Reducing burn-in voltage loss in polymer solar cells by increasing the polymer crystallinity

Thomas Heumueller; William R. Mateker; I. T. Sachs-Quintana; Koen Vandewal; Jonathan A. Bartelt; Timothy M. Burke; Tayebeh Ameri; Christoph J. Brabec; Michael D. McGehee

doi:10.1039/c4ee01842g

Reducing burn-in voltage loss in polymer solar cells by increasing the polymer crystallinity

Thomas Heumueller, William R. Mateker, I. T. Sachs-Quintana, Koen Vandewal, Jonathan A. Bartelt, Timothy M. Burke, Tayebeh Ameri, Christoph J. Brabec, Michael D. McGehee

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179 Scopus citations

Abstract

In order to commercialize polymer solar cells, the fast initial performance losses present in many high efficiency materials will have to be managed. This burn-in degradation is caused by light-induced traps and its characteristics depend on which polymer is used. We show that the light-induced traps are in the bulk of the active layer and we find a direct correlation between their presence and the open-circuit voltage loss in devices made with amorphous polymers. Solar cells made with crystalline polymers do not show characteristic open circuit voltage losses, even though light-induced traps are also present in these devices. This indicates that crystalline materials are more resistant against the influence of traps on device performance. Recent work on crystalline materials has shown there is an energetic driving force for charge carriers to leave amorphous, mixed regions of bulk heterojunctions, and charges are dominantly transported in pure, ordered phases. This energetic landscape allows efficient charge generation as well as extraction and also may benefit the stability against light-induced traps. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2974-2980
Number of pages	7
Journal	Energy & Environmental Science
Volume	7
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/c4ee01842g
State	Published - 2014
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-C1-015-21
Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge Prof. Alberto Salleo and Duc T. Duong for helpful discussions. TH gratefully acknowledges a “DAAD Doktorantenstipedium” and the SFB 953 “Synthetic Carbon Allotropes”. This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (CAMP) (Award no. KUS-C1-015-21), made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). CJB acknowledges funding from the Cluster of Excellence “Engineering of Advanced Materials”, the Bavarian SolTech initiative and the GRK 1896 “in situ microscopy”. JAB acknowledges government support by the Department of Defense (DoD) through the National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) Program.
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

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10.1039/c4ee01842g

Cite this

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title = "Reducing burn-in voltage loss in polymer solar cells by increasing the polymer crystallinity",

abstract = "In order to commercialize polymer solar cells, the fast initial performance losses present in many high efficiency materials will have to be managed. This burn-in degradation is caused by light-induced traps and its characteristics depend on which polymer is used. We show that the light-induced traps are in the bulk of the active layer and we find a direct correlation between their presence and the open-circuit voltage loss in devices made with amorphous polymers. Solar cells made with crystalline polymers do not show characteristic open circuit voltage losses, even though light-induced traps are also present in these devices. This indicates that crystalline materials are more resistant against the influence of traps on device performance. Recent work on crystalline materials has shown there is an energetic driving force for charge carriers to leave amorphous, mixed regions of bulk heterojunctions, and charges are dominantly transported in pure, ordered phases. This energetic landscape allows efficient charge generation as well as extraction and also may benefit the stability against light-induced traps. This journal is {\textcopyright} the Partner Organisations 2014.",

author = "Thomas Heumueller and Mateker, {William R.} and Sachs-Quintana, {I. T.} and Koen Vandewal and Bartelt, {Jonathan A.} and Burke, {Timothy M.} and Tayebeh Ameri and Brabec, {Christoph J.} and McGehee, {Michael D.}",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-C1-015-21 Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge Prof. Alberto Salleo and Duc T. Duong for helpful discussions. TH gratefully acknowledges a “DAAD Doktorantenstipedium” and the SFB 953 “Synthetic Carbon Allotropes”. This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (CAMP) (Award no. KUS-C1-015-21), made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). CJB acknowledges funding from the Cluster of Excellence “Engineering of Advanced Materials”, the Bavarian SolTech initiative and the GRK 1896 “in situ microscopy”. JAB acknowledges government support by the Department of Defense (DoD) through the National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) Program. This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.",

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AU - Mateker, William R.

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AU - Burke, Timothy M.

AU - Ameri, Tayebeh

AU - Brabec, Christoph J.

AU - McGehee, Michael D.

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PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - In order to commercialize polymer solar cells, the fast initial performance losses present in many high efficiency materials will have to be managed. This burn-in degradation is caused by light-induced traps and its characteristics depend on which polymer is used. We show that the light-induced traps are in the bulk of the active layer and we find a direct correlation between their presence and the open-circuit voltage loss in devices made with amorphous polymers. Solar cells made with crystalline polymers do not show characteristic open circuit voltage losses, even though light-induced traps are also present in these devices. This indicates that crystalline materials are more resistant against the influence of traps on device performance. Recent work on crystalline materials has shown there is an energetic driving force for charge carriers to leave amorphous, mixed regions of bulk heterojunctions, and charges are dominantly transported in pure, ordered phases. This energetic landscape allows efficient charge generation as well as extraction and also may benefit the stability against light-induced traps. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.

AB - In order to commercialize polymer solar cells, the fast initial performance losses present in many high efficiency materials will have to be managed. This burn-in degradation is caused by light-induced traps and its characteristics depend on which polymer is used. We show that the light-induced traps are in the bulk of the active layer and we find a direct correlation between their presence and the open-circuit voltage loss in devices made with amorphous polymers. Solar cells made with crystalline polymers do not show characteristic open circuit voltage losses, even though light-induced traps are also present in these devices. This indicates that crystalline materials are more resistant against the influence of traps on device performance. Recent work on crystalline materials has shown there is an energetic driving force for charge carriers to leave amorphous, mixed regions of bulk heterojunctions, and charges are dominantly transported in pure, ordered phases. This energetic landscape allows efficient charge generation as well as extraction and also may benefit the stability against light-induced traps. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.

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JF - Energy & Environmental Science

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ER -

Reducing burn-in voltage loss in polymer solar cells by increasing the polymer crystallinity

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