Understanding the Effects of a High Surface Area Nanostructured Indium Tin Oxide Electrode on Organic Solar Cell Performance.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) are a complex assembly of disparate materials, each with a precise function within the device. Typically, the electrodes are flat, and the device is fabricated through a layering approach of the interfacial layers and photoactive materials. This work explores the integration of high surface area transparent electrodes to investigate the possible role(s) a three-dimensional electrode could take within an OSC, with a BHJ composed of a donor-acceptor combination with a high degree of electron and hole mobility mismatch.

Donor-acceptor small molecules for organic photovoltaics: single-atom substitution (Se or S).

Two isostructural low-band-gap small molecules that contain a one-atom substitution, S for Se, were designed and synthesized. The molecule 7,7'-[4,8-bis(2-ethylhexyloxy)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene]bis[6-fluoro-4-(5'-hexyl-2,2'-bithiophen-5-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole] (1) and its selenium analogue 7,7'-[4,8-bis(2-ethylhexyloxy)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene]bis[6-fluoro-4-(5'-hexyl-2,2'-bithiophen-5-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]selenodiazole] (2) are both based on the electron-rich central unit benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of one-atom substitution on the optoelectronic properties and photovoltaic performance of devices.

Rolling silver nanowire electrodes: simultaneously addressing adhesion, roughness, and conductivity.

Silver nanowire mesh electrodes represent a possible mass-manufacturable route toward transparent and flexible electrodes for plastic-based electronics such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), and others. Here we describe a route that is based upon spray-coated silver nanowire meshes on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets that are treated with a straightforward combination of heat and pressure to generate electrodes that have low sheet resistance, good optical transmission, that are topologically flat, and adhere well to the PET substrate. The silver nanowire meshes were prepared by spray-coating a solution of silver nanowires onto PET, in air at slightly elevated temperatures.

Finely tailored performance of inverted organic photovoltaics through layer-by-layer interfacial engineering.

Control over interfacial properties in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) is critical for many aspects of their performance. Functionalization of the transparent conducting electrode, in this case, indium tin oxide (ITO), through an electrostatic layer by layer (eLbL) approach with cationic N,N'-bis[2-(trimethylammonium)ethylene] perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxyldiimide (PTCDI(+)) and anionic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(p-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS(-)), led to high control over the surface properties. The films were studied through a variety of surface and spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-visible spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and ellipsometry.