Underwater Organic Solar Cells via Selective Removal of Electron Acceptors near the Top Electrode

Jaemin Kong; Dennis Nordlund; Jong Sung Jin; Sang Yup Kim; Sun Mi Jin; Di Huang; Yifan Zheng; Christopher Karpovich; Genevieve Sertic; Hanyu Wang; Jinyang Li; Guoming Weng; Francisco Antonio; Marina Mariano; Stephen Maclean; Tenghooi Goh; Jin Young Kim; André D. Taylor

doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00274

Underwater Organic Solar Cells via Selective Removal of Electron Acceptors near the Top Electrode

Jaemin Kong, Dennis Nordlund, Jong Sung Jin, Sang Yup Kim, Sun Mi Jin, Di Huang, Yifan Zheng, Christopher Karpovich, Genevieve Sertic, Hanyu Wang, Jinyang Li, Guoming Weng, Francisco Antonio, Marina Mariano, Stephen Maclean, Tenghooi Goh, Jin Young Kim, André D. Taylor

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Electron acceptor degradation of organic solar cells is considered a main contributor to performance instability and a barrier for the commercialization of organic solar cells. Here, we selectively remove the electron acceptors on the surface of donor:acceptor blend films using a tape stripping technique. The near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectrum reveals that only 6% of the acceptor component is left on the blend film surface after the tape stripping, creating a polymer-rich surface. The optimized morphology avoids direct contact of electron acceptors with the oxygen and water molecules from the film surface. Moreover, the polymer-rich surface dramatically enhances the adhesion between the photoactive layer and the top metal electrode, which prevents delamination of the electrode. Our results finally demonstrate that the selective removal of electron acceptors near the top electrode facilitates the realization of highly durable organic solar cells that can even function under water without encapsulation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1034-1041
Number of pages	8
Journal	ACS Energy Letters
Volume	4
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00274
State	Published - May 10 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Chemistry (miscellaneous)
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Fuel Technology
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Materials Chemistry

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10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00274

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Kong, J., Nordlund, D., Jin, J. S., Kim, S. Y., Jin, S. M., Huang, D., Zheng, Y., Karpovich, C., Sertic, G., Wang, H., Li, J., Weng, G., Antonio, F., Mariano, M., Maclean, S., Goh, T., Kim, J. Y., & Taylor, A. D. (2019). Underwater Organic Solar Cells via Selective Removal of Electron Acceptors near the Top Electrode. ACS Energy Letters, 4(5), 1034-1041. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00274

Kong, J, Nordlund, D, Jin, JS, Kim, SY, Jin, SM, Huang, D, Zheng, Y, Karpovich, C, Sertic, G, Wang, H, Li, J, Weng, G, Antonio, F, Mariano, M, Maclean, S, Goh, T, Kim, JY & Taylor, AD 2019, 'Underwater Organic Solar Cells via Selective Removal of Electron Acceptors near the Top Electrode', ACS Energy Letters, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 1034-1041. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00274

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title = "Underwater Organic Solar Cells via Selective Removal of Electron Acceptors near the Top Electrode",

abstract = "Electron acceptor degradation of organic solar cells is considered a main contributor to performance instability and a barrier for the commercialization of organic solar cells. Here, we selectively remove the electron acceptors on the surface of donor:acceptor blend films using a tape stripping technique. The near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectrum reveals that only 6% of the acceptor component is left on the blend film surface after the tape stripping, creating a polymer-rich surface. The optimized morphology avoids direct contact of electron acceptors with the oxygen and water molecules from the film surface. Moreover, the polymer-rich surface dramatically enhances the adhesion between the photoactive layer and the top metal electrode, which prevents delamination of the electrode. Our results finally demonstrate that the selective removal of electron acceptors near the top electrode facilitates the realization of highly durable organic solar cells that can even function under water without encapsulation.",

author = "Jaemin Kong and Dennis Nordlund and Jin, {Jong Sung} and Kim, {Sang Yup} and Jin, {Sun Mi} and Di Huang and Yifan Zheng and Christopher Karpovich and Genevieve Sertic and Hanyu Wang and Jinyang Li and Guoming Weng and Francisco Antonio and Marina Mariano and Stephen Maclean and Tenghooi Goh and Kim, {Jin Young} and Taylor, {Andr{\'e} D.}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Science Foundation (DMR-1410171), NSF-PECASE award (CBET-0954985), the Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI), and NASA (CT Space Grant Consortium) for partial support of this work. J.K. also acknowledges the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2015R1A6A3A03020005). J.Y.K. acknowledges the supports from the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20173010012960). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 American Chemical Society.",

year = "2019",

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doi = "10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00274",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Underwater Organic Solar Cells via Selective Removal of Electron Acceptors near the Top Electrode

AU - Kong, Jaemin

AU - Nordlund, Dennis

AU - Jin, Jong Sung

AU - Kim, Sang Yup

AU - Jin, Sun Mi

AU - Huang, Di

AU - Zheng, Yifan

AU - Karpovich, Christopher

AU - Sertic, Genevieve

AU - Wang, Hanyu

AU - Li, Jinyang

AU - Weng, Guoming

AU - Antonio, Francisco

AU - Mariano, Marina

AU - Maclean, Stephen

AU - Goh, Tenghooi

AU - Kim, Jin Young

AU - Taylor, André D.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Science Foundation (DMR-1410171), NSF-PECASE award (CBET-0954985), the Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI), and NASA (CT Space Grant Consortium) for partial support of this work. J.K. also acknowledges the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2015R1A6A3A03020005). J.Y.K. acknowledges the supports from the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20173010012960). Publisher Copyright: © 2019 American Chemical Society.

PY - 2019/5/10

Y1 - 2019/5/10

N2 - Electron acceptor degradation of organic solar cells is considered a main contributor to performance instability and a barrier for the commercialization of organic solar cells. Here, we selectively remove the electron acceptors on the surface of donor:acceptor blend films using a tape stripping technique. The near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectrum reveals that only 6% of the acceptor component is left on the blend film surface after the tape stripping, creating a polymer-rich surface. The optimized morphology avoids direct contact of electron acceptors with the oxygen and water molecules from the film surface. Moreover, the polymer-rich surface dramatically enhances the adhesion between the photoactive layer and the top metal electrode, which prevents delamination of the electrode. Our results finally demonstrate that the selective removal of electron acceptors near the top electrode facilitates the realization of highly durable organic solar cells that can even function under water without encapsulation.

AB - Electron acceptor degradation of organic solar cells is considered a main contributor to performance instability and a barrier for the commercialization of organic solar cells. Here, we selectively remove the electron acceptors on the surface of donor:acceptor blend films using a tape stripping technique. The near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectrum reveals that only 6% of the acceptor component is left on the blend film surface after the tape stripping, creating a polymer-rich surface. The optimized morphology avoids direct contact of electron acceptors with the oxygen and water molecules from the film surface. Moreover, the polymer-rich surface dramatically enhances the adhesion between the photoactive layer and the top metal electrode, which prevents delamination of the electrode. Our results finally demonstrate that the selective removal of electron acceptors near the top electrode facilitates the realization of highly durable organic solar cells that can even function under water without encapsulation.

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Underwater Organic Solar Cells via Selective Removal of Electron Acceptors near the Top Electrode

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