Activities per year
Abstract
Bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaics are based on an active layer consisting of a donor polymer and an acceptor material blend. For an optimal BHJ, this active layer has to form a phase separated co-continuous nanoscale morphology. In practise, thermal treatments (annealing) are often used to obtain the desired morphology. Using advanced fast-scanning thermal analysis techniques has made it possible to avoid the thermal effects that occur during heating or cooling (e.g. nucleation) and only study the effect of an annealing treatment. A drawback of most thermal analysis techniques however, is that they work with bulk materials. The active layers used in organic photovoltaics on the other hand, have thicknesses in the order of 100 nm.
In this study, the thermal transitions and isothermal crystallization kinetics of the P3HT:PCBM (poly[3-hexyl thiophene] : [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester) system, a benchmark BHJ system, was studied by Rapid Heating Cooling Calorimetry (RHC) [1,2] and Fast Scanning Differential Chip Calorimetry (FSDCC) [3]. This allows for thermal characterization of the blend in bulk and, for the first time, in thin layers as used in actual organic photovoltaic devices. Due to the very high scanning rates reached in FSDCC, it is now also possible to perform a similar study of pure P3HT, which is impossible using more conventional techniques due to its very fast crystallization kinetics.
[1] R.L. Danley, P.A. Caulfield, S.R. Aubuchon, American Laboratory 40 (2008) 9.
[2] F. Demir, N. Van den Brande, B. Van Mele, S. Bertho, D. Vanderzande, J. Manca, G. Van Assche, J. Therm. Anal. Calorim., 105 (2011) 845.
[3] A.A. Minakov, A.W. van Herwaarden, W. Wien, A. Wurm, C. Schick, Thermochim. Acta, 461 (2007) 96.
In this study, the thermal transitions and isothermal crystallization kinetics of the P3HT:PCBM (poly[3-hexyl thiophene] : [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester) system, a benchmark BHJ system, was studied by Rapid Heating Cooling Calorimetry (RHC) [1,2] and Fast Scanning Differential Chip Calorimetry (FSDCC) [3]. This allows for thermal characterization of the blend in bulk and, for the first time, in thin layers as used in actual organic photovoltaic devices. Due to the very high scanning rates reached in FSDCC, it is now also possible to perform a similar study of pure P3HT, which is impossible using more conventional techniques due to its very fast crystallization kinetics.
[1] R.L. Danley, P.A. Caulfield, S.R. Aubuchon, American Laboratory 40 (2008) 9.
[2] F. Demir, N. Van den Brande, B. Van Mele, S. Bertho, D. Vanderzande, J. Manca, G. Van Assche, J. Therm. Anal. Calorim., 105 (2011) 845.
[3] A.A. Minakov, A.W. van Herwaarden, W. Wien, A. Wurm, C. Schick, Thermochim. Acta, 461 (2007) 96.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | 11th European Symposium on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, August 17-21 2014 in Espoo, Finland |
Publication status | Published - 20 Aug 2014 |
Event | 11th European Symposium on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, ESTAC 11 - Espoo, Finland Duration: 17 Aug 2014 → 21 Aug 2014 |
Conference
Conference | 11th European Symposium on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, ESTAC 11 |
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Country/Territory | Finland |
City | Espoo |
Period | 17/08/14 → 21/08/14 |
Keywords
- Organic photovoltaics
- Advanced thermal analysis
- Chip calorimetry
- Ultra fast scanning
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European Symposium on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 2014 (ESTAC11)
Perry André Walters (Participant)
18 Aug 2014 → 21 Aug 2014Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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European Symposium on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 2014 (ESTAC11)
Niko Paul Van Den Brande (Speaker)
18 Aug 2014 → 21 Aug 2014Activity: Talk or presentation › Talk or presentation at a conference
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European Symposium on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 2014 (ESTAC11)
Guy Van Assche (Chair)
18 Aug 2014 → 21 Aug 2014Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference