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Updated: Jun 9, 2026
Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization
Published on: January 29, 2017
Effect of processing additive on the nanomorphology of a bulk heterojunction material
Ji Sun Moon1, Christopher J Takacs, Shinuk Cho
1Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5090, USA.
Abstract:
The bulk heterojunction (BHJ) material Si-PDTBT:PC(70)BM is sensitive to the use of a small amount of 1-chloronaphthalene (CN) as a processing additive; CN as a cosolvent (e.g., 4% in chlorobenzene) causes in a factor of 2 increase in the power conversion efficiency of BHJ solar cells. The morphology of the BHJ material, prepared with and without the CN additive is studied with top-down transmission electron microscopy, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The improved performance is the result of changes in the nanoscale morphology. Field-effect transistor measurements are consistent with the observed changes in morphology.
