Impact of solution phase behaviour and external fields on thin film morphology: PCBM and RRa-P3HT model system
Author(s)
Guilbert, AAY
Cabral, JT
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We report the impact of the ternary solution phase behaviour on the film morphology and crystallization of a model polymer:fullerene system. We employ UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, combined with sequential filtration and dilution, to establish the phase diagram for regio-random poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) in chlorobenzene. Films are systematically cast from one- and two-phase regions decoupling homogeneous and heterogenous nucleation, and the role of pre-formed aggregates from solutions. Increasing annealing temperature from 120 to 200 °C reveals a highly non-monotonic nucleation profile with a maximum at 170 °C, while the crystal growth rate increases monotonically. UV ozonolysis is employed to vary substrate energy, and found to increase nucleation rate and to promote a binary crystallization process. As previously found, exposure to light, under an inert atmosphere, effectively suppresses homogeneous nucleation; however, it has a considerably smaller effect on heterogeneous nucleation, either from solution aggregates or substrate-driven. Our results establish a quantitative link between solution thermodynamics, crystallization and provide insight into morphological design based on processing parameters in a proxy organic photovoltaic system.
Date Issued
2016-12-05
Date Acceptance
2016-12-05
Citation
Soft Matter, 2016, 13 (4), pp.827-835
ISSN
1744-683X
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Start Page
827
End Page
835
Journal / Book Title
Soft Matter
Volume
13
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry. If you are not the author of this article and you wish to reproduce material from it in a third party non-RSC publication you must formally request permission using RightsLink.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000395372100014&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Physical
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Polymer Science
Chemistry
Materials Science
Physics
SOLAR-CELLS
BULK HETEROJUNCTIONS
HIGH-PERFORMANCE
CRYSTALLIZATION
FULLERENES
SOLUBILITY
SEPARATION
P3HT/PCBM
LIGHT
03 Chemical Sciences
09 Engineering
02 Physical Sciences
Chemical Physics
Publication Status
Published