Dataset Information

Aqueous Nanoparticle Polymer Solar Cells: Effects of Surfactant Concentration and Processing on Device Performance.

ABSTRACT: Polymer solar cells based on PDPP5T and PCBM as donor and acceptor materials, respectively, were processed from aqueous nanoparticle dispersions. Careful monitoring and optimization of the concentration of free and surface-bound surfactants in the dispersion, by measuring the conductivity and ?-potential, is essential to avoid aggregation of nanoparticles at low concentration and dewetting of the film at high concentration. The surfactant concentration is crucial for creating reproducible processing conditions that aid in further developing aqueous nanoparticle processed solar cells. In addition, the effects of adding ethanol, of aging the dispersion, and of replacing [60]PCBM with [70]PCBM to enhance light absorption were studied. The highest power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) obtained are 2.0% for [60]PCBM and 2.4% for [70]PCBM-based devices. These PCEs are limited by bimolecular recombination of photogenerated charges. Cryo-TEM reveals that the two components phase separate in the nanoparticles, forming a PCBM-rich core and a PDPP5T-rich shell and causing a nonoptimal film morphology.

SUBMITTER: Colberts FJM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5399475 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Aqueous Nanoparticle Polymer Solar Cells: Effects of Surfactant Concentration and Processing on Device Performance.

Colberts Fallon J M FJM Wienk Martijn M MM Janssen René A J RAJ

ACS applied materials & interfaces 20170404 15

Polymer solar cells based on PDPP5T and PCBM as donor and acceptor materials, respectively, were processed from aqueous nanoparticle dispersions. Careful monitoring and optimization of the concentration of free and surface-bound surfactants in the dispersion, by measuring the conductivity and ζ-potential, is essential to avoid aggregation of nanoparticles at low concentration and dewetting of the film at high concentration. The surfactant concentration is crucial for creating reproducible proces ...[more]

PMID: 28345859

Similar Datasets

Project description:Motivated by the possibility of enhancing aerosol drug delivery to mucus-obstructed lungs, the spreading of a drop of aqueous surfactant solution on a physically entangled aqueous poly(acrylamide) solution subphase that mimics lung airway surface liquid was investigated. Sodium dodecyl sulfate was used as the surfactant. To visualize spreading of the drop and mimic the inclusion of a drug substance, fluorescein, a hydrophilic and non-surface-active dye, was added to the surfactant solution. The spreading progresses through a series of events. Marangoni stresses initiate the convective spreading of the drop. Simultaneously, surfactant escapes across the drop's contact line within a second of deposition and causes a change in subphase surface tension outside the drop on the order of 1 mN/m. Convective spreading of the drop ends within 2-3 s of drop deposition, when a new interfacial tension balance is achieved. Surfactant escape depletes the drop of surfactant, and the residual drop takes the form of a static lens of nonzero contact angle. On longer time scales, the surfactant dissolves into the subphase. The lens formed by the water in the deposited drop persists for as long as 3 min after the convective spreading process ends due to the long diffusional time scales associated with the underlying entangled polymer solution. The persistence of the lens suggests that the drop phase behaves as if it were immiscible with the subphase during this time period. Whereas surfactant escapes the spreading drop and advances on the subphase/vapor interface, hydrophilic dye molecules in the drop do not escape but remain with the drop throughout the convective spreading. The quasi-immiscible nature of the spreading event suggests that the chemical properties of the surfactant and subphase are much less important than their physical properties, consistent with prior qualitative studies of spreading of different types of surfactants on entangled polymer subphases: the selection of surfactant for pulmonary delivery applications may be limited only by physical and toxicological considerations. Further, the escape of surfactant from individual drops may provide an additional spreading mechanism in the lung, as hydrodynamic and/or surface pressure repulsions may drive individual droplets apart after deposition.

Dataset Information

Aqueous Nanoparticle Polymer Solar Cells: Effects of Surfactant Concentration and Processing on Device Performance.

Publications

Aqueous Nanoparticle Polymer Solar Cells: Effects of Surfactant Concentration and Processing on Device Performance.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets