Premium
What is the Binding Energy of a Charge Transfer State in an Organic Solar Cell?
Author(s) -
Athanasopoulos Stavros,
Schauer Franz,
Nádaždy Vojtech,
Weiß Mareike,
Kahle FrankJulian,
Scherf Ullrich,
Bässler Heinz,
Köhler Anna
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201900814
Subject(s) - materials science , photocurrent , organic solar cell , chemical physics , monte carlo method , activation energy , dielectric spectroscopy , atomic physics , charge carrier , molecular physics , electrochemistry , physics , electrode , chemistry , optoelectronics , polymer , statistics , mathematics , composite material
The high efficiencies reported for organic solar cells and an almost negligible thermal activation measured for the photogeneration of charge carriers have called into question whether photoinduced interfacial charge transfer states are bound by a significant coulomb attraction, and how this can be reconciled with very low activation energies. Here, this question is addressed in a combined experimental and theoretical approach. The interfacial binding energy of a charge‐transfer state in a blend of MeLPPP:PCBM is determined by using energy resolved electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and is found to be about 0.5 eV. Temperature‐dependent photocurrent measurements on the same films, however, give an activation energy that is about one order of magnitude lower. Using analytical calculations and Monte Carlo simulation the authors illustrate how i) interfacial energetics and ii) transport topology reduce the activation energy required to separate the interfacial electron–hole pair, with about equal contributions from both effects. The activation energy, however, is not reduced by entropy, although entropy increases the overall photodissociation yield.