Investigation of the degradation mechanisms of a variety of organic photovoltaic devices by combination of imaging techniques—the ISOS-3 inter-laboratory collaboration

Rösch, Roland; Tanenbaum, David M.; Jørgensen, Mikkel; Seeland, Marco; Bärenklau, Maik; Hermenau, Martin; Voroshazi, Eszter; Lloyd, Matthew T.; Galagan, Yulia; Zimmermann, Birger; Würfel, Uli; Hösel, Markus; Dam, Henrik Friis; Gevorgyan, Suren A.; Kudret, Suleyman; Maes, Wouter; Lutsen, Laurence; Vanderzande, Dirk; Andriessen, Ronn; Terán-Escobar, Gerardo; Lira‐Cantú, Mónica; Rivaton, Agnès; Uzunoğlu, Gülşah Y.; Germack, David S.; Andreasen, Birgitta; Madsen, Morten Vesterager; Norrman, Kion; Hoppe, Harald; Krebs, Frederik C.

doi:10.1039/c2ee03508a

Cited by 140 publications

(150 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…1,2 In addition to those techniques, ellipsometry, dark lock-in thermography, electroluminescence imaging, and optical coherence tomography have the potential to become R2R compatible. [3][4][5][6] Common to all these methods is that they yield macroscopic measures of the polymer solar cell such as structural and functional variations of the solar cells with a resolution of around 100 micron and particle detection down to around 10 micron. If one wishes to explore the microscopic nature of the organic solar cell stack on the micro-or nanoscale, new and rapid characterization tools are needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-throughput roll-to-roll X-ray characterization of polymer solar cell active layers

et al. 2012

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Synchrotron-based X-rays were used to probe active materials for polymer solar cells on flexible polyester foil. The active material was coated onto a flexible 130 micron thick polyester foil using rollto-roll differentially pumped slot-die coating and presented variation in composition, thickness, and additives. The coated foil was passed through a synchrotron X-ray beam on a small unit comprising unwinder and winder for the foil, an X-ray probe station, and a barcode reader for sample registration. Foil lengths of 10 meters were probed and yielded X-ray scattering data for approximately every 1 cm, probing linear variations in processing and coating parameters along the foil. The demonstration shows that real-time structural characterization of roll-to-roll coating at realistic web-speeds is feasible using synchrotron radiation. Off-line characterization with lower spatial resolution would be possible with dedicated laboratory instruments. We found that poly(3-hexyl)thiophene (P3HT) only crystallizes at a ratio above 1 : 2 with phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and that an optimum addition of 2 vol% chloronaphthalene (CN) as a processing additive significantly improves polymer crystallinity and crystallite size. In coated films thinner than 275 nm, textured poly(3-hexyl)thiophene crystallites with the lamellar stack aligned with the substrate dominate, similar to what is observed for spin-coated films.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-throughput roll-to-roll X-ray characterization of polymer solar cell active layers

et al. 2012

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“…If this degradation mechanism proposed for the Al/Ag electrode in the NREL is correct, it can explain the presence of Ag, Al 2 O 3 and AgO x observed in all the characterization methods reported on our published work. [2][3][4][5] Thus we conclude that, in the case of an inverted organic solar cell applying the PEDOT:PSS as hole extracting layer like in the NREL device, the principal cause of failure could come from the electrode degradation and not from the active materials.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In all cases the oxidation of Al 2 O 3 is directly or indirectly identified by all the techniques. [2][3][4] The electromigration of Ag into the PEDOT:PSS layer has been reported by the imaging analyses 3 and indirectly observed by an IPCE peak at 430 nm. 4 The migration of metal electrodes, like Ag, into almost any material, is a very common and well-known phenomena in electronics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1][2] The second report deals with the analysis of the degradation of the solar cells by the combination of different imaging characterization techniques like laser beam induced current (LBIC), dark lock-in thermography (DLIT), electroluminescence (ELI) and photoluminescence (PLI) imaging. 3 In the third publication, we apply the Incident Photon-to-Electron Conversion Efficiency (IPCE) and in-situ IPCE techniques as tools to analyze the different degradation paths observed on the OPV devices. 4 The fourth publication deals with the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) analysis, a technique producing direct chemical information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Combined characterization techniques to understand the stability of a variety of organic photovoltaic devices: the ISOS-3 inter-laboratory collaboration

et al. 2012

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This work is part of the inter-laboratory collaboration to study the stability of seven distinct sets of state-of-the-art organic photovoltaic (OPVs) devices prepared by leading research laboratories. All devices have been shipped to and degraded at the Danish Technical University (DTU, formerly RISO-DTU) up to 1830 hours in accordance with established ISOS-3 protocols under defined illumination conditions. In this work we present a summary of the degradation response observed for the NREL sample, an inverted OPV of the type ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/Ag/Al, under full sun stability test. The results reported from the combination of the different characterization techniques results in a proposed degradation mechanism. The final conclusion is that the failure of the photovoltaic response of the device with time under full sun solar simulation, is mainly due to the degradation of the electrodes and not to the active materials of the solar cell.

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“…Empowered by the lock-in technology, dissipative losses appear instantaneously in their geometrical distribution. Figure 1 presents the DLIT image of an organic solar cell excited under forward bias (taken from [6]). In addition to the strong heat pattern in the 2.5mm wide active layer area, there is a weak pattern in the further course of the device in the vicinity of the contacting electrode (right hand side of the active layer.…”

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Investigation of the quality and performance of organic solar cells by thermographic imaging

Öttking¹,

Rösch²,

Seeland³

et al. 2014

Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Quantitative InfraRed Thermography

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Organic solar cells are promising candidates for future photovoltaic applications with benefits due to their low production costs, flexibility, conformity, color and wide-range applicability. Presently, efficiencies of approx. 12% [1] make organic solar cells suitable for commercial applications. The necessary size-upscale, alas, cause severe problems in terms of dissipative losses of several kinds from inside as well as outside the photoactive polymer layer. In order to solve these problems, all possibilities of improvement concerning choice of materials/material combinations, processing and geometrical design have to be considered [2]. The key to this is a deep inside understanding of the underlying physical mechanism and their interplay. Here, the essential first step is to quantitatively represent the losses on the geometrical design. This is where thermographic imaging as a fast and effective tool for the measurement of dissipative losses comes into play. Thermographic imaging, as in dark or illuminated lock-in themography (DLIT/ILIT) is excellently suitable to represent the aforementioned losses under operating conditions [3][4][5]. Empowered by the lock-in technology, dissipative losses appear instantaneously in their geometrical distribution. Figure 1 presents the DLIT image of an organic solar cell excited under forward bias (taken from [6]). In addition to the strong heat pattern in the 2.5mm wide active layer area, there is a weak pattern in the further course of the device in the vicinity of the contacting electrode (right hand side of the active layer. On the basis of the figure, losses with strong localisation are visible as well as weaker patterns in the vicinity. By complementary measurements and modelling calculations the losses can be traced back to the current profile of the organic solar cell. An example of this is the microdiode model (see, e.g. [7]) suitable to calculate various physical properties to the loss and current patterns of the devices. In particular, the effect of "current crowding" at the edges of the active layer is assumed to lead to loss patterns of the kind presented in figure 1. Further understanding of the physical properties is necessary to improve the performance in order to meet the requirements for upscaling of organic solar cells to technological relevant modules. Thermographic imaging has already demonstrated to be a valuable tool for the measurement of a wide range of their physical properties and will certainly prove itself to be of even larger importance once various material combinations, processing methods and design variations are to be investigated.http://dx

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Investigation of the degradation mechanisms of a variety of organic photovoltaic devices by combination of imaging techniques—the ISOS-3 inter-laboratory collaboration

Cited by 140 publications

References 38 publications

High-throughput roll-to-roll X-ray characterization of polymer solar cell active layers

High-throughput roll-to-roll X-ray characterization of polymer solar cell active layers

Combined characterization techniques to understand the stability of a variety of organic photovoltaic devices: the ISOS-3 inter-laboratory collaboration

Investigation of the quality and performance of organic solar cells by thermographic imaging

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