Abstract
We investigated the role of a functional solid additive, 2,3-dihydroxypyridine (DHP), in influencing the optoelectronic, morphological, structural and photovoltaic properties of bulk-heterojunction-based polymer solar cells (BHJ PSCs) fabricated using poly(3-hexylthiophene): indene-C60 bisadduct (P3HT:IC60BA) photoactive medium. A dramatic increase in the power conversion efficiency (~20%) was witnessed for the BHJ PSCs treated with DHP compared to the pristine devices. A plausible explanation describing the alignment of pyridine moieties of DHP with the indene side groups of IC60BA is presented with a view to improving the performance of the BHJ PSCs via improved crystalline order and hydrophobicity changes.
Highlights
Bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells (BHJ PSCs) are considered prospective candidates for renewable energy technology, owing to their functionalities in new devices, and multiple advantages such as ease of fabrication, low cost, light weight, and roll-to-roll compatibility [1,2,3]
The characteristic vibronic peaks are observed at 510, 550 and 603 nm, while the absorbance of the poly(3-hexylthiophene): indene-C60 bisadduct (P3HT):indene-C60 bisadduct (IC60 BA):DHP was significantly enhanced in the same visible region [36,37]
The observed increase in absorbance can be attributed to the higher degree of P3HT crystallinity and extended P3HT conjugation length, which is consistent with the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results [41,42]
Summary
Bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells (BHJ PSCs) are considered prospective candidates for renewable energy technology, owing to their functionalities in new devices, and multiple advantages such as ease of fabrication, low cost, light weight, and roll-to-roll compatibility [1,2,3]. Literaturesearch search reveals that that the acceptor in the photoactive blend, and play keyofof roles in nanomorphology, crystallinity of the components, mobility, photocurrent, the AAliterature reveals exploration of functional additives to to optimize morphology of the fullerene-based binary components, photocurrent, and PCEthe ofthe the morphology. The thiophene it in P3HT,to the DHP formation due to of groups) is assume that the pyridine ininform form π–ππ–π interaction with thewith thiophene ring inring. These interactions could lead to optimal phase optimal can phase separation between. We present the of we present the details of our investigation role ofasDHP towards influencing thedetails optical, blend system exhibited a significant in PCE compared to the parent device. Microstructural, and PV properties of BHJ PSCs [30,31]
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