Optical absorption and emission characterization of P3HT: graphene composite for its prospective photovoltaic application

Abstract

In the present work, regioregular P3HT (Poly (3-hexylthiophene-2, 5-diyl) was blended with graphene nanopowder and the optical spectroscopic characterization of the composite has been performed. It was observed that at low concentration of graphene (up to 0.1 wt %) there is no significant variation in absorption intensity or wavelength range. But at higher concentration (> 0.1 wt %) the absorption intensity starts reducing. Whereas, the photoluminescence of the composite solution quenches as we increase the concentration of graphene. It reveals that charge recombination decreases with increase in concentration (0.05 to 0.5 wt %) of graphene. Therefore 0.1 wt % seems to be the optimized concentration of graphene in the composite for which appropriate quenching of PL was observed without any significant reduction in absorption of photons. Thus maximum efficiency in P3HT: graphene composite photovoltaic cell is expected for 0.1 wt % of graphene concentration in our typical case.