High-Permittivity Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Interlayers for High-Performance Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Jurgen Kesters - , Hasselt University (Author)
  • Sanne Govaerts - , Hasselt University (Author)
  • Geert Pirotte - , Hasselt University (Author)
  • Jeroen Drijkoningen - , Hasselt University (Author)
  • Michèle Chevrier - , Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, University of Mons (Author)
  • Niko Van Den Brande - , Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Author)
  • Xianjie Liu - , Linköping University (Author)
  • Mats Fahlman - , Linköping University (Author)
  • Bruno Van Mele - , Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Author)
  • Laurence Lutsen - , Hasselt University (Author)
  • Dirk Vanderzande - , Hasselt University (Author)
  • Jean Manca - , Hasselt University (Author)
  • Sébastien Clément - , Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (Author)
  • Elizabeth Von Hauff - , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) (Author)
  • Wouter Maes - , Hasselt University (Author)

Abstract

Conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE) interfacial layers present a powerful way to boost the I-V characteristics of organic photovoltaics. Nevertheless, clear guidelines with respect to the structure of high-performance interlayers are still lacking. In this work, impedance spectroscopy is applied to probe the dielectric permittivity of a series of polythiophene-based CPEs. The presence of ionic pendant groups grants the formation of a capacitive double layer, boosting the charge extraction and device efficiency. A counteracting effect is the diminishing affinity with the underlying photoactive layer. To balance these two effects, we found copolymer structures containing nonionic side chains to be beneficial.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6309-6314
Number of pages6
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume8
Issue number10
Publication statusPublished - 16 Mar 2016
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • cathode interlayers, conjugated polyelectrolytes, dielectric permittivity, impedance spectroscopy, organic photovoltaics