@misc{MouleNeherTurner2014, author = {Moule, Adam J. and Neher, Dieter and Turner, Sarah T.}, title = {P3HT-Based solar cells: structural properties and photovoltaic performance}, series = {Advances in Polymer Science}, volume = {265}, journal = {Advances in Polymer Science}, editor = {Ludwigs, S}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-662-45145-8; 978-3-662-45144-1}, issn = {0065-3195}, doi = {10.1007/12_2014_289}, pages = {181 -- 232}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Each year we are bombarded with B.Sc. and Ph.D. applications from students that want to improve the world. They have learned that their future depends on changing the type of fuel we use and that solar energy is our future. The hope and energy of these young people will transform future energy technologies, but it will not happen quickly. Organic photovoltaic devices are easy to sketch, but the materials, processing steps, and ways of measuring the properties of the materials are very complicated. It is not trivial to make a systematic measurement that will change the way other research groups think or practice. In approaching this chapter, we thought about what a new researcher would need to know about organic photovoltaic devices and materials in order to have a good start in the subject. Then, we simplified that to focus on what a new researcher would need to know about poly-3-hexylthiophene: phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester blends (P3HT: PCBM) to make research progress with these materials. This chapter is by no means authoritative or a compendium of all things on P3HT: PCBM. We have selected to explain how the sample fabrication techniques lead to control of morphology and structural features and how these morphological features have specific optical and electronic consequences for organic photovoltaic device applications.}, language = {en} } @misc{PalyulinAlaNissilaMetzler2014, author = {Palyulin, Vladimir V. and Ala-Nissila, Tapio and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {Polymer translocation: the first two decades and the recent diversification}, series = {Soft matter}, volume = {10}, journal = {Soft matter}, number = {45}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {1744-683X}, doi = {10.1039/c4sm01819b}, pages = {9016 -- 9037}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Probably no other field of statistical physics at the borderline of soft matter and biological physics has caused such a flurry of papers as polymer translocation since the 1994 landmark paper by Bezrukov, Vodyanoy, and Parsegian and the study of Kasianowicz in 1996. Experiments, simulations, and theoretical approaches are still contributing novel insights to date, while no universal consensus on the statistical understanding of polymer translocation has been reached. We here collect the published results, in particular, the famous-infamous debate on the scaling exponents governing the translocation process. We put these results into perspective and discuss where the field is going. In particular, we argue that the phenomenon of polymer translocation is non-universal and highly sensitive to the exact specifications of the models and experiments used towards its analysis.}, language = {en} } @misc{WinklerCherstvy2014, author = {Winkler, Roland G. and Cherstvy, Andrey G.}, title = {Strong and weak polyelectrolyte adsorption onto oppositely charged curved surfaces}, series = {Advances in polymer science}, volume = {255}, journal = {Advances in polymer science}, editor = {Muller, M.}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-642-40734-5; 978-3-642-40733-8}, issn = {0065-3195}, doi = {10.1007/12_2012_183}, pages = {1 -- 56}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Polyelectrolytes are macromolecules composed of charged monomers and exhibit unique properties due to the interplay of their flexibility and electrostatic interactions. In solution, they are attracted to oppositely charged surfaces and interfaces and exhibit a transition to an adsorbed state when certain conditions are met concerning the charge densities of the polymer and surface and the properties of the solution. In this review, we discuss two limiting cases for adsorption of flexible polyelectrolytes on curved surfaces: weak and strong adsorption. In the first case, adsorption is strongly influenced by the entropic degrees of freedom of a flexible polyelectrolyte. By contrast, in the strong adsorption limit, electrostatic interactions dominate, which leads to particular adsorption patterns, specifically on spherical surfaces. We discuss the corresponding theoretical approaches, applying a mean-field description for the polymer and the polymer-surface interaction. For weak adsorption, we discuss the critical adsorption behavior by exactly solvable models for planar and spherical geometries and a generic approximation scheme, which is additionally applied to cylindrical surfaces. For strong adsorption, we investigate various polyelectrolyte patterns on cylinders and spheres and evaluate their stability. The results are discussed in the light of experimental results, mostly of DNA adsorption experiments.}, language = {en} } @misc{CardinalettiKestersBerthoetal.2014, author = {Cardinaletti, Ilaria and Kesters, Jurgen and Bertho, Sabine and Conings, Bert and Piersimoni, Fortunato and Lutsen, Laurence and Nesladek, Milos and Van Mele, Bruno and Van Assche, Guy and Vandewal, Koen and Salleo, Alberto and Vanderzande, Dirk and Maes, Wouter and Manca, Jean V.}, title = {Toward bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells with thermally stable active layer morphology}, series = {Journal of photonics for energy}, volume = {4}, journal = {Journal of photonics for energy}, publisher = {SPIE}, address = {Bellingham}, issn = {1947-7988}, doi = {10.1117/1.JPE.4.040997}, pages = {12}, year = {2014}, abstract = {When state-of-the-art bulk heterojunction organic solar cells with ideal morphology are exposed to prolonged storage or operation at elevated temperatures, a thermally induced disruption of the active layer blend can occur, in the form of a separation of donor and acceptor domains, leading to diminished photovoltaic performance. Toward the long-term use of organic solar cells in real-life conditions, an important challenge is, therefore, the development of devices with a thermally stable active layer morphology. Several routes are being explored, ranging from the use of high glass transition temperature, cross-linkable and/or side-chain functionalized donor and acceptor materials, to light-induced dimerization of the fullerene acceptor. A better fundamental understanding of the nature and underlying mechanisms of the phase separation and stabilization effects has been obtained through a variety of analytical, thermal analysis, and electro-optical techniques. Accelerated aging systems have been used to study the degradation kinetics of bulk heterojunction solar cells in situ at various temperatures to obtain aging models predicting solar cell lifetime. The following contribution gives an overview of the current insights regarding the intrinsic thermally induced aging effects and the proposed solutions, illustrated by examples of our own research groups. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.}, language = {en} }