| Records |
| Author |
Ben Dkhil, S.; Perkhun, P.; Luo, C.; Mueller, D.; Alkarsifi, R.; Barulina, E.; Quiroz, Y.A.A.; Margeat, O.; Dubas, S.T.; Koganezawa, T.; Kuzuhara, D.; Yoshimoto, N.; Caddeo, C.; Mattoni, A.; Zimmermann, B.; Wuerfel, U.; Pfannmöller, M.; Bals, S.; Ackermann, J.; Videlot-Ackermann, C. |
| Title |
Direct correlation of nanoscale morphology and device performance to study photocurrent generation in donor-enriched phases of polymer solar cells |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
Year  |
2020 |
Publication |
Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces |
Abbreviated Journal |
Acs Appl Mater Inter |
| Volume |
12 |
Issue |
25 |
Pages |
28404-28415 |
| Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT) |
| Abstract |
The nanoscale morphology of polymer blends is a key parameter to reach high efficiency in bulk heterojunction solar cells. Thereby, research typically focusing on optimal blend morphologies while studying nonoptimized blends may give insight into blend designs that can prove more robust against morphology defects. Here, we focus on the direct correlation of morphology and device performance of thieno[3,4-b]-thiophene-alt-benzodithiophene (PTB7):[6,6]phenyl C-71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blends processed without additives in different donor/acceptor weight ratios. We show that while blends of a 1:1.5 ratio are composed of large donor-enriched and fullerene domains beyond the exciton diffusion length, reducing the ratio below 1:0.5 leads to blends composed purely of polymer-enriched domains. Importantly, the photocurrent density in such blends can reach values between 45 and 60% of those reached for fully optimized blends using additives. We provide here direct visual evidence that fullerenes in the donor-enriched domains are not distributed homogeneously but fluctuate locally. To this end, we performed compositional nanoscale morphology analysis of the blend using spectroscopic imaging of low-energy-loss electrons using a transmission electron microscope. Charge transport measurement in combination with molecular dynamics simulations shows that the fullerene substructures inside the polymer phase generate efficient electron transport in the polymer-enriched phase. Furthermore, we show that the formation of densely packed regions of fullerene inside the polymer phase is driven by the PTB7:PC71BM enthalpy of mixing. The occurrence of such a nanoscale network of fullerene clusters leads to a reduction of electron trap states and thus efficient extraction of photocurrent inside the polymer domain. Suitable tuning of the polymer-acceptor interaction can thus introduce acceptor subnetworks in polymer-enriched phases, improving the tolerance for high-efficiency BHJ toward morphological defects such as donor-enriched domains exceeding the exciton diffusion length. |
| Address |
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| Corporate Author |
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Thesis |
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| Publisher |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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| Language |
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Wos |
000543780900058 |
Publication Date |
2020-06-01 |
| Series Editor |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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| Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
| ISSN |
1944-8244 |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
| Impact Factor |
9.5 |
Times cited |
7 |
Open Access |
OpenAccess |
| Notes |
; J.A., O.M., and C.V.-A. acknowledge financial support by the French Fond Unique Interministeriel (FUI) under the project “SFUMATO” (Grant Number: F1110019V/ 201308815) as well as by the European Commission under the Project “SUNFLOWER” (FP7-ICT-2011-7, Grant Number: 287594). J.A., C.V.-A., and E.B. acknowledge the Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie (ANRT) and the Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation, awarded through the company Dracula Technologies (Valence, France), for framework of a CIFRE Ph.D. grant 2017/0529. J.A. and P.P. received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant agreement no. 713750. They further acknowledge support of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, A*MIDEX (no. ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02), and the Investissements d'Avenir project funded by the French Government, managed by the French National Research Agency (ANR). J.A. and Y.A.A.Q. acknowledge the French Research Agency for funding through the project NFA-15 (ANR-17-CE05-0020-01). N.Y. acknowledges that the synchrotron radiation experiments were performed at BL19B2 in SPring-8 with the approval of Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (proposal nos. 2017B1629 and 2018B1791). S.B. acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant 815128-REALNANO) and from FWO (G.0381.16N). M.P. gratefully acknowledges funding by the Ministerium fur Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Wurttemberg through the HEiKA materials research centre FunTECH-3D (MWK, 33-753-30-20/3/3) and the Large-Scale-Data-Facility (LSDF) sds@hd through grant INST 35/1314-1 FUGG. A.M. acknowledges Italian MIUR for funding through the project PON04a2 00490 M2M Netergit, PRACE, for awarding access to Marconi KNL at CINECA, Italy, through projects DECONVOLVES (2018184466) and PROVING-IL (2019204911). C.C. acknowledges the CINECA award under the ISCRA initiative for the availability of high-performance computing resources and support (project MITOMASC). ; sygma |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 9.5; 2020 IF: 7.504 |
| Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:170703 |
Serial |
6484 |
| Permanent link to this record |
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| Author |
Benetti, G.; Caddeo, C.; Melis, C.; Ferrini, G.; Giannetti, C.; Winckelmans, N.; Bals, S.; J Van Bael, M.; Cavaliere, E.; Gavioli, L.; Banfi, F. |
| Title |
Bottom-Up Mechanical Nanometrology of Granular Ag Nanoparticles Thin Films |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
| Year |
2017 |
Publication |
The journal of physical chemistry: C : nanomaterials and interfaces |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Phys Chem C |
| Volume |
121 |
Issue |
121 |
Pages |
22434-22441 |
| Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT) |
| Abstract |
Ultrathin metal nanoparticles coatings, synthesized by gas-phase deposition, are emerging as go-to materials in a variety of fields ranging from pathogens control, sensing to energy storage. Predicting their morphology and mechanical properties beyond a trial-and-error approach is a crucial issue limiting their exploitation in real-life applications. The morphology and mechanical properties of Ag nanoparticles ultrathin films, synthesized by supersonic cluster beam deposition, are here assessed adopting a bottom-up, multi-technique approach. A virtual film model is proposed merging high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, supersonic cluster beam dynamics and molecular dynamics simulations. The model is validated against mechanical nanometrology measurements and is readily extendable to metals other than Ag. The virtual film is shown to be a flexible and reliable predictive tool to access morphology-dependent properties such as mesoscale gas-dynamics and elasticity of ultrathin films synthesized by gas-phase deposition. |
| Address |
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| Corporate Author |
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Thesis |
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| Publisher |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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| Language |
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Wos |
000413131700072 |
Publication Date |
2017-09-11 |
| Series Editor |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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| Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
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Edition |
|
| ISSN |
1932-7447 |
ISBN |
|
Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
| Impact Factor |
4.536 |
Times cited |
30 |
Open Access |
OpenAccess |
| Notes |
; All authors thank Prof. Dr. Luciano Colombo for enlightening discussions. C.C. and F.B. acknowledge financial support from the MIUR Futuro in ricerca 2013 Grant in the frame of the ULTRANANO Project (Project No. RBFR13NEA4). F.B., G.F., and C.G. acknowledge support from Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore through D.2.2 and D.3.1 grants. F.B. acknowledges financial support from Fondazione E.U.L.O. The authors acknowledge financial support from the European Union through the seventh Framework Program (FP7) under a contract for an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative (Reference No. 312483 ESTEEM2). ; |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 4.536 |
| Call Number |
EMAT @ emat @c:irua:145828UA @ admin @ c:irua:145828 |
Serial |
4706 |
| Permanent link to this record |
