Issue 13, 2014

Effects of nanostructure geometry on nanoimprinted polymer photovoltaics

Abstract

We demonstrate the effects of nanostructure geometry on the nanoimprint induced poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) chain alignment and the performance of nanoimprinted photovoltaic devices. Out-of-plane and in-plane grazing incident X-ray diffraction techniques are employed to characterize the nanoimprint induced chain alignment in P3HT nanogratings with different widths, spacings and heights. We observe the dependence of the crystallite orientation on nanostructure geometry such that a larger width of P3HT nanogratings leads to more edge-on chain alignment while the increase in height gives more vertical alignment. Consequently, P3HT/[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric-acid-methyl-ester (PCBM) solar cells with the highest density and aspect ratio P3HT nanostructures show the highest power conversion efficiency among others, which is attributed to the efficient charge separation, transport and light absorption.

Graphical abstract: Effects of nanostructure geometry on nanoimprinted polymer photovoltaics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Feb 2014
Accepted
21 Apr 2014
First published
23 Apr 2014

Nanoscale, 2014,6, 7576-7584

Author version available

Effects of nanostructure geometry on nanoimprinted polymer photovoltaics

Y. Yang, K. Mielczarek, M. Aryal, A. Zakhidov and W. Hu, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 7576 DOI: 10.1039/C4NR01114G

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