We report the controlled preparation of water processable nanoparticles (NPs) employing the push-pull polymer PCDTBT and the fullerene acceptor PC71BM in order to enable solar cell processing using eco-friendly solvent (i.e. water). The presented method provides the possibility to separate the formation of the active layer blend and the deposition of the active layer into two different processes. For the first time, the benefits of aqueous processability for the high-potential class of push-pull polymers, generally requiring high boiling solvents, are made accessible. With our method we demonstrate excellent control over the blend stoichiometry and efficient mixing. Furthermore, we provide visualization of the nano morphology of the different NPs to obtain structural information down to similar to 2 nm resolution using advanced analytical electron microscopy. The imaging directly reveals very small compositional demixing in the PCDTBT:PC71BM blend NPs, in the size range of about <5 nm, indicating fine mixing at the molecular level. The suitability of the proposed methodology and materials towards the aspects of eco-friendly processing of organic solar cells is demonstrated through a processing of lab scale NPs solar cell prototypes reaching a power conversion efficiency of 1.9%. This work was supported by BOF funding of Hasselt University, the Interreg project Organext, and the IAP 7/05 project FS2 (Functional Supramolecular Systems), granted by the Science Policy Office of the Belgian Federal Government (BELSPO). A.E. is a post-doctoral fellow of the Flanders Research Foundation (FWO). M.P. gratefully acknowledges the SIM NanoForce program for financial support. S.B. further acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant #335078-COLOURATOMS). PCDTBT:PC71BM blend nanoparticles; nanomorphology; time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy; STEMSI; eco-friendly; solar cells


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    Title :

    Tuning of PCDTBT:PC71BM blend nanoparticles for eco-friendly processing of polymer solar cells




    Publication date :

    2017




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English



    Classification :

    BKL:    52.52 Thermische Energieerzeugung, Wärmetechnik / 50.70 Energie: Allgemeines / 52.56 Regenerative Energieformen, alternative Energieformen / 53.36 Energiedirektumwandler, elektrische Energiespeicher




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