Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Polymers: Molecular Weight Distribution

Polymers: Molecular Weight Distribution

For any given polymer, the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is higher than, if not equal to, the number average molecular weight (Mn). The only situation in which the weight average molecular weight and the number average molecular weight are equal is when a polymer consists only of chains with equal molecular weight. However, this never happens in a synthetic polymer, since it is difficult to control the polymerization process up to a molecular level with accuracy to a hundred percent.

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview

Step-growth or condensation polymerization is a stepwise reaction of bi or multifunctional monomers to form long-chain polymers. As all the monomers are reactive, most of the monomers are consumed at the early stages of the reaction to form small chains of reactive oligomers, which then combine to form long polymer chains in the late stages. Hence, the reaction has to proceed for a long time to achieve high molecular weight polymers.
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

A bird's-eye view for future ionic thermoelectrics: from ions to products.

National science review·2026

Same author

ScopeViewer: a browser-based solution for visualizing large biological images.

GigaScience·2026

Same author

The gut microbiota directs vitamin A flux to regulate intestinal T cell development.

Cell host & microbe·2026

Same author

Crystal phase and composition synergy for optimized optoelectronic performance and carrier dynamics in Rb<sub>2</sub>Au<sub>2</sub>X<sub>6</sub> (X = Cl, I) perovskites.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026

Same author

MicNet: integrating spatially resolved transcriptomes and pathology images by contrastive deep neural network.

Genome biology·2026

Same author

Oligonucleotide genetics for <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> enables high throughput hypomorph screening.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Morphology Control for Fully Printable Organic–Inorganic Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells Based on a Ti-alkoxide and Semiconducting Polymer

Morphology Control for Fully Printable Organic–Inorganic Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells Based on a Ti-alkoxide and Semiconducting Polymer

Published on: January 10, 2017

Dynamic Monte Carlo simulation for highly efficient polymer blend photovoltaics.

Lingyi Meng¹, Yuan Shang, Qikai Li

¹Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190 Beijing, China.

The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B

|December 17, 2009

Summary

Optimizing organic solar cell performance, this study models polymer blends for efficient energy conversion. Simulations show optimal feature size around 10 nm can achieve 5% power conversion efficiency (PCE).

More Related Videos

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Published on: January 29, 2017

In situ Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering on Roll-To-Roll Coating of Organic Solar Cells with Laboratory X-ray Instrumentation

In situ Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering on Roll-To-Roll Coating of Organic Solar Cells with Laboratory X-ray Instrumentation

Published on: March 2, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Morphology Control for Fully Printable Organic–Inorganic Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells Based on a Ti-alkoxide and Semiconducting Polymer

Morphology Control for Fully Printable Organic–Inorganic Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells Based on a Ti-alkoxide and Semiconducting Polymer

Published on: January 10, 2017

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Published on: January 29, 2017

In situ Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering on Roll-To-Roll Coating of Organic Solar Cells with Laboratory X-ray Instrumentation

In situ Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering on Roll-To-Roll Coating of Organic Solar Cells with Laboratory X-ray Instrumentation

Published on: March 2, 2021

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Organic Electronics
Photovoltaics

Background:

Organic solar cells (OSCs) offer potential for low-cost, flexible energy generation.
Developing efficient and stable OSCs requires understanding charge dynamics and morphology.
All-polymer solar cells (APSCs) present a promising avenue for OSC development.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a model system for blend polymers in organic solar cells.
To investigate the relationship between material morphology, charge transport, and power conversion efficiency (PCE).
To identify optimal parameters for enhancing PCE in APSCs.

Main Methods:

Dynamic Monte Carlo simulation to model exciton and charge carrier dynamics.
Utilizing a blend of novel polymers: bis(thienylenevinylene)-substituted polythiophene and poly(perylene diimide-alt-dithienothiophene).
Investigating the impact of feature size, charge mobility, and material structure on PCE.

Main Results:

Optimal energy conversion efficiency achieved at a feature size of approximately 10 nm.
Simulations predict a reachable PCE of 5% with optimized charge mobility and morphology.
Experimental validation shows a PCE of up to 2.2% for the polymer blend, exceeding previous results.

Conclusions:

The developed model system accurately reproduces experimental I-V curves and PCE.
Achieving high PCE in APSCs depends critically on optimizing charge mobility and blend morphology.
This study provides insights for designing next-generation high-performance all-polymer solar cells.