@article{InalKoelschSelrieetal.2013, author = {Inal, Sahika and K{\"o}lsch, Jonas D. and Selrie, Frank and Schenk, J{\"o}rg A. and Wischerhoff, Erik and Laschewsky, Andr{\´e} and Neher, Dieter}, title = {A water soluble fluorescent polymer as a dual colour sensor for temperature and a specific protein}, doi = {10.1039/c3tb21245a}, year = {2013}, abstract = {We present two thermoresponsive water soluble copolymers prepared via free radical statistical copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates (OEGMAs), respectively, with a solvatochromic 7-(diethylamino)-3-carboxy-coumarin (DEAC)-functionalized monomer. In aqueous solutions, the NIPAm-based copolymer exhibits characteristic changes in its fluorescence profile in response to a change in solution temperature as well as to the presence of a specific protein, namely an anti-DEAC antibody. This polymer emits only weakly at low temperatures, but exhibits a marked fluorescence enhancement accompanied by a change in its emission colour when heated above its cloud point. Such drastic changes in the fluorescence and absorbance spectra are observed also upon injection of the anti-DEAC antibody, attributed to the specific binding of the antibody to DEAC moieties. Importantly, protein binding occurs exclusively when the polymer is in the well hydrated state below the cloud point, enabling a temperature control on the molecular recognition event. On the other hand, heating of the polymer-antibody complexes releases a fraction of the bound antibody. In the presence of the DEAC-functionalized monomer in this mixture, the released antibody competitively binds to the monomer and the antibody-free chains of the polymer undergo a more effective collapse and inter-aggregation. In contrast, the emission properties of the OEGMA-based analogous copolymer are rather insensitive to the thermally induced phase transition or to antibody binding. These opposite behaviours underline the need for a carefully tailored molecular design of responsive polymers aimed at specific applications, such as biosensing.}, language = {en} } @article{LiBabuTurneretal.2013, author = {Li, Hongguang and Babu, Sukumaran Santhosh and Turner, Sarah T. and Neher, Dieter and Hollamby, Martin J. and Tomohito, Seki and Yagai, Shiki and deguchi, Yonekazu and M{\"o}hwald, Helmuth and Nakanishi, Takashi}, title = {Alkylated-C60 based soft materials: regulation of self-assembly and optoelectronic properties by chain branching}, doi = {10.1039/C3TC00066D}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Derivatization of fullerene (C60) with branched aliphatic chains softens C60-based materials and enables the formation of thermotropic liquid crystals and room temperature nonvolatile liquids. This work demonstrates that by carefully tuning parameters such as type, number and substituent position of the branched chains, liquid crystalline C60 materials with mesophase temperatures suited for photovoltaic cell fabrication and room temperature nonvolatile liquid fullerenes with tunable viscosity can be obtained. In particular, compound 1, with branched chains, exhibits a smectic liquid crystalline phase extending from 84°C to room temperature. Analysis of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells with a ca. 100 nm active layer of compound 1 and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an electron acceptor and an electron donor, respectively, reveals an improved performance (power conversion efficiency, PCE: 1.6 {\~n} 0.1\%) in comparison with another compound, 10 (PCE: 0.5 {\~n} 0.1\%). The latter, in contrast to 1, carries linear aliphatic chains and thus forms a highly ordered solid lamellar phase at room temperature. The solar cell performance of 1 blended with P3HT approaches that of PCBM/P3HT for the same active layer thickness. This indicates that C60 derivatives bearing branched tails are a promising class of electron acceptors in soft (flexible) photovoltaic devices.}, language = {en} } @article{KietzkeEgbeHoerholdetal.2006, author = {Kietzke, Thomas and Egbe, Daniel A. M. and H{\"o}rhold, Hans-Heinrich and Neher, Dieter}, title = {Comparative study of M3EH-PPV-based bilayer photovoltaic devices}, issn = {4018-4022}, doi = {10.1021/Ma0601991}, year = {2006}, abstract = {We have recently shown that efficient polymer solar cells can be fabricated by using a weakly soluble derivative of poly-p-vinylene (M3EH-PPV) as the electron donor. Here we present studies on bilayer devices using organic electron acceptors with varying LUMO levels and M3EH-PPV. It is found that the open-circuit voltage scales linearly with the LUMO level of the acceptor, reaching values as high as 1.5 V when cyano-substituted poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)-alt- poly(p-phenylenevinylene) copolymers are used. Further, we discovered that for an increasing number of triple bonds in the repeat unit of the acceptor polymer the device performance decreases with increasing thickness of the acceptor layer. Also, the quantum efficiency was smaller when using polymers with higher LUMO levels. Thus, further effort is needed to design optimum acceptor polymers for devices exhibiting large open-circuit voltage and high quantum efficiency}, language = {en} } @article{ZuAmsalemEggeretal.2019, author = {Zu, Fengshuo and Amsalem, Patrick and Egger, David A. and Wang, Rongbin and Wolff, Christian Michael and Fang, Honghua and Loi, Maria Antonietta and Neher, Dieter and Kronik, Leeor and Duhm, Steffen and Koch, Norbert}, title = {Constructing the Electronic Structure of CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr3 Perovskite Thin Films from Single-Crystal Band Structure Measurements}, series = {The journal of physical chemistry letters}, volume = {10}, journal = {The journal of physical chemistry letters}, number = {3}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1948-7185}, doi = {10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03728}, pages = {601 -- 609}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Photovoltaic cells based on halide perovskites, possessing remarkably high power conversion efficiencies have been reported. To push the development of such devices further, a comprehensive and reliable understanding of their electronic properties is essential but presently not available. To provide a solid foundation for understanding the electronic properties of polycrystalline thin films, we employ single-crystal band structure data from angle-resolved photoemission measurements. For two prototypical perovskites (CH3NH3PbBr3 and CH3NH3PbI3), we reveal the band dispersion in two high-symmetry directions and identify the global valence band maxima. With these benchmark data, we construct "standard" photoemission spectra from polycrystalline thin film samples and resolve challenges discussed in the literature for determining the valence band onset with high reliability. Within the framework laid out here, the consistency of relating the energy level alignment in perovskite-based photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices with their functional parameters is substantially enhanced.}, language = {en} } @misc{WolffCanilRehermannetal.2020, author = {Wolff, Christian Michael and Canil, Laura and Rehermann, Carolin and Nguyen, Ngoc Linh and Zu, Fengshuo and Ralaiarisoa, Maryline and Caprioglio, Pietro and Fiedler, Lukas and Stolterfoht, Martin and Kogikoski, Junior, Sergio and Bald, Ilko and Koch, Norbert and Unger, Eva L. and Dittrich, Thomas and Abate, Antonio and Neher, Dieter}, title = {Correction to 'Perfluorinated self-assembled monolayers enhance the stability and efficiency of inverted perovskite solar cells' (2020, 14 (2), 1445-1456)}, series = {ACS nano}, volume = {14}, journal = {ACS nano}, number = {11}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington, DC}, issn = {1936-0851}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.0c08081}, pages = {16156 -- 16156}, year = {2020}, language = {en} } @article{ZenSaphiannikovaNeheretal.2006, author = {Zen, Achmad and Saphiannikova, Marina and Neher, Dieter and Grenzer, J{\"o}rg and Grigorian, Souren A. and Pietsch, Ullrich and Asawapirom, Udom and Janietz, Silvia and Scherf, Ullrich and Lieberwirth, Ingo and Wegner, Gerhard}, title = {Effect of molecular weight on the structure and crystallinity of poly(3-hexylthiophene)}, doi = {10.1021/Ma0521349}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Recently, two different groups have reported independently that the mobility of field-effect transistors made from regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) increases strongly with molecular weight. Two different models were presented: one proposing carrier trapping at grain boundaries and the second putting emphasis on the conformation and packing of the polymer chains in the thin layers for different molecular weights. Here, we present the results of detailed investigations of powders and thin films of deuterated P3HT fractions with different molecular weight. For powder samples, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to investigate the structure and crystallization behavior of the polymers. The GPC investigations show that all weight fractions possess a rather broad molecular weight distribution. DSC measurements reveal a strong decrease of the crystallization temperature and, most important, a significant decrease of the degree of crystallinity with decreasing molecular weight. To study the structure of thin layers in lateral and vertical directions, both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray grazing incidence diffraction (GID) were utilized. These methods show that thin layers of the low molecular weight fraction consist of well-defined crystalline domains embedded in a disordered matrix. We propose that the transport properties of layers prepared from fractions of poly(3-hexylthiophene) with different molecular weight are largely determined by the crystallinity of the samples and not by the perfection of the packing of the chains in the individual crystallites}, language = {en} } @article{SalibaCorreaBaenaWolffetal.2018, author = {Saliba, Michael and Correa-Baena, Juan-Pablo and Wolff, Christian Michael and Stolterfoht, Martin and Phung, Thi Thuy Nga and Albrecht, Steve and Neher, Dieter and Abate, Antonio}, title = {How to Make over 20\% Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells in Regular (n-i-p) and Inverted (p-i-n) Architectures}, series = {Chemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society}, volume = {30}, journal = {Chemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society}, number = {13}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0897-4756}, doi = {10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b00136}, pages = {4193 -- 4201}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are currently one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies for highly efficient and cost-effective solar energy production. In only a few years, an unprecedented progression of preparation procedures and material compositions delivered lab-scale devices that have now reached record power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) higher than 20\%, competing with most established solar cell materials such as silicon, CIGS, and CdTe. However, despite a large number of researchers currently involved in this topic, only a few groups in the world can reproduce >20\% efficiencies on a regular n-i-p architecture. In this work, we present detailed protocols for preparing PSCs in regular (n-i-p) and inverted (p-i-n) architectures with >= 20\% PCE. We aim to provide a comprehensive, reproducible description of our device fabrication , protocols. We encourage the practice of reporting detailed and transparent protocols that can be more easily reproduced by other laboratories. A better reporting standard may, in turn, accelerate the development of perovskite solar cells and related research fields.}, language = {en} } @article{ShalomInalFettkenhaueretal.2013, author = {Shalom, Menny and Inal, Sahika and Fettkenhauer, Christian and Neher, Dieter and Antonietti, Markus}, title = {Improving Carbon Nitride Photocatalysis by Supramolecular Preorganization of Monomers}, series = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, volume = {135}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, number = {19}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0002-7863}, doi = {10.1021/ja402521s}, pages = {7118 -- 7121}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Here we report a new and simple synthetic pathway to form ordered, hollow carbon nitride structures, using a cyanuric acid melamine (CM) complex in ethanol as a starting product. A detailed analysis of the optical and photocatalytic properties shows that optimum hollow carbon nitride structures are formed after 8 h of condensation. For this condensation time, we find a significantly reduced fluorescence intensity and lifetime, indicating the formation of new, nonradiative deactivation pathways, probably involving charge-transfer processes. Enhanced charge transfer is seen as well from a drastic increase of the photocatalytic activity in the degradation of rhodamine B dye, which is shown to proceed via photoinduced hole transfer. Moreover, we show that various CM morphologies can be obtained using different solvents, which leads to diverse ordered carbon nitride architectures. In all cases, the CM-C3N4 structures exhibited superior photocatalytic activity compared to the bulk material. The utilization of CM hydrogen-bonded complexes opens new opportunities for the significant improvement of carbon nitride synthesis, structure, and optical properties toward an efficient photoactive material for catalysis.}, language = {en} } @article{KellyRolandZhangetal.2017, author = {Kelly, Mary Allison and Roland, Steffen and Zhang, Qianqian and Lee, Youngmin and Kabius, Bernd and Wang, Qing and Gomez, Enrique D. and Neher, Dieter and You, Wei}, title = {Incorporating Fluorine Substitution into Conjugated Polymers for Solar Cells}, series = {The journal of physical chemistry : C, Nanomaterials and interfaces}, volume = {121}, journal = {The journal of physical chemistry : C, Nanomaterials and interfaces}, number = {4}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1932-7447}, doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b10993}, pages = {2059 -- 2068}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Fluorinating conjugated polymers is a proven strategy for creating high performance materials in polymer solar cells, yet few studies have investigated the importance of the fluorination method. We compare the performance of three fluorinated systems: a poly(benzodithieno-dithienyltriazole) (PBnDT-XTAZ) random copolymer where 50\% of the acceptor units are difluorinated, PBnDT-mFTAZ where every acceptor unit is monofluorinated, and a 1:1 physical blend of the difluorinated and nonfluorinated polymer. All systems have the same degree of fluorination (50\%) yet via different methods (chemically vs physically, random vs regular). We show that these three systems have equivalent photovoltaic behavior:,similar to 5.2\% efficiency with a short-circuit current (J(sc)) at,similar to 11 mA cm(-2), an open-circuit voltage (v(oc)) at 0.77 V, and a fill factor (FF) of similar to 60\%. Further investigation of these three systems demonstrates that the charge generation, charge extraction, and charge transfer state are essentially identical for the three studied systems. Transmission electron microscopy shows no significant differences in the morphologies. All these data illustrate that it is possible to improve performance not only via regular or random fluorination but also by physical addition via a ternary blend. Thus, our results demonstrate the versatility of incorporating fluorine in the active layer of polymer solar cells to enhance device performance.}, language = {en} } @article{ZentelBehlNeheretal.2004, author = {Zentel, Rudolf and Behl, Marc and Neher, Dieter and Zen, Achmad and Lucht, Sylvia}, title = {Nanostructured polytriarylamines : orientation layers for polyfluorene}, issn = {0065-7727}, year = {2004}, language = {en} }