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Vertical Phase Separation in Poly(3‐hexylthiophene): Fullerene Derivative Blends and its Advantage for Inverted Structure Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Xu Zheng,
Chen LiMin,
Yang Guanwen,
Huang ChunHao,
Hou Jianhui,
Wu Yue,
Li Gang,
Hsu ChainShu,
Yang Yang
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.200801286
Subject(s) - materials science , fullerene , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , substrate (aquarium) , phase (matter) , polymer , organic solar cell , acceptor , chemical engineering , polymer solar cell , derivative (finance) , nanotechnology , analytical chemistry (journal) , organic chemistry , composite material , oceanography , chemistry , physics , condensed matter physics , financial economics , engineering , economics , geology
Abstract A method which enables the investigation of the buried interfaces without altering the properties of the polymer films is used to study vertical phase separation of spin‐coated poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT):fullerene derivative blends. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis reveals the P3HT enrichment at the free (air) surfaces and abundance of fullerene derivatives at the organic/substrate interfaces. The vertical phase separation is attributed to the surface energy difference of the components and their interactions with the substrates. This inhomogeneous distribution of the donor and acceptor components significantly affects photovoltaic device performance and makes the inverted device structure a promising choice.