Hydrophilic and stimuli responsive nanoporous poly(dicyclopentadiene) membranes are prepared using reactive ABC triblock polymers consisting of a chemically etchable ‘A’ block, poly(lactide), various functionalized ‘B’ blocks, and a metathesis-reactive ‘C’ block, poly(styrene-stat-norbornenylethylstyrene).A membrane with a bicontinuous structure is formed by reaction-induced phase separation during the metathesis crosslinking of dicyclopentadiene in the presence of the ABC triblock polymers. Selective etching of the poly(lactide) block exposed the functionality contained in the B block. Hydrophilic membranes are prepared from a triblock polymer with a poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) B midblock as evidenced by static contact angle measurements in comparison to AC diblock templated membranes. Temperature responsive membranes are prepared from a triblock polymer with a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) B block.

No abstract

Solar cells with bulk heterojunction active layers containing donor-acceptor copolymer PDTSiTzTz exhibit persistent high fill factors with thicknesses up to 400 nm. Transport and recombination in a blend of PDTSiTzTz and fullerene derivative PC 71 BM is studied using lateral organic photovoltaic structures. This material system is characterized by carrier-concentrationdependent charge carrier mobilities, a strongly reduced bimolecular recombination factor, and a negative Poole-Frenkel coefficient. The analysis provides an explanation for the relatively thickness-independent fill factor behaviour seen in solar cells using the copolymer PDTSiTzTz. Cumulative insights from this copolymer can be employed for future organic photovoltaic material development, study of existing high performance bulk heterojunciton blends, and improved solar cell design.

No abstract