Correlating the phase behavior with the device performance in binary poly-3-hexylthiophene: nonfullerene acceptor blend using optical probes of the microstructure
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Supporting information
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The performance of photovoltaic devices based on blends of conjugated polymers with nonfullerene acceptors depends on the phase behavior and microstructure of the binary, which in turn depends on the chemical structures of the molecular components and the blend composition. We investigate the correlation between the molecular structure, composition, phase behavior, and device performance of a model system consisting of semicrystalline poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) as the donor polymer and three nonfullerene acceptors, two of which (O-IDTBR/EH-IDTBR) have a planar core with different side chains and one (O-IDFBR) of which has a twisted core. We combine differential scanning calorimetry with optical measurements including UV–Vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and Raman spectroscopy and photovoltaic device performance measurements, all at varying blend composition. For P3HT:IDTBR blends, the crystallinity of polymer and acceptor is preserved over a wide composition range and the blend displays a eutectic phase behavior, with the optimum solar cell composition lying close to the eutectic composition. For P3HT:IDFBR blends, increasing acceptor content disrupts the polymer crystallinity, and the optimum device composition appears to be limited by polymer connectivity rather than being linked to the eutectic composition. The optical probes allow us to probe both the crystalline and amorphous phases, clearly revealing the compositions at which component mixing disrupts crystallinity.
Date Issued
2020-10-13
Date Acceptance
2020-09-01
Citation
Chemistry of Materials, 2020, 32 (19), pp.8294-8305
ISSN
0897-4756
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Start Page
8294
End Page
8305
Journal / Book Title
Chemistry of Materials
Volume
32
Issue
19
Copyright Statement
© 2020 American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Chemistry of Materials, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c02093
Identifier
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c02093
Subjects
Materials
03 Chemical Sciences
09 Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-09-02