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Alqahtani O, Hosseini SM, Ferron T, Murcia V, McAfee T, Vixie K, Huang F, Armin A, Shoaee S, Collins BA. Evidence That Sharp Interfaces Suppress Recombination in Thick Organic Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:56394-56403. [PMID: 34787408 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c15570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Commercialization and scale-up of organic solar cells (OSCs) using industrial solution printing require maintaining maximum performance at active-layer thicknesses >400 nm─a characteristic still not generally achieved in non-fullerene acceptor OSCs. NT812/PC71BM is a rare system, whose performance increases up to these thicknesses due to highly suppressed charge recombination relative to the classic Langevin model. The suppression in this system, however, uniquely depends on device processing, pointing toward the role of nanomorphology. We investigate the morphological origins of this suppressed recombination by combining results from a suite of X-ray techniques. We are surprised to find that while all investigated devices are composed of pure, similarly aggregated nanodomains, Langevin reduction factors can still be tuned from ∼2 to >1000. This indicates that pure aggregated phases are insufficient for non-Langevin (reduced) recombination. Instead, we find that large well-ordered conduits and, in particular, sharp interfaces between domains appear to help to keep opposite charges separated and percolation pathways clear for enhanced charge collection in thick active layers. To our knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to isolate the donor/acceptor interfacial width correlated with non-Langevin charge recombination. This new structure-property relationship will be key to successful commercialization of printed OSCs at scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Obaid Alqahtani
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
- Department of Physics, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj 11942, KSA
| | - Seyed Mehrdad Hosseini
- Optoelectronics of Organic Semiconductors Institute, University of Potsdam, Potsdam-Golm 14476, Germany
| | - Thomas Ferron
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
| | - Victor Murcia
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
| | - Terry McAfee
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Kevin Vixie
- Department of Mathematics, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
| | - Fei Huang
- Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China
| | - Ardalan Armin
- Department of Physics, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, U.K
| | - Safa Shoaee
- Optoelectronics of Organic Semiconductors Institute, University of Potsdam, Potsdam-Golm 14476, Germany
| | - Brian A Collins
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
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Gogoi HJ, Bajpai K, Mallajosyula AT, Solanki A. Advances in Flexible Memristors with Hybrid Perovskites. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:8798-8825. [PMID: 34491743 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Hybrid organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite (HOIP)-based memristors have captured strong attention not only as an emerging candidate for next-generation high-density information storage technology but also for use in healthcare technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) because of their unique properties: low weight, flexibility, compatibility, stretchability, and low power consumption. In this Perspective, we review the recent advances of various aspects of flexible memristors focusing on the selection of the flexible substrates, materials, interfaces, several resistive switching mechanisms, and different methodologies of perovskite growth. The current state of the art of the memristor as an artificial synapse, light-induced resistive switching, and logic gates is comprehensively and systematically reviewed. Finally, we briefly discuss the stability factors of perovskites and present the conclusion with a broad outlook on the progress and challenges in the field of perovskite-based flexible memristors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Himangshu Jyoti Gogoi
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
| | - Kunal Bajpai
- Department of Physics, School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar 382421, India
| | - Arun Tej Mallajosyula
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
| | - Ankur Solanki
- Department of Physics, School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar 382421, India
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Solanki A, Tavakoli MM, Xu Q, Dintakurti SSH, Lim SS, Bagui A, Hanna JV, Kong J, Sum TC. Heavy Water Additive in Formamidinium: A Novel Approach to Enhance Perovskite Solar Cell Efficiency. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2020; 32:e1907864. [PMID: 32350935 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201907864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2019] [Revised: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/22/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Heavy water or deuterium oxide (D2 O) comprises deuterium, a hydrogen isotope twice the mass of hydrogen. Contrary to the disadvantages of deuterated perovskites, such as shorter recombination lifetimes and lower/invariant efficiencies, the serendipitous effect of D2 O as a beneficial solvent additive for enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of triple-A cation (cesium (Cs)/methylammonium (MA)/formaminidium (FA)) perovskite solar cells from ≈19.2% (reference) to 20.8% (using 1 vol% D2 O) with higher stability is reported. Ultrafast optical spectroscopy confirms passivation of trap states, increased carrier recombination lifetimes, and enhanced charge carrier diffusion lengths in the deuterated samples. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and solid-state NMR spectroscopy validate the N-H2 group as the preferential isotope exchange site. Furthermore, the NMR results reveal the induced alteration of the FA to MA ratio due to deuteration causes a widespread alteration to several dynamic processes that influence the photophysical properties. First-principles density functional theory calculations reveal a decrease in PbI6 phonon frequencies in the deuterated perovskite lattice. This stabilizes the PbI6 structures and weakens the electron-LO phonon (Fröhlich) coupling, yielding higher electron mobility. Importantly, these findings demonstrate that selective isotope exchange potentially opens new opportunities for tuning perovskite optoelectronic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankur Solanki
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
- Department of Science, School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, 382007, India
| | - Mohammad Mahdi Tavakoli
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Qiang Xu
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
| | - Sai S H Dintakurti
- Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
- Department of Physics, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Swee Sien Lim
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
| | - Anirban Bagui
- Centre of Excellence for Green Energy and Sensors Systems, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah, 711103, India
| | - John V Hanna
- Department of Physics, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
- School of Materials Science & Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Ave, Singapore, 639798, Singapore
| | - Jing Kong
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Tze Chien Sum
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
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Lee S, Kim Y, Wu Z, Lee C, Oh SJ, Luan NT, Lee J, Jeong D, Zhang K, Huang F, Kim TS, Woo HY, Kim BJ. Aqueous-Soluble Naphthalene Diimide-Based Polymer Acceptors for Efficient and Air-Stable All-Polymer Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2019; 11:45038-45047. [PMID: 31701742 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b13812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Aqueous-processed all-polymer solar cells (aq-APSCs) are reported for the first time by developing a series of water/ethanol-soluble naphthalenediimide (NDI)-based polymer acceptors [P(NDIDEG-T), P(NDITEG-T), and P(NDITEG-T2)]. Polymer acceptors are designed by using the backbones of NDI-bithiophene and NDI-thiophene in combination with nonionic hydrophilic oligoethylene glycol (OEG) side chains that facilitate processability in water/ethanol mixtures. All three polymers exhibit sufficient solubility (20-50 mg mL-1) in the aqueous medium. The P(NDIDEG-T) polymer with shorter OEG side chains is the most crystalline with the highest electron mobility, enabling the fabrication of efficient aq-APSCs with the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.15%. Furthermore, these aq-APSCs are fabricated under ambient atmosphere by taking advantage of the eco-friendly aqueous process and, importantly, the devices exhibit outstanding air-stability without any encapsulation, as evident by maintaining more than 90% of the initial PCE in the air after 4 days. According to a double cantilever beam test, the interfacial adhesion properties between the active layer and electron/hole transporting layers were remarkably improved by incorporating the hydrophilic OEG-attached photoactive layer, which hinders the delamination of the constituent layers and prevents the increase of series resistance, ultimately leading to enhanced durability under ambient conditions. The combination of increased device stability and minimal environmental impact of these aq-APSCs demonstrates them to be worthy candidates for continued development of scalable polymer solar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ziang Wu
- Department of Chemistry , Korea University , Seoul 02841 , Republic of Korea
| | | | | | - Nguyen Thanh Luan
- Department of Chemistry , Korea University , Seoul 02841 , Republic of Korea
| | | | | | - Kai Zhang
- Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices , South China University of Technology , Guangzhou 510640 , People's Republic of China
| | - Fei Huang
- Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices , South China University of Technology , Guangzhou 510640 , People's Republic of China
| | | | - Han Young Woo
- Department of Chemistry , Korea University , Seoul 02841 , Republic of Korea
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Xu B, Sai-Anand G, Gopalan AI, Qiao Q, Kang SW. Improving Photovoltaic Properties of P3HT:IC 60BA through the Incorporation of Small Molecules. Polymers (Basel) 2018; 10:E121. [PMID: 30966157 PMCID: PMC6415164 DOI: 10.3390/polym10020121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Revised: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the role of a functional solid additive, 2,3-dihydroxypyridine (DHP), in influencing the optoelectronic, morphological, structural and photovoltaic properties of bulk-heterojunction-based polymer solar cells (BHJ PSCs) fabricated using poly(3-hexylthiophene): indene-C60 bisadduct (P3HT:IC60BA) photoactive medium. A dramatic increase in the power conversion efficiency (~20%) was witnessed for the BHJ PSCs treated with DHP compared to the pristine devices. A plausible explanation describing the alignment of pyridine moieties of DHP with the indene side groups of IC60BA is presented with a view to improving the performance of the BHJ PSCs via improved crystalline order and hydrophobicity changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binrui Xu
- School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, Daegu 41566, Korea.
| | - Gopalan Sai-Anand
- Global Innovative Center for Advanced Nanomaterials, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2298, Australia.
- Future Industries Institute, Division of Information Technology, Engineering and Environment, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
| | - Anantha-Iyengar Gopalan
- Research Institute of Advanced Energy Technology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea.
| | - Qiquan Qiao
- Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 570007, USA.
| | - Shin-Won Kang
- School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, Daegu 41566, Korea.
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Solanki A, Bagui A, Long G, Wu B, Salim T, Chen Y, Lam YM, Sum TC. Effectiveness of External Electric Field Treatment of Conjugated Polymers in Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2016; 8:32282-32291. [PMID: 27618844 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b08012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
External electric field treatment (EFT) on P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction (BHJ) devices was recently found to be a viable approach for improving the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) through modulating the blend nanomorphology. However, its effectiveness over the broad family of polymer-fullerene blends remains unclear. Herein, we investigate the effects of external EFT on various polymer-fullerene blends with distinct morphologies stemming from the difference in molecular structure of the polymers (i.e., semicrystalline vs amorphous) in a bid to establish a clear morphology-function-charge dynamics relationship to the photovoltaic performance. Our findings reveal that EFT promotes self-organization of the semicrystalline thiophene-based conjugated polymers (i.e., P3HT and P3BT) while it was ineffective for the amorphous polymers (i.e., PTB7 and PCPDTBT) even at the maximum applied E-field of 8 kV cm-1. Transient absorption spectroscopy shows an improvement in the initial charge-carrier and polaron formation from delocalized excitons in the E-field treated semicrystalline blends compared to their untreated reference samples. Interfacial trap-assisted monomolecular and trap-free bimolecular recombination at nanosecond-microsecond time scale in the E-field treated P3BT:PC60BM devices are significantly suppressed. Importantly, our findings shed new light and provide guidelines on the effectiveness of utilizing external EFT to enhance the PCEs of a larger family of conjugated polymer-based BHJ OSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankur Solanki
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University , 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371
| | - Anirban Bagui
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur , Kanpur 208016, India
| | - Guankui Long
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) , Tianjin 300071, China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University , Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Bo Wu
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University , 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371
| | - Teddy Salim
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University , 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798
| | - Yongsheng Chen
- State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) , Tianjin 300071, China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University , Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Yeng Ming Lam
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University , 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798
- Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) , 1 CleanTech Loop, #06-04 CleanTech One, Singapore 637141
| | - Tze Chien Sum
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University , 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371
- Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) , 1 CleanTech Loop, #06-04 CleanTech One, Singapore 637141
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