The influence of polymer purification on the efficiency of poly(3-hexylthiophene):fullerene organic solar cells
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We report the influence of different polymer purification procedures on the photovoltaic performance of
bulk heterojunction solar cells formed from binary blends of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and
fullerenes. Selective Soxhlet extractions and metal scavenging agents were used to remove residual
monomer, magnesium salt by-products and catalyst from high-weight P3HT (Mw 121 kg/mol, PDI 1.8,
RR 99%) synthesised by the Grignard metathesis (GRIM) polymerization route. Using phenyl-C61-
butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM) as an electron acceptor, we observed an increase in average power
conversion efficiency from 2.3 to 4.8 % in going from crude to fully purified material. Using indene-C60
bisadduct (IC60BA) in place of PC60BM, we observed a further increase to an average value of 6.6 %,
which is high for a bulk heterojunction formed from a binary blend of P3HT and C60 fullerene derivatives.
bulk heterojunction solar cells formed from binary blends of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and
fullerenes. Selective Soxhlet extractions and metal scavenging agents were used to remove residual
monomer, magnesium salt by-products and catalyst from high-weight P3HT (Mw 121 kg/mol, PDI 1.8,
RR 99%) synthesised by the Grignard metathesis (GRIM) polymerization route. Using phenyl-C61-
butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM) as an electron acceptor, we observed an increase in average power
conversion efficiency from 2.3 to 4.8 % in going from crude to fully purified material. Using indene-C60
bisadduct (IC60BA) in place of PC60BM, we observed a further increase to an average value of 6.6 %,
which is high for a bulk heterojunction formed from a binary blend of P3HT and C60 fullerene derivatives.
Date Issued
2016-03-31
Date Acceptance
2016-02-15
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2016, 6
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
6
Copyright Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images
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unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license,
users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license,
unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license,
users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Commission of the European Communities
Technology Strategy Board
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Grant Number
EP/F061757/1
EP/H500227/1
PIIF-GA-2011-300091
101240
N/A
EP/G037515/1
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
23651