A new diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-containing donor-acceptor polymer, poly(2,5-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-3,6-di(furan-2-yl)-2,5-dihydro-pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione-co-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene) (PDBF-co-TT), is synthesized and studied as a semiconductor in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). High hole mobility of up to 0.53 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) in bottom-gate, top-cont...

Following an approach developed in our group to incorporate tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) units into conjugated polymeric systems, we have studied a low band gap polymer incorporating TTF as a donor component. This polymer is based on a fused thieno-TTF unit that enables the direct incorporation of the TTF unit into the polymer, and a second comonomer based on the diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) molecule...

In this paper, we reported that ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) film modified with C60 pyrrolidine tris-acid ethyl ester (PyC60) was used as cathode buffer layer in inverted polymer solar cells. The resultant device with a blend of PTB7:PC71BM as photoactive materials exhibited an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.753 V, a short-circuit current (Jsc) of 16.04 mA cm , a fill factor (FF) of 72.5%, and an o...

The morphology of bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells controls many of the performance characteristics of devices. However, measuring this morphology is challenging because of the small length-scales and low contrast between organic materials. Here we use nanoscale photocurrent mapping, ultrafast fluorescence and exciton diffusion to observe the detailed morphology of a high-performa...

We report Barium (Ba) cathode layer for bulk-heterojunction solar cells which enhanced the fill factor (FF) of p-DTS(FBTTh2)2/PC71BM BHJ solar cell up to 75.1%, one of the highest value reported for an organic solar cell. The external quantum efficiency exceeds 80%. Analysis of recombination mechanisms using the current-voltage (J-V) characteristics at various light intensities in the BHJ solar...

High performance bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells with blade-coated active layers of POD2T-DTBT blended with [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) are demonstrated in this work. The blade-coated cells exhibit power conversion efficiencies of up to 6.74%, which is comparable to those of conventional spincoated cells but obtained with just a fraction of the mater...

We report the performance and photophysics of a low band-gap diketopyrrolopyrrole-based copolymer used in bulk heterojunction devices in combination with PC71BM. We show that the short lifetime of photogenerated excitons in the polymer constitutes an obstacle towards device efficiency by limiting the diffusion range of the exciton to the donor-acceptor heterojunction. We employ ultrafast transi...

Organic photovoltaics have the potential to serve as lightweight, low-cost, mechanically flexible solar cells. However, losses in efficiency as laboratory cells are scaled up to the module level have to date impeded large scale deployment. Here, we report that a 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) cathode interfacial treatment significantly enhances performance reproducibility in inverted high...

Enhanced performance of polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on the blend of poly[N-9''-hepta-decanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT):[6,6]-phenyl-C70-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) is demonstrated by titanium dioxide (TiO2) interface modification via CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots (CZdots). Devices with a TiO2/CZdots composite buffer layer exhibit both a...