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Martinez L, Higuchi S, MacLachlan AJ, Stavrinadis A, Cates N, Diedenhofen SL, Bernechea M, Sweetnam S, Nelson J, Haque SA, Tajima K, Konstantatos G. Improved electronic coupling in hybrid organic-inorganic nanocomposites employing thiol-functionalized P3HT and bismuth sulfide nanocrystals. Nanoscale 2014; 6:10018-10026. [PMID: 25029606 DOI: 10.1039/c4nr01679c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we employ a thiol-functionalized polymer (P3HT-SH) as a leverage to tailor the nanomorphology and electronic coupling in polymer-nanocrystal composites for hybrid solar cells. The presence of the thiol functional group allows for a highly crystalline semiconducting polymer film at low thiol content and allows for improved nanomorphologies in hybrid organic-inorganic systems when employing non-toxic bismuth sulfide nanocrystals. The exciton dissociation efficiency and carrier dynamics at this hybrid heterojunction are investigated through photoluminescence quenching and transient absorption spectroscopy measurements, revealing a larger degree of polaron formation when P3HT-SH is employed, suggesting an increased electronic interaction between the metal chalcogenide nanocrystals and the thiol-functionalized P3HT. The fabricated photovoltaic devices show 15% higher power conversion efficiencies as a result of the improved nanomorphology and better charge transfer mechanism together with the higher open circuit voltages arising from the deeper energy levels of P3HT-SH.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Martinez
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - S Higuchi
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
| | - A J MacLachlan
- Centre for Plastic Electronics and Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - A Stavrinadis
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - N Cates
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - S L Diedenhofen
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - M Bernechea
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - S Sweetnam
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - J Nelson
- Centre for Plastic Electronics and Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - S A Haque
- Centre for Plastic Electronics and Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - K Tajima
- RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
- Japan Science and Technology Agency, Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
| | - G Konstantatos
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.
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