Molecular packing in organic solar cells
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Organic solar cells based on blends of a conjugated polymer (donor) with a fullerene derivative (acceptor) offer promise as an inexpensive, printable, and flexible source of renewable energy. It is often assumed that polymer:fullerene blends used in organic solar cells phase separate into pure polymer and pure fullerene phases. However, my research has demonstrated the existence and importance of molecularly mixed polymer:fullerene bimolecular crystals, which form due to fullerene intercalation between the polymer side chains. I will demonstrate methods to control the presence of bimolecular crystals by tuning the fullerene size and the spacing and branching of the polymer side chains. This ability to control fullerene intercalation is used to make solar cells with and without bimolecular crystals so that their properties can be compared. I find that the presence of bimolecular crystals can significantly affect important properties such as absorption, exciton splitting, and charge transport due to the intimate mixing of the donor and acceptor. I will also discuss the determination and significance of the molecular packing in a polymer:fullerene bimolecular crystal using x-ray diffraction techniques, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, and molecular mechanics simulations.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Miller, Nichole Cates |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering |
| Primary advisor | McGehee, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | McGehee, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Salleo, Alberto |
| Thesis advisor | Toney, Michael Folsom |
| Advisor | Salleo, Alberto |
| Advisor | Toney, Michael Folsom |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Nichole Cates Miller. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2012. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2012 by Nichole Cates Miller
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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