Issue 23, 2012
From the journal:

Nanoscale

Enhancement of photo/thermal stability of organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices viagold nanoparticles doping of the active layer†

Barbara Paci,*a   Amanda Generosi,a   Valerio Rossi Albertini,a   George D. Spyropoulos,b   Emmanuel Stratakis*c  and  Emmanuel Kymakisb  

* Corresponding authors

a ISM-CNR, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Roma, Italy
E-mail: barbara.paci@ism.cnr.it
Fax: +39 0649934153
Tel: +39 0649934174

b Center of Materials Technology and Photonics, Electrical Engineering Department, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

c Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Dept. of Materials Science and Technology, Univ. of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
E-mail: stratak@iesl.forth.gr
Fax: +30 2810391305
Tel: +30 2810391274

Abstract

This study focuses on the crucial problem of the stability of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices, aiming to shed light on the photo and thermal degradation mechanisms during prolonged irradiation under ambient conditions. For this purpose, the stability enhancement of bulk heterojunction OPV devices upon embedding surfactant free Au nanoparticles (NPs) into the photoactive layer is investigated by in situ time-resolved energy dispersive X-ray reflectometry (EDXR), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy as well as device degradation electrical measurements. It is shown that besides the improved cell efficiency attributed to plasmon absorption and scattering effects, the embedded NPs act as performance stabilizers, giving rise to enhanced structural stability and, in turn, to reduced photodegradation rate of the respective OPV devices. It is particularly clarified that, in addition to further stabilization of the polymer–fullerene blend, the observed improvement can be ascribed to a NP-mediated mitigation of the photooxidation effect at the cathode–active layer interface. Our work suggests the exploitation of surfactant free NPs to be a successful approach to address aging effects in OPV devices.

Graphical abstract: Enhancement of photo/thermal stability of organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices via gold nanoparticles doping of the active layer

About
Cited by
Related
Download options Please wait...

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2NR32799F
Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Sep 2012
Accepted
04 Oct 2012
First published
09 Oct 2012

Nanoscale, 2012,4, 7452-7459

Permissions

Request permissions

Enhancement of photo/thermal stability of organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices via gold nanoparticles doping of the active layer

B. Paci, A. Generosi, V. R. Albertini, G. D. Spyropoulos, E. Stratakis and E. Kymakis, Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 7452 DOI: 10.1039/C2NR32799F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements