Immiscible solvents enabled nanostructure formation for efficient polymer photovoltaic cells

Abstract

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) fabricated via solution processing are an attractive way to realize low cost solar energy harvesting. Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) devices are the most successful design, but their morphology is less controllable. In this manuscript, we describe a simple approach to realize 'ordered' BHJ morphology using two immiscible solvents with different boiling point and a quasi-bilayer approach. Tunable fine structures were demonstrated in poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-Phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) model systems, and the devices with optimized fine structure showed a 33% efficiency enhancement compared to those with a planar bilayer structure. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd.