Abstract
To develop a new solventless and environment-friendly processing method for large-scale production of organic photovoltaic cells, the processability by extrusion of two photoactive polymers was studied. Poly(3-octylthiophene) was chosen as donor polymer and polystyrene grafted by fullerene C60 asacceptor polymer. In the molten state, poly(3-octylthiophene) exhibits a similar behavior to that of typical flexible polymers and then could be processed by extrusion at temperatures above 180°C. An appropriate range of grafted C60 (from 4 to 12vol%) has been determined in previous works from functional properties, thermal behavior and morphology observations displayed by a series of polystyrenes grafted by various fullerene C60 contents. The rheological properties (storage and loss moduli, melt viscosity) of the synthesized C60 grafted polystyrenes series are investigated. Two successive transitions in the viscosity are observed at 3–4 and 12–13vol% of grafted C60, related to the percolation of C60 molecules and to the formation, growth and percolation of C60 aggregates, respectively. For extrusion compatibility with poly(3-octylthiophene), the optimal content of grafted C60 ranges from 7 to 12vol% according to the rheological behavior. Thus, the processing of donor/acceptor heterojunctions by extrusion could now be considered to produce active layers of photovoltaic organic solar cells.
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