Recombination in polymer:Fullerene solar cells with open-circuit voltages approaching and exceeding 1.0 V

Eric T. Hoke; Koen Vandewal; Jonathan A. Bartelt; William R. Mateker; Jessica D. Douglas; Rodrigo Noriega; Kenneth Graham; Jean Frechet; Alberto Salleo; Michael D. McGehee

doi:10.1002/aenm.201200474

Recombination in polymer:Fullerene solar cells with open-circuit voltages approaching and exceeding 1.0 V

Eric T. Hoke, Koen Vandewal, Jonathan A. Bartelt, William R. Mateker, Jessica D. Douglas, Rodrigo Noriega, Kenneth Graham, Jean Frechet, Alberto Salleo, Michael D. McGehee

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

211 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polymer:fullerene solar cells are demonstrated with power conversion efficiencies over 7% with blends of PBDTTPD and PC 61 BM. These devices achieve open-circuit voltages ( V oc ) of 0.945 V and internal quantum efficiencies of 88%, making them an ideal candidate for the large bandgap junction in tandem solar cells. V oc 's above 1.0 V are obtained when the polymer is blended with multiadduct fullerenes; however, the photocurrent and fill factor are greatly reduced. In PBDTTPD blends with multiadduct fullerene ICBA, fullerene emission is observed in the photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra, indicating that excitons are recombining on ICBA. Voltage-dependent, steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements indicate that energy transfer occurs from PBDTTPD to ICBA and that back hole transfer from ICBA to PBDTTPD is inefficient. By analyzing the absorption and emission spectra from fullerene and charge transfer excitons, we estimate a driving free energy of -0.14 ± 0.06 eV is required for efficient hole transfer. These results suggest that the driving force for hole transfer may be too small for efficient current generation in polymer:fullerene solar cells with V oc values above 1.0 V and that non-fullerene acceptor materials with large optical gaps ( > 1.7 eV) may be required to achieve both near unity internal quantum efficiencies and values of V oc exceeding 1.0 V. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	220-230
Number of pages	11
Journal	Advanced Energy Materials
Volume	3
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201200474
State	Published - Sep 14 2012

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-C1-015-21
Acknowledgements: This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (Award No KUS-C1-015-21), made possible by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Additional support was provided for E.T.H. by the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation and for J.A.B. by the NDSEG fellowship. The authors would like to thank Laxman Pandey and Chad Risko for calculating the PBDTTPD triplet absorption cross section and Ian Howard for helpful discussions.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
General Materials Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1002/aenm.201200474

Cite this

@article{fc751be009b94f8c9d47987780a6ec26,

title = "Recombination in polymer:Fullerene solar cells with open-circuit voltages approaching and exceeding 1.0 V",

abstract = "Polymer:fullerene solar cells are demonstrated with power conversion efficiencies over 7% with blends of PBDTTPD and PC 61 BM. These devices achieve open-circuit voltages ( V oc ) of 0.945 V and internal quantum efficiencies of 88%, making them an ideal candidate for the large bandgap junction in tandem solar cells. V oc 's above 1.0 V are obtained when the polymer is blended with multiadduct fullerenes; however, the photocurrent and fill factor are greatly reduced. In PBDTTPD blends with multiadduct fullerene ICBA, fullerene emission is observed in the photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra, indicating that excitons are recombining on ICBA. Voltage-dependent, steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements indicate that energy transfer occurs from PBDTTPD to ICBA and that back hole transfer from ICBA to PBDTTPD is inefficient. By analyzing the absorption and emission spectra from fullerene and charge transfer excitons, we estimate a driving free energy of -0.14 ± 0.06 eV is required for efficient hole transfer. These results suggest that the driving force for hole transfer may be too small for efficient current generation in polymer:fullerene solar cells with V oc values above 1.0 V and that non-fullerene acceptor materials with large optical gaps ( > 1.7 eV) may be required to achieve both near unity internal quantum efficiencies and values of V oc exceeding 1.0 V. {\textcopyright} 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co.",

author = "Hoke, {Eric T.} and Koen Vandewal and Bartelt, {Jonathan A.} and Mateker, {William R.} and Douglas, {Jessica D.} and Rodrigo Noriega and Kenneth Graham and Jean Frechet and Alberto Salleo and McGehee, {Michael D.}",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-C1-015-21 Acknowledgements: This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (Award No KUS-C1-015-21), made possible by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Additional support was provided for E.T.H. by the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation and for J.A.B. by the NDSEG fellowship. The authors would like to thank Laxman Pandey and Chad Risko for calculating the PBDTTPD triplet absorption cross section and Ian Howard for helpful discussions.",

year = "2012",

month = sep,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1002/aenm.201200474",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "3",

pages = "220--230",

journal = "Advanced Energy Materials",

issn = "1614-6832",

publisher = "Wiley-VCH Verlag",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Recombination in polymer:Fullerene solar cells with open-circuit voltages approaching and exceeding 1.0 V

AU - Hoke, Eric T.

AU - Vandewal, Koen

AU - Bartelt, Jonathan A.

AU - Mateker, William R.

AU - Douglas, Jessica D.

AU - Noriega, Rodrigo

AU - Graham, Kenneth

AU - Frechet, Jean

AU - Salleo, Alberto

AU - McGehee, Michael D.

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-C1-015-21 Acknowledgements: This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (Award No KUS-C1-015-21), made possible by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Additional support was provided for E.T.H. by the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation and for J.A.B. by the NDSEG fellowship. The authors would like to thank Laxman Pandey and Chad Risko for calculating the PBDTTPD triplet absorption cross section and Ian Howard for helpful discussions.

PY - 2012/9/14

Y1 - 2012/9/14

N2 - Polymer:fullerene solar cells are demonstrated with power conversion efficiencies over 7% with blends of PBDTTPD and PC 61 BM. These devices achieve open-circuit voltages ( V oc ) of 0.945 V and internal quantum efficiencies of 88%, making them an ideal candidate for the large bandgap junction in tandem solar cells. V oc 's above 1.0 V are obtained when the polymer is blended with multiadduct fullerenes; however, the photocurrent and fill factor are greatly reduced. In PBDTTPD blends with multiadduct fullerene ICBA, fullerene emission is observed in the photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra, indicating that excitons are recombining on ICBA. Voltage-dependent, steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements indicate that energy transfer occurs from PBDTTPD to ICBA and that back hole transfer from ICBA to PBDTTPD is inefficient. By analyzing the absorption and emission spectra from fullerene and charge transfer excitons, we estimate a driving free energy of -0.14 ± 0.06 eV is required for efficient hole transfer. These results suggest that the driving force for hole transfer may be too small for efficient current generation in polymer:fullerene solar cells with V oc values above 1.0 V and that non-fullerene acceptor materials with large optical gaps ( > 1.7 eV) may be required to achieve both near unity internal quantum efficiencies and values of V oc exceeding 1.0 V. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co.

AB - Polymer:fullerene solar cells are demonstrated with power conversion efficiencies over 7% with blends of PBDTTPD and PC 61 BM. These devices achieve open-circuit voltages ( V oc ) of 0.945 V and internal quantum efficiencies of 88%, making them an ideal candidate for the large bandgap junction in tandem solar cells. V oc 's above 1.0 V are obtained when the polymer is blended with multiadduct fullerenes; however, the photocurrent and fill factor are greatly reduced. In PBDTTPD blends with multiadduct fullerene ICBA, fullerene emission is observed in the photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra, indicating that excitons are recombining on ICBA. Voltage-dependent, steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements indicate that energy transfer occurs from PBDTTPD to ICBA and that back hole transfer from ICBA to PBDTTPD is inefficient. By analyzing the absorption and emission spectra from fullerene and charge transfer excitons, we estimate a driving free energy of -0.14 ± 0.06 eV is required for efficient hole transfer. These results suggest that the driving force for hole transfer may be too small for efficient current generation in polymer:fullerene solar cells with V oc values above 1.0 V and that non-fullerene acceptor materials with large optical gaps ( > 1.7 eV) may be required to achieve both near unity internal quantum efficiencies and values of V oc exceeding 1.0 V. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/562328

UR - http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/aenm.201200474

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84872713846&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/aenm.201200474

DO - 10.1002/aenm.201200474

M3 - Article

SN - 1614-6832

VL - 3

SP - 220

EP - 230

JO - Advanced Energy Materials

JF - Advanced Energy Materials

IS - 2

ER -

Recombination in polymer:Fullerene solar cells with open-circuit voltages approaching and exceeding 1.0 V

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this