Do the Defects Make It Work? Defect Engineering in Pi-Conjugated Polymers and Their Solar Cells [electronic resource] : Preprint
- Published:
- Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2008.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy. - Physical Description:
- 6 pages : digital, PDF file
- Additional Creators:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.), United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Access Online
- Restrictions on Access:
- Free-to-read Unrestricted online access
- Summary:
- The charged defect density in common pi-conjugated polymers such as poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT, is around 1018 cm-3. Despite, or perhaps because of, this huge defect density, bulk heterojunction solar cells made from these polymers and a C60 derivative such as PCBM exhibit some of the highest efficiencies (~5%) yet obtained in solid state organic photovoltaic cells. We discuss defects in molecular organic semiconductors and in pi-conjugated polymers. These defects can be grouped in two categories, covalent and noncovalent. Somewhat analogous to treating amorphous silicon with hydrogen, we introduce chemical methods to modify the density and charge of the covalent defects in P3HT by treating it with electrophiles such as dimethyl sulfate and nucleophiles such as sodium methoxide. The effects of these treatments on the electrical and photovoltaic properties and stability of organic PV cells is discussed in terms of the change in the number and chemical properties of the defects. Finally, we address the question of whether the efficiency of OPV cells requires the presence of these defects which function as adventitious p-type dopants. Their presence relieves the resistance limitations usually encountered in cleaner organic semiconductors and can create built-in electric fields at junctions.
- Report Numbers:
- E 1.99:nrel/cp-270-42565
nrel/cp-270-42565 - Subject(s):
- Other Subject(s):
- Note:
- Published through SciTech Connect.
05/01/2008.
"nrel/cp-270-42565"
Presented at the 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 11-16 May 2008, San Diego, California.
Gregg, B. A.; Wang, D.; Reese, M.; Kopidakis N. - Funding Information:
- AC36-99-GO10337
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