L. Mohammad, N. Adhikari, A. F. Mitul and Q. Qiao, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 7093 DOI: 10.1039/C4NR01040J

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