The current–voltage characteristics of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/OC1C10‐PPV:PCBM/Al solar cells were measured in the temperature range 125–320 K under variable illumination, between 0.03 and 100 mW cm–2 (white light), with the aim of determining the efficiency‐limiting mechanism(s) in these devices, and the temperature and/or illumination range(s) in which these devices demonstrate optimal performance. (ITO: indium tin oxide; PEDOT:PSS: poly(styrene sulfonate)‐doped poly(ethylene dioxythiophene); OC1C10‐PPV: poly[2‐methoxy‐5‐(3,7‐dimethyl octyloxy)‐1,4‐phenylene vinylene]; PCBM: phenyl‐C61 butyric acid methyl ester.) The short‐circuit current density and the fill factor grow monotonically with temperature until 320 K. This is indicative of a thermally activated transport of photogenerated charge carriers, influenced by recombination with shallow traps. A gradual increase of the open‐circuit voltage to 0.91 V was observed upon cooling the devices down to 125 K. This fits the picture in which the open‐circuit voltage is not limited by the work‐function difference of electrode materials used. The overall effect of temperature on solar‐cell parameters results in a positive temperature coefficient of the power conversion efficiency, which is 1.9 % at T = 320 K and 100 mW cm–2 (2.5 % at 0.7 mW cm–2). The almost‐linear variation of the short‐circuit current density with light intensity confirms that the internal recombination losses are predominantly of monomolecular type under short‐circuit conditions. We present evidence that the efficiency of this type of solar cell is limited by a light‐dependent shunt resistance. Furthermore, the electronic transport properties of the absorber materials, e.g., low effective charge‐carrier mobility with a strong temperature dependence, limit the photogenerated current due to a high series resistance, therefore the active layer thickness must be kept low, which results in low absorption for this particular composite absorber.

No abstract

The photo‐induced charge transfer and the dynamics of persistent charge carriers in blends of semiconducting polymers and nanocrystals are investigated. Regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is used as the electron donor material, while the acceptor moiety is established by CdSe nanocrystals (nc‐CdSe) prepared via colloidal synthesis. As a reference system, organic blends of P3HT and [6,6]‐phenyl C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) are studied as well. The light‐induced charge transfer between P3HT and the acceptor materials is studied by photoluminescence (PL), photo‐induced absorption (PIA) and light‐induced electron spin resonance spectroscopy (LESR). Compared to neat P3HT samples, both systems show an intensified formation of polarons in the polymer upon photo‐excitation, pointing out successful separation of photogenerated charge carriers. Additionally, relaxation of the persistent charge carriers is investigated, and significant differences are found between the hybrid composite and the purely organic system. While relaxation, reflected in the transient signal decay of the polaron signal, is fast in the organic system, the hybrid blends exhibit long‐term persistence. The appearance of a second, slow recombination channel indicates the existence of deep trap states in the hybrid system, which leads to the capture of a large fraction of charge carriers. A change of polymer conformation due to the presence of nc‐CdSe is revealed by low temperature LESR measurements and microwave saturation techniques. The impact of the different recombination behavior on the photovoltaic efficiency of both systems is discussed.

A novel fullerene derivative, 1,1‐bis(4,4′‐dodecyloxyphenyl)‐(5,6) C61, diphenylmethanofullerene (DPM‐12), has been investigated as a possible electron acceptor in photovoltaic devices, in combination with two different conjugated polymers poly[2‐methoxy‐5‐(3′,7′‐dimethyloctyloxy)‐para‐phenylene vinylene] (OC1C10‐PPV) and poly[3‐hexyl thiophene‐2,5‐diyl] (P3HT). High open‐circuit voltages, VOC = 0.92 and 0.65 V, have been measured for OC1C10‐PPV:DPM‐12‐ and P3HT:DPM‐12‐based devices, respectively. In both cases, VOC is 100 mV above the values measured on devices using another routinely used fullerene acceptor, [6,6]‐phenyl‐C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). This is somewhat unexpected when taking into account the identical redox potentials of both acceptor materials at room temperature. The temperature‐dependent VOC reveals, however, the same effective bandgap (HOMOPolymer–LUMOFullerene; HOMO = highest occupied molecular orbital, LUMO = lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) of 1.15 and 0.9 eV for OC1C10‐PPV and P3HT, respectively, independent of the acceptor used. The higher VOC at room temperature is explained by different ideality factors in the dark‐diode characteristics. Under white‐light illumination (80 mW cm–2), photocurrent densities of 1.3 and 4.7 mA cm–2 have been obtained in the OC1C10‐PPV:DPM‐12‐ and P3HT:DPM‐12‐based devices, respectively. Temperature‐dependent current density versus voltage characteristics reveal a thermally activated (shallow trap recombination limited) photocurrent in the case of OC1C10‐PPV:DPM‐12, and a nearly temperature‐independent current density in P3HT:DPM‐12. The latter clearly indicates that charge carriers traverse the active layer without significant recombination, which is due to the higher hole‐mobility–lifetime product in P3HT. At the same time, the field‐effect electron mobility in pure DPM‐12 has been found to be μe = 2 × 10–4 cm2 V–1 s–1, that is, forty‐times lower than the one measured in PCBM (μe = 8 × 10–3 cm2 V–1 s–1).