Polymer Non fullerene Solar Cells using Environmentally Benign Solvents

Undergraduate #330
Discipline: Nanoscience
Subcategory: Materials Science
Session: 1
Room: Exhibit Hall A

Michael Rose - Fayetteville State University
Co-Author(s): Tia Wright, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC; Jennifer Barkley, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC; Shubo Han, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC; Bhoj Gautam, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC

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Polymer non fullerene solar cells are emerging as alternatives over fullerene based polymer solar cells as they have several advantages over fullerenes, namely high absorption coefficient, near infra-red absorption, better thermal stability, highly tunable molecular energy levels, low reorganization energy associated with low voltage loss, and complementary donor acceptor absorption. However, harmful halogenated solvents have been mostly used to optimize the power conversion efficiency of these structures. Here we used the environmentally friendly solvents to prepare the blends and compared the morphological changes with halogen based blends. Largely aggregated and rough thin film morphology was observed in green solvents processed blends whereas smooth and uniform topography, and homogeneous phase separation was observed in halogen based blends. The morphological differences in these blends impact the performance of devices made from these blends. Our results provide important guidelines for the design of green solvent processed polymer solar cells.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): This work was supported by NSF RIA 1900998.

Faculty Advisor: Bhoj Gautam, bgautam@uncfsu.edu

Role: Sample preparation, data collection and data analysis.