Spontaneous Charge Transfer and Dipole Formation at the Interface Between P3HT and PCBM

Harri Aarnio, Parisa Sehati, Slawomir Braun, Mathias Nyman, Machiel Pieter de Jong, Mats Fahlman, Ronald Österbacka

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    Abstract

    In the pursuit of developing new materials for more effi cient bulk-heterojunction solar cells, the blend poly (3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) serves as an important model system. The success of the P3HT:PCBM blend comes from effi cient charge generation and transport with low recombination. There is not, however, a good microscopic picture of what causes these, hindering the development of new material systems. In this report UV photoelectron spectroscopy measurements on both regiorandom- (rra) and regioregular- (rr) P3HT are presented, and the results are interpreted using the Integer Charge Transfer model. The results suggest that spontaneous charge transfer from P3HT to PCBM occurs after heat treatment of P3HT:PCBM blends. The resulting formation of an interfacial dipole creates an extra barrier at the interface explaining the reduced (non-)geminate recombination with increased charge generation in heat treated rr-P3HT:PCBM blends. Extensive photoinduced absorption measurements using both above- and below-bandgap excitation light are presented, in good agreement with the suggested dipole formation.
    Original languageUndefined
    Pages (from-to)792-797
    Number of pages6
    JournalAdvanced energy materials
    Volume1
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2011

    Keywords

    • EWI-21088
    • IR-79321
    • METIS-287840

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