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Effect of degradation on electronic properties of polymer solar cells
Author(s) -
Gaur Ankita,
Kumar Pankaj
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.3125
Subject(s) - degradation (telecommunications) , materials science , polymer solar cell , solar cell , polymer , deposition (geology) , chemical engineering , polymer degradation , composite material , optoelectronics , electronic engineering , paleontology , sediment , engineering , biology
We present here the effect of degradation on electronic properties of polymer solar cells. Investigations were performed on two types of solar cells based on the bulk‐heterojunction network of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) and phenyl [6,6] C 61 butyric acid methyl ester, one with slow degradation whereas other with faster degradation. Samples were prepared in identical conditions with controlled atmosphere, but for faster degradation, one of the samples was exposed to ambient air (rich in O 2 and H 2 O molecules) before deposition of top metal electrode. The sample with slow degradation showed linear degradation in short circuit current density ( J sc ), whereas the sample with faster degradation exhibited exponential degradation in J sc . Linear degradation happens due to degradation in the active layer only whereas the exponential degradation is because of through degradation of the solar cell. The effect of degradation is investigated on different diode parameters. Because of different degradation processes in the two samples, the variations in diode parameters with time are different. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.