Aromatic and non-aromatic solvent in nanocomposited MEH-PPV:CNTs thin film for organic solar cells

Abstract

This paper explained the effect of solvent used to dissolve MEH-PPV powder in preparing the nanocomposited MEH-PPV:CNTs. The ratio of MEH-PPV powder to the solvent used is 1:1 (20 mg/ml). The solvents involved were toluene and tetrahydrofuran (THF). The preparation of the MEH-PPV solution took 48 hours of stirring to ensure that the MEH-PPV powder was well dissolved. After 48 hours of stirring, the black powder of annealed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was added to the polymer solution. Both polymer solutions were added with 1,2,3 and 4 wt% of CNTs respectively. Nanocomposited MEH-PPV:CNTs thin film which used THF as the solvent is labelled as S1 where else S2 used toluene. The electrical properties of the two sets of samples are characterized by means of current-voltage in dark and under illumination. Where else, optical properties are done by measuring the absorbance and photoluminescence of the samples. From the results, it indicates that the conductivity in S2 is higher compared to conductivity under illumination in S1. Thickness of S2 is higher compared to S1. This indicates that THF as the solvent can ensure the dispersity of the CNTs in the nanocomposites. The optical properties indicate that S1 and S2 showed no peak shifting. Meanwhile in photoluminescence, S1 showed better quenching than S2.