TY - JOUR
T1 - Structure and crystallinity of water dispersible photoactive nanoparticles for organic solar cells
AU - Pedersen, Emil Bøje Lind
AU - Pedersen, M.C.
AU - Simonsen, Søren Bredmose
AU - Brandt, R.G.
AU - Böttiger, Arvid P.L.
AU - Andersen, Thomas Rieks
AU - Jiang, W.
AU - Xie, Z.Y.
AU - Krebs, Frederik C
AU - Arleth, L.
AU - Andreasen, Jens Wenzel
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Water based inks would be a strong advantage for large scale production of organic photovoltaic devices.
Formation of water dispersible nanoparticles produced by the Landfester method is a promising route to
achieve such inks. We provide new insights into the key ink properties of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)
and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) nanoparticles such as the internal structure and
crystallinity of the dispersed nanoparticles and the previously unreported drastic changes that occur
when the inks are cast into a film. We observe through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and
small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) that the nanoparticles in dispersion are spherical with the
nanodomains of P3HT being partly crystalline. When wet processed and dried into films, the
nanoparticles lose their spherical shape and become flattened into oblate shapes with a large aspect
ratio. Most particles are observed to have a diameter 13 times of the particle height. After casting into a
film, the crystal domains adopt a preferred orientation with the majority of the nanocrystals (68%) with
face-on orientation to the substrate. We propose that low substrate surface energy is responsible for
particle deformation and texturing.
AB - Water based inks would be a strong advantage for large scale production of organic photovoltaic devices.
Formation of water dispersible nanoparticles produced by the Landfester method is a promising route to
achieve such inks. We provide new insights into the key ink properties of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)
and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) nanoparticles such as the internal structure and
crystallinity of the dispersed nanoparticles and the previously unreported drastic changes that occur
when the inks are cast into a film. We observe through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and
small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) that the nanoparticles in dispersion are spherical with the
nanodomains of P3HT being partly crystalline. When wet processed and dried into films, the
nanoparticles lose their spherical shape and become flattened into oblate shapes with a large aspect
ratio. Most particles are observed to have a diameter 13 times of the particle height. After casting into a
film, the crystal domains adopt a preferred orientation with the majority of the nanocrystals (68%) with
face-on orientation to the substrate. We propose that low substrate surface energy is responsible for
particle deformation and texturing.
U2 - 10.1039/C5TA04980F
DO - 10.1039/C5TA04980F
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2050-7488
VL - 3
SP - 17022
EP - 17031
JO - Journal of Materials Chemistry A
JF - Journal of Materials Chemistry A
IS - 33
ER -