Effect of Palladium-Tetrakis(Triphenylphosphine) Catalyst Traces on Charge Recombination and Extraction in Non-Fullerene-based Organic Solar Cells

Nora Schopp, Viktor V. Brus, Jaewon Lee, Alana Dixon, Akchheta Karki, Tuo Liu, Zhengxing Peng, Kenneth R. Graham, Harald Ade, Guillermo C. Bazan, Thuc Quyen Nguyen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effect of the cross-coupling catalyst tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (Pd(PPh3)4) on the performance of a model organic bulk-heterojunction solar cell composed of a blend of poly([2,6′-4,8-di(5-ethylhexylthienyl)benzo[1,2-b;3,3-b]dithiophene]{3-fluoro-2[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophenediyl}) (PTB7-Th) donor and 3,9-bis(2-methylene-((3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-6,7-difluoro)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2′,3′-d′]-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene (IOTIC-4F) non-fullerene acceptor is investigated. The effect of intentional addition of different amounts of Pd(PPh3)4 on morphology, free charge carrier generation, non-geminate bulk trap- and surface trap-assisted recombination as well as bimolecular recombination and charge extraction is quantified. This work shows that free charge carrier generation is affected significantly, while the impact of Pd(PPh3)4 on non-geminate recombination processes is limited because the catalyst does not facilitate efficient trap-assisted recombination. The studied system shows substantial robustness towards the addition of Pd(PPh3)4 in small amounts.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2009363
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Volume31
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 8 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH

Keywords

  • catalyst traces
  • extraction
  • impurities
  • organic solar cells
  • recombination dynamics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • General Chemistry
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • General Materials Science
  • Electrochemistry
  • Biomaterials

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effect of Palladium-Tetrakis(Triphenylphosphine) Catalyst Traces on Charge Recombination and Extraction in Non-Fullerene-based Organic Solar Cells'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this