Emulsion-Based RIR-MAPLE Deposition of Conjugated Polymers: Primary Solvent Effect and Its Implications on Organic Solar Cell Performance.

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2016-08-03

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Abstract

Emulsion-based, resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) has been demonstrated as an alternative technique to deposit conjugated polymer films for photovoltaic applications; yet, a fundamental understanding of how the emulsion target characteristics translate into film properties and solar cell performance is unclear. Such understanding is crucial to enable the rational improvement of organic solar cell (OSC) efficiency and to realize the expected advantages of emulsion-based RIR-MAPLE for OSC fabrication. In this paper, the effect of the primary solvent used in the emulsion target is studied, both experimentally and theoretically, and it is found to determine the conjugated polymer cluster size in the emulsion as well as surface roughness and internal morphology of resulting polymer films. By using a primary solvent with low solubility-in-water and low vapor pressure, the surface roughness of deposited P3HT and PCPDTBT polymer films was reduced to 10 nm, and the efficiency of P3HT:PC61BM OSCs was increased to 3.2% (∼100 times higher compared to the first MAPLE OSC demonstration [ Caricato , A. P. ; Appl. Phys. Lett. 2012 , 100 , 073306 ]). This work unveils the mechanism of polymer film formation using emulsion-based RIR-MAPLE and provides insight and direction to determine the best ways to take advantage of the emulsion target approach to control film properties for different applications.

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10.1021/acsami.6b05596

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Ge, Wangyao, Nan K Li, Ryan D McCormick, Eli Lichtenberg, Yaroslava G Yingling and Adrienne D Stiff-Roberts (2016). Emulsion-Based RIR-MAPLE Deposition of Conjugated Polymers: Primary Solvent Effect and Its Implications on Organic Solar Cell Performance. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 8(30). pp. 19494–19506. 10.1021/acsami.6b05596 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12737.

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Scholars@Duke

Stiff-Roberts

Adrienne Stiff-Roberts

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dr. Stiff-Roberts received both the B.S. degree in physics from Spelman College and the B.E.E. degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999. She received an M.S.E. in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in applied physics in 2001 and 2004, respectively, from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she investigated high-temperature quantum dot infrared photodetectors grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Dr. Stiff-Roberts joined Duke University in August 2004, and she is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Dr. Stiff-Roberts' research interests include the synthesis of multi-component and hybrid (organic-inorganic) materials using a novel approach for organic-based thin film deposition that combines solution and vacuum-processing. Known as emulsion-based, resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE), this technique offers a completely new way to integrate novel functions into organic-based films and devices that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve otherwise. Research efforts include materials synthesis and characterization to investigate the fundamental mechanisms of thin-film growth using RIR-MAPLE, as well as device fabrication and characterization for a broad range of applications (especially optoelectronic and energy devices).


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