A Nanoparticle Approach towards Morphology Controlled Organic Photovoltaics (OPV)

Abstract

Silicon nano-particles grafted with two different organic oligomers were prepared; the oligomers used were a phenylene-vinylene (PV) oligomer and a 3,3'''-didodecylquaterthiophene. The graftings were performed by the use of two different functional groups, the PV oligomer was grafted by a hydroxyl-group in the form of a phenol and a lithium derivative was used to graft the 3,3'''-didodecylquaterthiophene. The morphology and size of the grafted particles were analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the extent of the grafting was analyzed by NMR. Organic photovoltaics with normal geometry (ITO/PEDOT:PSS/active layer/Al) were prepared using these materials as a donor and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester ([60]PCBM) as the acceptor and yielded a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.27%, an open circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.93 V, a short circuit current density (J_SC) of 0.89 mA/cm², and a fill factor (FF) of 32.5% for a lead device with an active area of 0.25 cm².

Keywords

• organic photovoltaics
• silicon nano-particles
• morphology control