Morphology and interdiffusion control to improve adhesion and cohesion properties in inverted polymer solar cells

Type
Article

Authors
Dupont, Stephanie R.
Voroshazi, Eszter
Nordlund, Dennis
Dauskardt, Reinhold H.

KAUST Grant Number
KUS-C1-015-21

Date
2015-01

Abstract
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. The role of pre-electrode deposition annealing on the morphology and the fracture properties of polymer solar cells is discussed. We found an increase in adhesion at the weak P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS interface with annealing temperature, caused by increased interdiffusion between the organic layers. The formation of micrometer sized PCBM crystallites, which occurs with annealing above the crystallization temperature of PCBM, initially weakened the P3HT:PCBM layer itself. Further annealing improved the cohesion, due to a pull-out toughening mechanism of the growing PCBM clusters. Understanding how the morphology, tuned by annealing, affects the adhesive and cohesive properties in these organic films is essential for the mechanical integrity of OPV devices.

Citation
Dupont SR, Voroshazi E, Nordlund D, Dauskardt RH (2015) Morphology and interdiffusion control to improve adhesion and cohesion properties in inverted polymer solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 132: 443–449. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2014.09.013.

Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (CAMP) supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under Award no. KUS-C1-015-21. Portions of this research were carried out at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, a Directorate of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science by Stanford University.

Publisher
Elsevier BV

Journal
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

DOI
10.1016/j.solmat.2014.09.013

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