Ternary Composite of Polymer, Fullerene and Fluorinated Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as the Active Layer of Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

Fluorinated multi-walled carbon nanotubes are implemented as the third component of the active layer of organic solar cells. The addition of approximately 1% weight fraction of these nanotubes into PCDTBT/PC60BM polymer/fullerene active layer leads to a noticeable increase in the main photovoltaic parameters of the solar cells, including their stability. Presumably, the origins of this influence are optimizing the donor/acceptor composite morphology and reinforcing its structure with fluorinated multi-walled carbon nanotubes. This hypothesis is supported by the dramatic influence of the fluorinated multi-walled carbon nanotube additive on the kinetics of the decay of the EPR signal of light-induced charges in the PCDTBT/PC60BM composite.

Keywords

• organic photovoltaics
• semiconducting polymer
• fullerene
• carbon nanotubes
• bulk heterojunction
• microscopy