Sequentially Different AB Diblock and ABA Triblock Copolymers as P3HT:PCBM Interfacial Compatibilizers for Bulk-Heterojunction Photovoltaics

The P3HT:PCBM (P3HT = poly(3-hexylthiophene, PCBM = phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester) bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells using the AB diblock and ABA triblock copolymers (A = polystyrene derivative with donor-acceptor units (PTCNE) and B = P3HT) as compatibilizers were fabricated. Under the optimized blend ratio of the block copolymer, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) was enhanced. This PCE enhancement was clearly related to the increased short-circuit current (J(sc)) and fill factor (FF). The incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) measurement suggested that the P3HT crystallinity was improved upon addition of the block copolymers. The increased P3HT crystallinity was consistent with the increased photovoltaic parameters, such as J(sc), FF, and consequently the PCE. The surface energies of these block copolymers suggested their thermodynamically stable location at the interface of P3HT:PCBM, showing the efficient compatibilizing performance, resulting in enlarging and fixing the interfacial area and suppressing the recombination of the generated carriers. Grazing incidence X-ray scattering (GIXS) results confirmed the superior compatibilizing performance of the ABA triblock copolymer when compared to the AB diblock copolymer by the fact that, after blending the ABA triblock copolymer in the P3HT:PCBM system, the enhanced crystallinity of matrix P3HT was observed in the excluded areas of the less-aggregated PCBM domains, changing the P3HT crystalline domain orientation from "edge-on" to "isotropic". This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first sequential effect (AB vs ABA) of the block copolymers on the compatibilizing performances based on BHJ OPV device systems.