TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stolterfoht, Martin
A1  - Grischek, Max
A1  - Caprioglio, Pietro
A1  - Wolff, Christian Michael
A1  - Gutierrez-Partida, Emilio
A1  - Peña-Camargo, Francisco
A1  - Rothhardt, Daniel
A1  - Zhang, Shanshan
A1  - Raoufi, Meysam
A1  - Wolansky, Jakob
A1  - Abdi-Jalebi, Mojtaba
A1  - Stranks, Samuel D.
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Kirchartz, Thomas
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - How to quantify the efficiency potential of neat perovskite films
BT  - Perovskite semiconductors with an implied efficiency exceeding 28%
JF  - Advanced Materials
N2  - Perovskite photovoltaic (PV) cells have demonstrated power conversion efficiencies (PCE) that are close to those of monocrystalline silicon cells; however, in contrast to silicon PV, perovskites are not limited by Auger recombination under 1-sun illumination. Nevertheless, compared to GaAs and monocrystalline silicon PV, perovskite cells have significantly lower fill factors due to a combination of resistive and non-radiative recombination losses. This necessitates a deeper understanding of the underlying loss mechanisms and in particular the ideality factor of the cell. By measuring the intensity dependence of the external open-circuit voltage and the internal quasi-Fermi level splitting (QFLS), the transport resistance-free efficiency of the complete cell as well as the efficiency potential of any neat perovskite film with or without attached transport layers are quantified. Moreover, intensity-dependent QFLS measurements on different perovskite compositions allows for disentangling of the impact of the interfaces and the perovskite surface on the non-radiative fill factor and open-circuit voltage loss. It is found that potassium-passivated triple cation perovskite films stand out by their exceptionally high implied PCEs > 28%, which could be achieved with ideal transport layers. Finally, strategies are presented to reduce both the ideality factor and transport losses to push the efficiency to the thermodynamic limit.
KW  - non-radiative interface recombination
KW  - perovskite solar cells
KW  - photoluminescence
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202000080
SN  - 0935-9648
SN  - 1521-4095
VL  - 32
IS  - 17
SP  - 1
EP  - 10
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chen, Zupeng
A1  - Savateev, Aleksandr
A1  - Pronkin, Sergey
A1  - Papaefthimiou, Vasiliki
A1  - Wolff, Christian Michael
A1  - Willinger, Marc Georg
A1  - Willinger, Elena
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Antonietti, Markus
A1  - Dontsova, Dariya
T1  - "The Easier the Better" Preparation of Efficient Photocatalysts-Metastable Poly(heptazine imide) Salts
JF  - Advanced materials
N2  - Cost-efficient, visible-light-driven hydrogen production from water is an attractive potential source of clean, sustainable fuel. Here, it is shown that thermal solid state reactions of traditional carbon nitride precursors (cyanamide, melamine) with NaCl, KCl, or CsCl are a cheap and straightforward way to prepare poly(heptazine imide) alkali metal salts, whose thermodynamic stability decreases upon the increase of the metal atom size. The chemical structure of the prepared salts is confirmed by the results of X-ray photoelectron and infrared spectroscopies, powder X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy studies, and, in the case of sodium poly(heptazine imide), additionally by atomic pair distribution function analysis and 2D powder X-ray diffraction pattern simulations. In contrast, reactions with LiCl yield thermodynamically stable poly(triazine imides). Owing to the metastability and high structural order, the obtained heptazine imide salts are found to be highly active photo-catalysts in Rhodamine B and 4-chlorophenol degradation, and Pt-assisted sacrificial water reduction reactions under visible light irradiation. The measured hydrogen evolution rates are up to four times higher than those provided by a benchmark photocatalyst, mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride. Moreover, the products are able to photocatalytically reduce water with considerable reaction rates, even when glycerol is used as a sacrificial hole scavenger.
KW  - carbon nitride
KW  - glycerol oxidation
KW  - mesocrystals
KW  - poly(heptazine imide)
KW  - water reduction reactions
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201700555
SN  - 0935-9648
SN  - 1521-4095
VL  - 29
SP  - 21800
EP  - 21806
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Inal, Sahika
A1  - Kölsch, Jonas D.
A1  - Sellrie, Frank
A1  - Schenk, Jörg A.
A1  - Wischerhoff, Erik
A1  - Laschewsky, André
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - A water soluble fluorescent polymer as a dual colour sensor for temperature and a specific protein
JF  - Journal of materials chemistry : B, Materials for biology and medicine
N2  - 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.
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1039/c3tb21245a
SN  - 2050-750X
SN  - 2050-7518
VL  - 1
IS  - 46
SP  - 6373
EP  - 6381
PB  - Royal Society of Chemistry
CY  - Cambridge
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Shalom, Menny
A1  - Inal, Sahika
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Antonietti, Markus
T1  - SiO2/carbon nitride composite materials: The role of surfaces for enhanced photocatalysis
JF  - Catalysis today : a serial publication dealing with topical themes in catalysis and related subjects
N2  - The effect of SiO2 nanoparticles on carbon nitride (C3N4) photoactivity performance is described. The composite SiO2-C3N4 materials exhibit a higher activity in the photo degradation of RhB dye. A detailed analysis of the chemical and optical properties of the composite C3N4 materials shows that the photo activity increases with higher SiO2 concentration. We found out that the presence of SiO2 nanoparticles strongly affects the fluorescence intensity of the matrix and life time by the creation of new energy states for charge transfer within the C3N4. Furthermore, the use of SiO2 in the synthesis of C3N4 leads to new morphology with higher surface area which results in another, secondary improvement of C3N4 photoactivity. The effect of different surfaces within C3N4 on its chemical and electronic properties is discussed and a tentative mechanism is proposed. The utilization of SiO2 nanoparticles improves both photophysical and chemical properties of C3N4 and opens new possibilities for further enhancement of C3N4 catalytic properties by the formation of composites with many other materials.
KW  - Carbon nitride
KW  - SiO2 composite material
KW  - Photocatalysis
KW  - RhB degradation
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2013.12.013
SN  - 0920-5861
SN  - 1873-4308
VL  - 225
SP  - 185
EP  - 190
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Landfester, Katharina
A1  - Montenegro, Rivelino V. D.
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
A1  - Günter, R.
A1  - Asawapirom, Udom
A1  - Patil, S.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Kietzke, Thomas
T1  - Semiconducting polymer nanospheres in aqeous dispersion prepared by a miniemulsion process
Y1  - 2002
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Grootoonk, Bjorn
A1  - Neubert, Sebastian
A1  - Roland, Steffen
A1  - Wordenweber, Jan
A1  - Meier, Matthias
A1  - Schlatmann, Rutger
A1  - Gordijn, Aad
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Efficient hybrid inorganic/organic tandem solar cells with tailored recombination contacts
JF  - Solar energy materials & solar cells : an international journal devoted to photovoltaic, photothermal, and photochemical solar energy conversion
N2  - In this work, the authors present a 7.5% efficient hybrid tandem solar cell with the bottom cell made of amorphous silicon and a Si-PCPDTBT:PC70BM bulk heterojunction top cell. Loss-free recombination contacts were realized by combing Al-doped ZnO with either the conducting polymer composite PEDOT:PSS or with a bilayer of ultrathin Al and MoO3. Optimization of these contacts results in tandem cells with high fill factors of 70% and an open circuit voltage close to the sum of those of the sub-cells. This is the best efficiency reported for this type of hybrid tandem cell so far. Optical and electrical device modeling suggests that the efficiency can be increased to similar to 12% on combining a donor polymer with suitable absorption onset with PCBM. We also describe proof-of-principle studies employing light trapping in hybrid tandem solar cells, suggesting that this device architecture has the potential to achieve efficiencies well above 12%. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
KW  - Hybrid solar cells
KW  - Tandem solar cells
KW  - Organic solar cells
KW  - Bulk heterojunction
KW  - Efficiency optimization
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2014.04.020
SN  - 0927-0248
SN  - 1879-3398
VL  - 127
SP  - 157
EP  - 162
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zen, Achmad
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Silmy, Kamel
A1  - Hollander, A.
A1  - Asawapirom, Udom
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
T1  - Improving the performance of organic field effect transistor by optimizing the gate insulator surface
N2  - The effect of oxygen plasma treatment and/or silanization with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) on the surface chemistry and the morphology of the SiO2-gate insulator were studied with respect to the performance of organic field effect transistors. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), it is shown that silanization leads to the growth of a polysiloxane interfacial layer and that longer silanization times increase the thickness of this layer. Most important, silanization reduces the signal from surface contaminations such as oxidized hydrocarbon molecules. In fact, the lowest concentration of these contaminations was found after a combined oxygen plasma/silanization treatment. The results of these investigations were correlated with the characteristic device parameters of polymer field effect transistors with poly(3-hexylthiophene)s as the semiconducting layer. We found that the field effect mobility correlates with the concentration of contaminations as measured by XPS. We, finally, demonstrate that silanization significantly improves the operational stability of the device in air compared to the untreated devices
Y1  - 2005
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Däubler, Thomas Karl
A1  - Glowacki, Ireneusz
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
A1  - Ulanski, J.
A1  - Hörhold, Hans-Heinrich
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Photogeneration and transport of charge carriers in hybrid materials of conjugated polymers and dye-sensitized TiO2
Y1  - 1999
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gorenflot, Julien
A1  - Paulke, Andreas
A1  - Piersimoni, Fortunato
A1  - Wolf, Jannic
A1  - Kan, Zhipeng
A1  - Cruciani, Federico
A1  - El Labban, Abdulrahman
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Beaujuge, Pierre M.
A1  - Laquai, Frederic
T1  - From recombination dynamics to device performance
BT  - quantifying the efficiency of exciton dissociation, charge separation, and extraction in bulk heterojunction solar cells with Fluorine-Substituted polymer donors
JF  - dvanced energy materials
N2  - An original set of experimental and modeling tools is used to quantify the yield of each of the physical processes leading to photocurrent generation in organic bulk heterojunction solar cells, enabling evaluation of materials and processing condition beyond the trivial comparison of device performances. Transient absorption spectroscopy, “the” technique to monitor all intermediate states over the entire relevant timescale, is combined with time-delayed collection field experiments, transfer matrix simulations, spectral deconvolution, and parametrization of the charge carrier recombination by a two-pool model, allowing quantification of densities of excitons and charges and extrapolation of their kinetics to device-relevant conditions. Photon absorption, charge transfer, charge separation, and charge extraction are all quantified for two recently developed wide-bandgap donor polymers: poly(4,8-bis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-3,4-difluorothiophene) (PBDT[2F]T) and its nonfluorinated counterpart poly(4,8-bis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-3,4-thiophene) (PBDT[2H]T) combined with PC71BM in bulk heterojunctions. The product of these yields is shown to agree well with the devices' external quantum efficiency. This methodology elucidates in the specific case studied here the origin of improved photocurrents obtained when using PBDT[2F]T instead of PBDT[2H]T as well as upon using solvent additives. Furthermore, a higher charge transfer (CT)-state energy is shown to lead to significantly lower energy losses (resulting in higher VOC) during charge generation compared to P3HT:PCBM.
KW  - bulk heterojunction
KW  - charge generation yield
KW  - charge recombination yield
KW  - polymer solar cells
KW  - transient absorption spectroscopy
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701678
SN  - 1614-6832
SN  - 1614-6840
VL  - 8
IS  - 4
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Blakesley, James C.
A1  - Schubert, Marcel
A1  - Steyrleuthner, Robert
A1  - Chen, Zhihua
A1  - Facchetti, Antonio
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Time-of-flight measurements and vertical transport in a high electron-mobility polymer
JF  - Applied physics letters
N2  - We investigate charge transport in a high-electron mobility polymer, poly(N, N-bis 2-octyldodecyl-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis dicarboximide-2,6-diyl-alt-5,5-2,2-bithiophene) [P(NDI2OD-T2), Polyera ActivInk (TM) N2200]. Time-of-flight measurements reveal electron mobilities approaching those measured in field-effect transistors, the highest ever recorded in a conjugated polymer using this technique. The modest temperature dependence and weak dispersion of the transients indicate low energetic disorder in this material. Steady-state electron-only current measurements reveal a barrier to injection of about 300 meV. We propose that this barrier is located within the P(NDI2OD-T2) film and arises from molecular orientation effects.
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3657827
SN  - 0003-6951
VL  - 99
IS  - 18
PB  - American Institute of Physics
CY  - Melville
ER  -