Electrical and optical properties of thin films based on poly [2-methoxy-5 (2′-ethyl hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] doped with acridine orange dye with possible photovoltaic applications

Conjugated polymers have high potential for efficient production of low-cost flexible optoelectronics devices such as solar cells, photodiodes and light emitting diodes. In this paper, the interaction between poly [2-methoxy-5 (2′-ethyl hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) and acridine orange (AO) dye has been studied to examine the role of charge pair separation and photocurrent generation in organic photovoltaic films. The AO dye concentration has been optimized on the basis of absorption spectra and photoluminescence (PL) studies carried over the films particularly, for photovoltaic applications. For this purpose, MEH-PPV polymer was dissolved in n-butyl acetate and doped with different concentration of AO dye solution. The Current–Voltage characteristics of MEH-PPV films, prepared by spin-coating technique on ITO-coated glass substrate have been determined as a function of temperature. For the cathode contact, Al was deposited using RF sputtering technique so that the current is predominantly due to holes. The conductivity increases by two orders of magnitude as the AO dye concentration increases to 2.65 mol L−1. In optical properties, we have studied the UV–visible absorption spectra, PL spectra of undoped and doped MEH-PPV films. The absorption studies show that the addition of AO dye does not significantly change (reduce) the absorption, which indicates the suitability of photon absorption. The PL spectra were recorded for MEH-PPV films, which become narrow on increasing the AO dye concentration. The PL studies indicate that up to certain concentration of AO dye in MEH-PPV films, PL intensity decreases as compare to that for undoped MEH-PPV film. The combined effect of increase in conductivity by two orders, decrease in PL intensity and no significant change in absorption makes the material suitable for photovoltaic applications.