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Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization
Published on: January 29, 2017
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Non-halogenated diphenyl-chalcogenide solvent processing additives for high-performance polymer bulk-heterojunction
Song Yi Park1, Seyeong Song1, Yung Jin Yoon1
1Department of Energy Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) Ulsan 44919 South Korea jykim@unist.ac.kr.
RSC Advances
|May 13, 2022
Summary
Diphenyl sulfide (DPS) and diphenyl ether (DPE) additives significantly enhance polymer solar cell (PSC) efficiency. DPS, in particular, shows great potential as a non-halogenated additive for high-performance PSCs.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- Controlling active layer morphology is crucial for polymer solar cell (PSC) development.
- Solvent processing additives offer a straightforward method to achieve desired morphologies.
- Diphenyl ether (DPE) is an effective additive, but related compounds remain underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of non-halogenated, diphenyl-chalcogen solvent additives on PSC performance.
- To compare the photovoltaic characteristics of PSCs using diphenyl sulfide (DPS), DPE, and diphenyl selenide (DPSe).
- To identify promising additives for efficient and sustainable PSC fabrication.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of PSC devices using different diphenyl-chalcogen solvent additives.
- Characterization of photovoltaic device parameters, including power conversion efficiency (PCE), open-circuit voltage (VOC), and recombination dynamics.
- Evaluation of an entirely non-halogenated solvent/additive system (1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and DPS).
Main Results:
- DPS and DPE additives yielded high PCEs up to 9.08% and 8.85%, respectively.
- DPSe additives resulted in lower PCEs (5.45%) due to surface recombination and high series resistance.
- DPS demonstrated fast, field-independent photocurrent saturation and efficient charge collection, leading to superior performance.
- An all-non-halogenated system with DPS achieved a PCE of 8.4%.
Conclusions:
- Diphenyl-based solvent additives significantly influence PSC performance.
- DPS is a highly effective non-halogenated additive for enhancing PSC efficiency.
- The findings highlight the potential of DPS for developing sustainable and high-performance polymer solar cells.

