In Situ Optical Studies on Morphology Formation in Organic Photovoltaic Blends

Yanfeng Liu, Aymen Yangui, Rui Zhang, Alexander Kiligaridis, Ellen Moons, Feng Gao, Olle Inganäs, Ivan G. Scheblykin, Fengling Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The efficiency of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) based organic solar cells is highly dependent on the morphology of the blend film, which is a result of a fine interplay between donor, acceptor, and solvent during the film drying. In this work, a versatile set-up of in situ spectroscopies is used to follow the morphology evolution during blade coating of three iconic BHJ systems, including polymer:fullerene, polymer:nonfullerene small molecule, and polymer:polymer. the drying and photoluminescence quenching dynamics are systematically study during the film formation of both pristine and BHJ films, which indicate that the component with higher molecular weight dominates the blend film formation and the final morphology. Furthermore, Time-resolved photoluminescence, which is employed for the first time as an in situ method for such drying studies, allows to quantitatively determine the extent of dynamic and static quenching, as well as the relative change of quantum yield during film formation. This work contributes to a fundamental understanding of microstructure formation during the processing of different blend films. The presented setup is considered to be an important tool for the future development of blend inks for solution-cast organic or hybrid electronics.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2100585
JournalSmall Methods
Volume5
Issue number10
Early online date2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
  • Materials Chemistry

Free keywords

  • bulk heterojunction morphology
  • in situ spectroscopy
  • laser scattering
  • photoluminescence quenching
  • time-resolved photoluminescence

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