Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
78452 | Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells | 2012 | 6 Pages |
We report substantial improvements in efficiency and thermal stability of the poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) (P3HT:PCBM) bulk heterojunction (BHJ) system by adding a diblock copolymer P3HT-b-P(St89BAz11)-C60 (P3HT=poly (3-hexylthiophene), St=styrene, BAz=benzyl azide) as a compatibilizer. Small amounts of the diblock copolymer alter the interfacial morphology between the P3HT and PCBM components, resulting in a noticeable difference in phase segregation of the BHJ films, as evident in atomic force microscopy images. The best performance is observed in the P3HT:PCBM cell with 10% P3HT-b-P(St89BAz11)-C60, which exhibits substantially improved power conversion efficiency and thermal stability compared to the P3HT:PCBM control device.
► Thermal stability of P3HT:PCBM solar cells has enhanced with compatibilizer. ► Diblock-copolymer, P3HT-b-P(St89BAz11)-C60, has been used as the compatibilizer. ► The efficiency of devices with compatibilizer reaches 3.43% at 150 °C for 100 min. ► The device with compatibilizer retains over 90% of its performance at 150 °C for 10 h.