Fullerene-grafted block copolymers used as compatibilizer in P3HT/PCBM bulk heterojunctions: morphology and photovoltaic performances

Véronique Gernigon (1) , Patrick Lévêque (1) , Cyril Brochon , Jean-Nicolas Audinot , Nicolas Leclerc (2) , Rony Bechara (1) , Fanny Richard (2) , Thomas Heiser (1) , Georges Hadziioannou

1 InESS - Institut d'Electronique du Solide et des Systèmes
2 Laboratoire d'Ingenierie des Polymères pour les Hautes Technologies

The nanostructure of the active layer in polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells is known to have a strong impact on the device performances. Controlling the polymer/fullerene blend morphology is therefore particularly important. In this work, a rod-coil block copolymer, based on a regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) electron-donor rod block and a C-grafted coil block, is used as compatibilizer and its influences on the thin film morphology as well as the photovoltaic performances are investigated. It is shown that a small fraction of compatibilizer can enhance the device performances in an otherwise non-optimized process. At higher fractions or long annealing times however, the fullerene-grafted copolymer is found to behave as a nucleation center and triggers the formation of fullerene crystals.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Véronique Gernigon, Patrick Lévêque, Cyril Brochon, Jean-Nicolas Audinot, Nicolas Leclerc, et al.. Fullerene-grafted block copolymers used as compatibilizer in P3HT/PCBM bulk heterojunctions: morphology and photovoltaic performances. European Physical Journal: Applied Physics, 2011, 56 (3), pp.34107. ⟨10.1051/epjap/2011110150⟩. ⟨hal-00756413⟩