Issue 10, 2012

The effect of selective interactions at the interface of polymer–oxide hybrid solar cells

Abstract

The working mechanisms of excitonic solar cells are strongly dominated by interface processes, which influence the final device efficiency. However, it is still very challenging to clearly track the effects of inter-molecular processes at a mesoscopic level. We report on the realization of polymer-based hybrid solar cells made of prototypical materials, namely, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) finely infiltrated in a TiO2 scaffold, with power conversion efficiency exceeding 1%. A step-change improvement in the device performance is enabled by engineering the hybrid interface by the insertion of an appropriate molecular interlayer. An unprecedented set of characterization techniques, including time-resolved optical spectroscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, positron annihilation spectroscopy and atomistic simulations, allows us to rationalize our findings. We show that a suitable chemical structure of the interlayer molecule induces selective intermolecular interactions, and thus a preferential surface energetic landscape and morphological order at the interface which consequently drives a strong improvement in charge generation and a decrease in recombination losses.

Graphical abstract: The effect of selective interactions at the interface of polymer–oxide hybrid solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 May 2012
Accepted
24 Jul 2012
First published
24 Jul 2012

Energy Environ. Sci., 2012,5, 9068-9076

The effect of selective interactions at the interface of polymeroxide hybrid solar cells

E. V. Canesi, M. Binda, A. Abate, S. Guarnera, L. Moretti, V. D'Innocenzo, R. Sai Santosh Kumar, C. Bertarelli, A. Abrusci, H. Snaith, A. Calloni, A. Brambilla, F. Ciccacci, S. Aghion, F. Moia, R. Ferragut, C. Melis, G. Malloci, A. Mattoni, G. Lanzani and A. Petrozza, Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 9068 DOI: 10.1039/C2EE22212D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements