Morphological control of CuPc and its application in organic solar cells

Abstract

We have prepared organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells possessing an ideal bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structure using the self-assembly of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) as the donor material and fullerene (C(60)) as the acceptor. The variable self-assembly behavior of CuPc on a diverse range of substrates (surface energies) allowed us to control the morphology of the interface and the degree of carrier transportation within the active layer. We observed rod-like CuPc structures on indium-tin oxide (ITO), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and Au substrates. Accordingly, the interfaces and continuing transport path between CuPc and fullerene domains could be greatly improved due to the ideal BHJ structure. In this paper, we discuss the mechanisms of producing CuPc rod-like films on ITO, PEDOT:PSS and Au. The OPV cell performance was greatly enhanced when a mixture of horizontal and vertical CuPc rods was present on the PEDOT:PSS surfaces, i.e. the power conversion efficiency was 50 times greater than that of the corresponding device featuring a planar CuPc structure.

Phase and Texture of Solution-Processed Copper Phthalocyanine Thin Films Investigated by Two-Dimensional Grazing Incidence X-Ray Diffraction

“…This is correlated to Kewei Wang et al 's results obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) [6]. It is similar to that of the vacuum deposited α-CuPc thin films, which have crystallite sizes between 10 and 50 nm, depending on the substrate temperatures [3,7,9,18].…”

Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) Polymer Composite Bioelectrodes with Designed Chemical and Topographical Cues to Manipulate the Behavior of PC12 Neuronal Cells

“…[26,27] With further reference to the previous literature, we used the cohesive energies (E coh ) and molecular volumes (V mol ) of various structural groups to calculate the cohesive energy density (CED) and the estimated surface energies (γ) of individual PEDOT, PSS, and PEO materials, based on Equations (1) and (2): [27] CED / coh m ol Previous studies have yielded evidence for changes in surface energy due to the phase separation of PEDOT-and PSS-rich domains.…”

Self-assembled coronene nanofiber arrays: toward integrated organic bioelectronics for efficient isolation, detection, and recovery of cancer cells

“…For example, the in-plane morphologies (planar structures) of small-molecule thin lms have been exploited widely in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic eldeffect transistors (OFETs), 9 while out-of-plane three-dimensional (3D) morphologies [nanober (NF) arrays] of active layers have been generally developed for organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and organic eld emitters. [10][11][12][13][14] Although the use of organic small molecule (OSM) semiconductors as device active layers has been examined for the development of organic bioelectronics, [15][16][17] practical examples of their applications in cell-based bioelectronics have been very rare, due to the lack of reliable techniques for controlling the 3D morphologies of OSM thin lms and for regulating cell-matrix interactions at the device level.…”