Concurrently pumped ultrasonic spray coating for donor:acceptor and thickness optimization of organic solar cells

Jeffrey G. Tait, Barry P. Rand, Paul Heremans

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

We assess the utility of concurrent spray coating to efficiently screen and optimize solutions for organic solar cells. With this technique two independent solutions are coaxially pumped to the ultrasonic nozzle tip of the spray coater, where a micron-scale mist of droplets, each consisting of one of the two respective solutions with negligible mixing, is ejected toward the substrate. Concurrent spray coating is shown to allow the scanning of two important photoactive layer parameters: thickness, by concurrently diluting concentrated donor:acceptor (D:A) solution with pure solvent, and D:A ratio by concurrently spraying independent solutions of donor and acceptor. The assessment is done using the archetypal poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):(6,6)-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) system. By allowing the droplets to coalesce on the substrate prior to drying, the resulting film realizes a favorable morphology, confirmed via high-performance OSC devices, with a peak efficiency of 4.1%, 72% fill factor, 9.3 mA/cm2 short circuit current density, and a 620 mV open circuit voltage.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1002-1008
Number of pages7
JournalOrganic Electronics
Volume14
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Biomaterials
  • General Chemistry
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Materials Chemistry
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • Donor:acceptor ratio optimization
  • Organic photovoltaics
  • P3HT:PCBM
  • Solution processing
  • Spray coating
  • Thickness optimization

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