Phosphonium-based polythiophene conjugated polyelectrolytes with different surfactant counterions: thermal properties, self-assembly and photovoltaic performances
Authors
Chevrier, M
Van Mele, B
Arnold, T
Evans, Rachel Claire
Publication Date
2020-01-01Journal Title
Polymer International
ISSN
0959-8103
Type
Article
This Version
AM
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Chevrier, M., Kesters, J., Houston, J., Van den Brande, N., Chambon, S., Richeter, S., Van Mele, B., et al. (2020). Phosphonium-based polythiophene conjugated polyelectrolytes with different surfactant counterions: thermal properties, self-assembly and photovoltaic performances. Polymer International https://doi.org/10.1002/pi.6088
Abstract
© 2020 Society of Industrial Chemistry Phosphonium-based polythiophene conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) with three different counterions (dodecylsulfate, octylsulfate and perfluorooctane sulfonate) are synthesized to determine how the nature of the counterion affects the thermal properties, the self-assembly in thin films and the performance as the cathode interfacial layer in polymer solar cells (PSCs). The counterion has a significant effect on the thermal properties of the CPEs, affecting both their glass transition and crystalline behaviour. Grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering studies also indicate that changing the nature of the counterion influences the microstructural organization in thin films (face-on versus edge-on orientation). The affinity of the CPEs with the underlying photoactive layer in PSCs is highly correlated with the counterion species. Finally, in addition to an increase of the power conversion efficiency of ca 15% when using these CPEs as cathode interfacial layers in PSCs, a higher device stability is noted, compared to a reference device with a calcium interlayer. © 2020 Society of Industrial Chemistry.
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pi.6088
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/310192
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