TY  - JOUR
A1  - Al-Sa'di, Mahmoud
A1  - Jaiser, Frank
A1  - Bagnich, Sergey A.
A1  - Unger, Thomas
A1  - Blakesley, James C.
A1  - Wilke, Andreas
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Electrical and optical simulations of a polymer-based phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode with high efficiency
JF  - Journal of polymer science : B, Polymer physics
N2  - A comprehensive numerical device simulation of the electrical and optical characteristics accompanied with experimental measurements of a new highly efficient system for polymer-based light-emitting diodes doped with phosphorescent dyes is presented. The system under investigation comprises an electron transporter attached to a polymer backbone blended with an electronically inert small molecule and an iridium-based green phosphorescent dye which serves as both emitter and hole transporter. The device simulation combines an electrical and an optical model. Based on the known highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of all components as well as the measured electrical and optical characteristics of the devices, we model the emissive layer as an effective medium using the dye's HOMO as hole transport level and the polymer LUMO as electron transport level. By fine-tuning the injection barriers at the electron and hole-injecting contact, respectively, in simulated devices, unipolar device characteristics were fitted to the experimental data. Simulations using the so-obtained set of parameters yielded very good agreement to the measured currentvoltage, luminancevoltage characteristics, and the emission profile of entire bipolar light-emitting diodes, without additional fitting parameters. The simulation was used to gain insight into the physical processes and the mechanisms governing the efficiency of the organic light-emitting diode, including the position and extent of the recombination zone, carrier concentration profiles, and field distribution inside the device. The simulations show that the device is severely limited by hole injection, and that a reduction of the hole-injection barrier would improve the device efficiency by almost 50%.
KW  - conjugated polymers
KW  - high performance polymers
KW  - organic electronics
KW  - organic light-emitting diode
KW  - simulations
KW  - TCAD
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.23158
SN  - 0887-6266
VL  - 50
IS  - 22
SP  - 1567
EP  - 1576
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
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  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Janietz, Silvia
A1  - Schindler, Wolfram
A1  - Frisch, Johannes
A1  - Kurpiers, Jona
A1  - Kniepert, Juliane
A1  - Inal, Sahika
A1  - Pingel, Patrick
A1  - Fostiropoulos, Konstantinos
A1  - Koch, Norbert
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Fluorinated Copolymer PCPDTBT with enhanced open-circuit voltage and reduced recombination for highly efficient polymer solar cells
JF  - Journal of the American Chemical Society
N2  - A novel fluorinated copolymer (F-PCPDTBT) is introduced and shown to exhibit significantly higher power conversion efficiency in bulk heterojunction solar cells with PC70BM compared to the well-known low-band-gap polymer PCPDTBT. Fluorination lowers the polymer HOMO level, resulting in high open-circuit voltages well exceeding 0.7 V. Optical spectroscopy and morphological studies with energy-resolved transmission electron microscopy reveal that the fluorinated polymer aggregates more strongly in pristine and blended layers, with a smaller amount of additives needed to achieve optimum device performance. Time-delayed collection field and charge extraction by linearly increasing voltage are used to gain insight into the effect of fluorination on the field dependence of free charge-carrier generation and recombination. F-PCPDTBT is shown to exhibit a significantly weaker field dependence of free charge-carrier generation combined with an overall larger amount of free charges, meaning that geminate recombination is greatly reduced. Additionally, a 3-fold reduction in non-geminate recombination is measured compared to optimized PCPDTBT blends. As a consequence of reduced non-geminate recombination, the performance of optimized blends of fluorinated PCPDTBT with PC70BM is largely determined by the field dependence of free-carrier generation, and this field dependence is considerably weaker compared to that of blends comprising the non-fluorinated polymer. For these optimized blends, a short-circuit current of 14 mA/cm(2), an open-circuit voltage of 0.74 V, and a fill factor of 58% are achieved, giving a highest energy conversion efficiency of 6.16%. The superior device performance and the low band-gap render this new polymer highly promising for the construction of efficient polymer-based tandem solar cells.
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/ja305039j
SN  - 0002-7863
VL  - 134
IS  - 36
SP  - 14932
EP  - 14944
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Schaefer, Sebastian
A1  - Lange, Ilja
A1  - Yilmaz, Seyfullah
A1  - Dumsch, Ines
A1  - Allard, Sybille
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
A1  - Hertwig, Andreas
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Light management in PCPDTBT:PC70BM solar cells: A comparison of standard and inverted device structures
JF  - Organic electronics : physics, materials and applications
N2  - We compare standard and inverted bulk heterojunction solar cells composed of PCPDTBT:PC70BM blends. Inverted devices comprising 100 nm thick active layers exhibited short circuit currents of 15 mA/cm(2), 10% larger than in corresponding standard devices. Modeling of the optical field distribution in the different device stacks proved that this enhancement originates from an increased absorption of incident light in the active layer. Internal quantum efficiencies (IQEs) were obtained from the direct comparison of experimentally derived and modeled currents for different layer thicknesses, yielding IQEs of similar to 70% for a layer thickness of 100 nm. Simulations predict a significant increase of the light harvesting efficiency upon increasing the layer thickness to 270 nm. However, a continuous deterioration of the photovoltaic properties with layer thickness was measured for both device architectures, attributed to incomplete charge extraction. On the other hand, our optical modeling suggests that inverted devices based on PCPDTBT should be able to deliver high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of more than 7% provided that recombination losses can be reduced.
KW  - Organic solar cells
KW  - Inverted solar cells
KW  - PCPDTBT
KW  - Low band-gap
KW  - Optical modeling
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgel.2011.12.019
SN  - 1566-1199
VL  - 13
IS  - 4
SP  - 615
EP  - 622
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Schindler, Wolfram
A1  - Kurpiers, Jona
A1  - Kniepert, Juliane
A1  - Blakesley, James C.
A1  - Dumsch, Ines
A1  - Allard, Sybille
A1  - Fostiropoulos, Konstantinos
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - On the field dependence of free charge carrier generation and recombination in blends of PCPDTBT/PC70BM influence of solvent additives
JF  - The journal of physical chemistry letters
N2  - We have applied time-delayed collection field (TDCF) and charge extraction by linearly increasing voltage (CELIV) to investigate the photogeneration, transport, and recombination of charge carriers in blends composed of PCPDTBT/PC70BM processed with and without the solvent additive diiodooctane. The results suggest that the solvent additive has severe impacts on the elementary processes involved in the photon to collected electron conversion in these blends. First, a pronounced field dependence of the free carrier generation is found for both blends, where the field dependence is stronger without the additive. Second, the fate of charge carriers in both blends can be described with a rather high bimolecular recombination coefficients, which increase with decreasing internal field. Third, the mobility is three to four times higher with the additive. Both blends show a negative field dependence of mobility, which we suggest to cause bias-dependent recombination coefficients.
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/jz3000849
SN  - 1948-7185
VL  - 3
IS  - 5
SP  - 640
EP  - 645
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Tumbleston, John R.
A1  - Janietz, Silvia
A1  - Dumsch, Ines
A1  - Allard, Sybille
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
A1  - Ade, Harald W.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Quantifying charge extraction in organic solar cells: The case of fluorinated PCPDTBT
JF  - The journal of physical chemistry letters
N2  - We introduce a new and simple method to quantify the effective extraction mobility in organic solar cells at low electric fields and charge carrier densities comparable to operation conditions under one sun illumination. By comparing steady-state carrier densities at constant illumination intensity and under open-circuit conditions, the gradient of the quasi-Fermi potential driving the current is estimated as a function of external bias and charge density. These properties are then related to the respective steady-state current to determine the effective extraction mobility. The new technique is applied to different derivatives of the well-known low-band-gap polymer PCPDTBT blended with PC70BM. We show that the slower average extraction due to lower mobility accounts for the moderate fill factor when solar cells are fabricated with mono- or difluorinated PCPDTBT. This lower extraction competes with improved generation and reduced nongeminate recombination, rendering the monofluorinated derivative the most efficient donor polymer.
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/jz500457b
SN  - 1948-7185
VL  - 5
IS  - 7
SP  - 1131
EP  - 1138
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Vandewal, Koen
A1  - Tumbleston, John R.
A1  - Fischer, Florian S. U.
A1  - Douglas, Jessica D.
A1  - Frechet, Jean M. J.
A1  - Ludwigs, Sabine
A1  - Ade, Harald W.
A1  - Salleo, Alberto
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - On the efficiency of charge transfer state splitting in polymer: Fullerene solar cells
JF  - Advanced materials
KW  - organic solar cells
KW  - charge generation
KW  - geminate recombination
KW  - charge transfer states
KW  - driving force
KW  - excess energy
KW  - morphology
KW  - spectroelectrochemistry
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201305283
SN  - 0935-9648
SN  - 1521-4095
VL  - 26
IS  - 16
SP  - 2533
EP  - 2539
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Alqahtani, Obaid
A1  - Babics, Maxime
A1  - Gorenflot, Julien
A1  - Savikhin, Victoria
A1  - Ferron, Thomas
A1  - Balawi, Ahmed H.
A1  - Paulke, Andreas
A1  - Kan, Zhipeng
A1  - Pope, Michael
A1  - Clulow, Andrew J.
A1  - Wolf, Jannic
A1  - Burn, Paul L.
A1  - Gentle, Ian R.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Toney, Michael F.
A1  - Laquai, Frederic
A1  - Beaujuge, Pierre M.
A1  - Collins, Brian A.
T1  - Mixed Domains Enhance Charge Generation and Extraction in Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells with Small-Molecule Donors
JF  - Advanced energy materials
N2  - The interplay between nanomorphology and efficiency of polymer-fullerene bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells has been the subject of intense research, but the generality of these concepts for small-molecule (SM) BHJs remains unclear. Here, the relation between performance; charge generation, recombination, and extraction dynamics; and nanomorphology achievable with two SM donors benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b]dithiophene-pyrido[3,4-b]-pyrazine BDT(PPTh2)(2), namely SM1 and SM2, differing by their side-chains, are examined as a function of solution additive composition. The results show that the additive 1,8-diiodooctane acts as a plasticizer in the blends, increases domain size, and promotes ordering/crystallinity. Surprisingly, the system with high domain purity (SM1) exhibits both poor exciton harvesting and severe charge trapping, alleviated only slightly with increased crystallinity. In contrast, the system consisting of mixed domains and lower crystallinity (SM2) shows both excellent exciton harvesting and low charge recombination losses. Importantly, the onset of large, pure crystallites in the latter (SM2) system reduces efficiency, pointing to possible differences in the ideal morphologies for SM-based BHJ solar cells compared with polymer-fullerene devices. In polymer-based systems, tie chains between pure polymer crystals establish a continuous charge transport network, whereas SM-based active layers may in some cases require mixed domains that enable both aggregation and charge percolation to the electrodes.
KW  - charge transport
KW  - domain purity
KW  - microscopy
KW  - mixed domains
KW  - organic solar cells
KW  - photovoltaic devices
KW  - resonant X-ray scattering
KW  - small molecules
KW  - transient spectroscopy
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201702941
SN  - 1614-6832
SN  - 1614-6840
VL  - 8
IS  - 19
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Anton, Arthur Markus
A1  - Steyrleuthner, Robert
A1  - Kossack, Wilhelm
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Kremer, Friedrich
T1  - Infrared Transition Moment Orientational Analysis on the Structural Organization of the Distinct Molecular Subunits in Thin Layers of a High Mobility n-Type Copolymer
JF  - Journal of the American Chemical Society
N2  - The IR-based method of infrared transition moment orientational analysis (IR-TMOA) is employed to unravel molecular order in thin layers of the semiconducting polymer poly[N,N'-bis(2-octyldodecyl),-1,4,5,8-naphthalene-diimide-2,6-diyl]-alt-5-5'-(2,2'-bithiophene) (P(NDI2OD-T2)). Structure-specific vibrational bands are analyzed in dependence On polarization and inclination of the sample-With respect to the optical axis. By that the molecular Order parameter tensor for the respective molecular moieties with regard to the sample: coordinate system is deduced. Making use of the specificity of the IR spectral range, we are able to determine separately the orientation of atomistic planes defined through the naphthalenediimide (NDI) and bithiophene (T2) units relative to the substrate, and hence, relative to each other. A pronounced solvent effect is observed While chlorobenzene causes the T2 planes to align preferentially parallel to the substrate at an angle of 29 degrees, using a 1:1 chloronaphthalene:xylene mixture results in a reorientation of the T2 units from a face on into an edge on arrangement. In contrast the NDI unit remains unaffected. Additionally, for both solvents evidence is observed for the aggregation of chains in accord With recently published results obtained by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b01755
SN  - 0002-7863
VL  - 137
IS  - 18
SP  - 6034
EP  - 6043
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Asawapirom, Udom
A1  - Bulut, F.
A1  - Farrell, Tony
A1  - Gadermaier, C.
A1  - Gamerith, S.
A1  - Güntner, Roland
A1  - Kietzke, Thomas
A1  - Patil, S.
A1  - Piok, T.
A1  - Montenegro, Rivelino V. D.
A1  - Stiller, Burkhard
A1  - Tiersch, Brigitte
A1  - Landfester, Katharina
A1  - List, E. J. W.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Torres, C. S.
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
T1  - Materials for polymer electronics applications semiconducting polymer thin films and nanoparticles
N2  - The paper presents two different approaches to nanostructured semiconducting polymer materials: (i) the generation of aqueous semiconducting polymer dispersions (semiconducting polymer nanospheres SPNs) and their processing into dense films and layers, and (ii) the synthesis of novel semiconducting polyfluorene-block-polyaniline (PF-b-PANI) block copolymers composed of conjugated blocks of different redox potentials which form nanosized morphologies in the solid state
Y1  - 2004
SN  - 1022-1360
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bagnich, Sergey A.
A1  - Bassler, H.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Exciton dynamics in ladder-type methyl-poly(para-phenylene) doped with phosphorescent dyes
N2  - The luminescence of a ladder-type methyl-poly(para-phenylene) (MeLPPP) doped with platinum-porphyrin dye PtOEP covering the concentration 10(-3)-5% by weight has been measured employing cw and transient techniques. Upon excitation into the range of absorption of the host, strong phosphorescence of the dopant is observed. Possible ways of populating the dopant triplet state are considered. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Y1  - 2005
SN  - 0022-2313
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bagnich, Sergey A.
A1  - Bassler, H.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Sensitized phosphorescence of benzil-doped ladder-type methyl-poly(para-phenylene)
N2  - The delayed luminescence and phosphorescence of ladder-type methyl-poly(para-phenylene) (MeLPPP) doped with benzil at a concentration of 20% by weight has been measured. The introduction of benzil leads to a dramatic reduction of the polymer singlet emission. At the same time, a new band with maximum at 611 nm appears, corresponding to the phosphorescence of MeLPPP. The phosphorescence decay on the short time scale is close to an exponential law with a time decay of 15 ms. This indicates that benzil can efficiently sensitize the phosphorescence of the polymer. In addition, a broad and featureless emission is observed in the delayed luminescence spectra of benzil-doped MeLPPP, which is attributed to an exciplex formed between the polymer host and the dopant. We further observe that the delayed fluorescence is enhanced by the addition of benzil. It is concluded that the delayed fluorescence of benzil-doped MeLPPP is mainly due to the annihilation of triplet excitons on the polymer. Finally, efficient triplet-triplet energy transfer from the benzil-doped polymer to the red-emitting phosphorescent dye Pt(II)octaethylporphyrin is established. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics
Y1  - 2004
SN  - 0021-9606
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bagnich, Sergey A.
A1  - Im, C.
A1  - Bassler, H.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
T1  - Energy transfer in a ladder-type methyl-poly(para-phenylene) doped by Pt(II)octaethylporphyrin
N2  - The luminescence of a ladder-type methyl-poly(para-phenylene) (MeLPPP) doped by platinum-porphyrin dye PtOEP covering the concentration 10(-3) to 5% by weight has been measured employing cw and transient techniques. Upon excitating into the range of absorption of the host strong phosphorescence of the dopant is observed. Possible ways of populating of the dopant triplet state are considered. It is shown that the main channel is singlet-singlet energy transfer among chromophor groups of the polymer followed by Forster-type transfer to the guest and subsequent intersystem crossing. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Y1  - 2004
SN  - 0301-0104
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bagnich, Sergey A.
A1  - Unger, Th.
A1  - Jaiser, F.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Thesen, M. W.
A1  - Krüger, H.
T1  - Efficient green electrophosphorescence based on ambipolar nonconjugated polymers evaluation of transport and emission properties
JF  - Journal of applied physics
N2  - New materials for polymer organic light-emitting diodes based on a polymer matrix doped with phosphorescent dyes are presented. The matrix system is based on a polystyrene backbone bearing either electron or hole transporting units at the 4-position of each repeat unit. Random copolymers and polymer blend systems of the homopolymers are prepared, both with 62 wt.% electron transporting and 38 wt.% hole transporting moieties. Adding a green electrophosphorescent dye to the polymer matrix leads to efficient electroluminescence with a maximum current efficiency of 35 cd/A and a maximum external quantum efficiency of up to 10%. The mobilities of electrons and holes in the dye-doped copolymer, as measured by transient electroluminescence, are around 5 x 10(-5) and 5 x 10(-6) cm(2)/Vs, respectively, while the blend of the two homopolymers exhibits slightly lower mobilities of both types of carriers. Despite the pronounced imbalance of charge transport, the device performance is almost entirely limited by the phosphorescence efficiency of the dye, implying balanced flow of holes and electrons into the active region. Also, devices made with either the copolymer or the blend yielded very similar device efficiencies, despite the noticeable difference in electron and hole mobility. It is proposed that electrons are efficiently blocked at the interlayer and that the so-formed space charge assists the balanced injection of holes.
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3618681
SN  - 0021-8979
SN  - 1089-7550
VL  - 110
IS  - 3
PB  - American Institute of Physics
CY  - Melville
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bange, Sebastian
A1  - Schubert, Marcel
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Charge mobility determination by current extraction under linear increasing voltages : case of nonequilibrium charges and field-dependent mobilities
N2  - The method of current extraction under linear increasing voltages (CELIV) allows for the simultaneous determination of charge mobilities and charge densities directly in thin-film geometries as used in organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. It has been specifically applied to investigate the interrelation of microstructure and charge-transport properties in such systems. Numerical and analytical calculations presented in this work show that the evaluation of CELIV transients with the commonly used analysis scheme is error prone once charge recombination and, possibly, field- dependent charge mobilities are taken into account. The most important effects are an apparent time dependence of charge mobilities and errors in the determined field dependencies. Our results implicate that reports on time-dependent mobility relaxation in OPV materials obtained by the CELIV technique should be carefully revisited and confirmed by other measurement methods.
Y1  - 2010
UR  - http://prb.aps.org/
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1103/Physrevb.81.035209
SN  - 1098-0121
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bartesaghi, Davide
A1  - Perez, Irene del Carmen
A1  - Kniepert, Juliane
A1  - Roland, Steffen
A1  - Turbiez, Mathieu
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Koster, L. Jan Anton
T1  - Competition between recombination and extraction of free charges determines the fill factor of organic solar cells
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Among the parameters that characterize a solar cell and define its power-conversion efficiency, the fill factor is the least well understood, making targeted improvements difficult. Here we quantify the competition between charge extraction and recombination by using a single parameter theta, and we demonstrate that this parameter is directly related to the fill factor of many different bulk-heterojunction solar cells. Our finding is supported by experimental measurements on 15 different donor: acceptor combinations, as well as by drift-diffusion simulations of organic solar cells in which charge-carrier mobilities, recombination rate, light intensity, energy levels and active-layer thickness are all varied over wide ranges to reproduce typical experimental conditions. The results unify the fill factors of several very different donor: acceptor combinations and give insight into why fill factors change so much with thickness, light intensity and materials properties. To achieve fill factors larger than 0.8 requires further improvements in charge transport while reducing recombination.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8083
SN  - 2041-1723
VL  - 6
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bauer, C.
A1  - Böhmer, Roland
A1  - Moreno-Flores, S.
A1  - Richert, R.
A1  - Sillescu, H.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Capacitive scanning dilatometry and frequency dependent thermal expansion of polymer films
Y1  - 2000
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bauer, C.
A1  - Umbasch, G.
A1  - Giessen, H.
A1  - Meisel, A.
A1  - Nothofer, Heinz-Georg
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
A1  - Marth, R.
T1  - Polarized Photoluminescence and Spectral Narrowing in an oriented Polyfluorene Thin Film
Y1  - 2000
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Benduhn, Johannes
A1  - Piersimoni, Fortunato
A1  - Londi, Giacomo
A1  - Kirch, Anton
A1  - Widmer, Johannes
A1  - Koerner, Christian
A1  - Beljonne, David
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Spoltore, Donato
A1  - Vandewal, Koen
T1  - Impact of triplet excited states on the open-circuit voltage of organic solar cells
JF  - dvanced energy materials
N2  - The best organic solar cells (OSCs) achieve comparable peak external quantum efficiencies and fill factors as conventional photovoltaic devices. However, their voltage losses are much higher, in particular those due to nonradiative recombination. To investigate the possible role of triplet states on the donor or acceptor materials in this process, model systems comprising Zn- and Cu-phthalocyanine (Pc), as well as fluorinated versions of these donors, combined with C-60 as acceptor are studied. Fluorination allows tuning the energy level alignment between the lowest energy triplet state (T-1) and the charge-transfer (CT) state, while the replacement of Zn by Cu as the central metal in the Pcs leads to a largely enhanced spin-orbit coupling. Only in the latter case, a substantial influence of the triplet state on the nonradiative voltage losses is observed. In contrast, it is found that for a large series of typical OSC materials, the relative energy level alignment between T-1 and the CT state does not substantially affect nonradiative voltage losses.
KW  - charge-transfer states
KW  - nonradiative voltage losses
KW  - organic solar cells
KW  - triplet excited states
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201800451
SN  - 1614-6832
SN  - 1614-6840
VL  - 8
IS  - 21
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Benduhn, Johannes
A1  - Tvingstedt, Kristofer
A1  - Piersimoni, Fortunato
A1  - Ullbrich, Sascha
A1  - Fan, Yeli
A1  - Tropiano, Manuel
A1  - McGarry, Kathryn A.
A1  - Zeika, Olaf
A1  - Riede, Moritz K.
A1  - Douglas, Christopher J.
A1  - Barlow, Stephen
A1  - Marder, Seth R.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Spoltore, Donato
A1  - Vandewal, Koen
T1  - Intrinsic non-radiative voltage losses in fullerene-based organic solar cells
JF  - Nature Energy
N2  - Organic solar cells demonstrate external quantum efficiencies and fill factors approaching those of conventional photovoltaic technologies. However, as compared with the optical gap of the absorber materials, their open-circuit voltage is much lower, largely due to the presence of significant non-radiative recombination. Here, we study a large data set of published and new material combinations and find that non-radiative voltage losses decrease with increasing charge-transfer-state energies. This observation is explained by considering non-radiative charge-transfer-state decay as electron transfer in the Marcus inverted regime, being facilitated by a common skeletal molecular vibrational mode. Our results suggest an intrinsic link between non-radiative voltage losses and electron-vibration coupling, indicating that these losses are unavoidable. Accordingly, the theoretical upper limit for the power conversion efficiency of single-junction organic solar cells would be reduced to about 25.5% and the optimal optical gap increases to (1.45-1.65) eV, that is, (0.2-0.3) eV higher than for technologies with minimized non-radiative voltage losses.
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.53
SN  - 2058-7546
VL  - 2
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bittner, Reinhard
A1  - Däubler, Thomas Karl
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Meerholz, Klaus
T1  - Influence of the glass-transition and the chromophore content on the steady-state performance of PVK-based photorefractive polymers
Y1  - 1999
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Blakesley, James C.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Relationship between energetic disorder and open-circuit voltage in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells
JF  - Physical review : B, Condensed matter and materials physics
N2  - We simulate organic bulk heterojunction solar cells. The effects of energetic disorder are incorporated through a Gaussian or exponential model of density of states. Analytical models of open-circuit voltage (V(OC)) are derived from the splitting of quasi-Fermi potentials. Their predictions are backed up by more complex numerical device simulations including effects such as carrier-density-dependent charge-carrier mobilities. It is predicted that the V(OC) depends on: (1) the donor-acceptor energy gap; (2) charge-carrier recombination rates; (3) illumination intensity; (4) the contact work functions (if not in the pinning regime); and (5) the amount of energetic disorder. A large degree of energetic disorder, or a high density of traps, is found to cause significant reductions in V(OC). This can explain why V(OC) is often less than expected in real devices. Energetic disorder also explains the nonideal temperature and intensity dependence of V(OC) and the superbimolecular recombination rates observed in many real bulk heterojunction solar cells.
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.075210
SN  - 1098-0121
VL  - 84
IS  - 7
PB  - American Physical Society
CY  - College Park
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  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Braunger, Steffen
A1  - Mundt, Laura E.
A1  - Wolff, Christian Michael
A1  - Mews, Mathias
A1  - Rehermann, Carolin
A1  - Jost, Marko
A1  - Tejada, Alvaro
A1  - Eisenhauer, David
A1  - Becker, Christiane
A1  - Andres Guerra, Jorge
A1  - Unger, Eva
A1  - Korte, Lars
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Schubert, Martin C.
A1  - Rech, Bernd
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
T1  - Cs(x)FA(1-x)Pb(l(1-y)Br(y))(3) Perovskite Compositions
BT  - the Appearance of Wrinkled Morphology and its Impact on Solar Cell Performance
JF  - The journal of physical chemistry : C, Nanomaterials and interfaces
N2  - We report on the formation of wrinkle-patterned surface morphologies in cesium formamidinium-based Cs(x)FA(1-y)Pb(I1-yBry)(3) perovskite compositions with x = 0-0.3 and y = 0-0.3 under various spin-coating conditions. By varying the Cs and Br contents, the perovskite precursor solution concentration and the spin-coating procedure, the occurrence and characteristics of the wrinkle-shaped morphology can be tailored systematically. Cs(0.17)FA(0.83)Pb(I0.83Br0.17)(3) perovskite layers were analyzed regarding their surface roughness, microscopic structure, local and overall composition, and optoelectronic properties. Application of these films in p-i-n perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with indium-doped tin oxide/NiOx/perovskite/C-60/bathocuproine/Cu architecture resulted in up to 15.3 and 17.0% power conversion efficiency for the flat and wrinkled morphology, respectively. Interestingly, we find slightly red-shifted photoluminescence (PL) peaks for wrinkled areas and we are able to directly correlate surface topography with PL peak mapping. This is attributed to differences in the local grain size, whereas there is no indication for compositional demixing in the films. We show that the perovskite composition, crystallization kinetics, and layer thickness strongly influence the formation of wrinkles which is proposed to be related to the release of compressive strain during perovskite crystallization. Our work helps us to better understand film formation and to further improve the efficiency of PSCs with widely used mixed-perovskite compositions.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b06459
SN  - 1932-7447
SN  - 1932-7455
VL  - 122
IS  - 30
SP  - 17123
EP  - 17135
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Caprioglio, Pietro
A1  - Stolterfoht, Martin
A1  - Wolff, Christian Michael
A1  - Unold, Thomas
A1  - Rech, Bernd
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - On the relation between the open-circuit voltage and quasi-fermi level splitting in efficient perovskite solar cells
JF  - advanced energy materials
N2  - Today's perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are limited mainly by their open‐circuit voltage (VOC) due to nonradiative recombination. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the relevant recombination pathways is needed. Here, intensity‐dependent measurements of the quasi‐Fermi level splitting (QFLS) and of the VOC on the very same devices, including pin‐type PSCs with efficiencies above 20%, are performed. It is found that the QFLS in the perovskite lies significantly below its radiative limit for all intensities but also that the VOC is generally lower than the QFLS, violating one main assumption of the Shockley‐Queisser theory. This has far‐reaching implications for the applicability of some well‐established techniques, which use the VOC as a measure of the carrier densities in the absorber. By performing drift‐diffusion simulations, the intensity dependence of the QFLS, the QFLS‐VOC offset and the ideality factor are consistently explained by trap‐assisted recombination and energetic misalignment at the interfaces. Additionally, it is found that the saturation of the VOC at high intensities is caused by insufficient contact selectivity while heating effects are of minor importance. It is concluded that the analysis of the VOC does not provide reliable conclusions of the recombination pathways and that the knowledge of the QFLS‐VOC relation is of great importance.
KW  - electro-optical materials
KW  - perovskite solar cells
KW  - photovoltaic devices
KW  - thin films
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201901631
SN  - 1614-6832
SN  - 1614-6840
VL  - 9
IS  - 33
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Caprioglio, Pietro
A1  - Zu, Fengshuo
A1  - Wolff, Christian Michael
A1  - Prieto, Jose A. Marquez
A1  - Stolterfoht, Martin
A1  - Becker, Pascal
A1  - Koch, Norbert
A1  - Unold, Thomas
A1  - Rech, Bernd
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - High open circuit voltages in pin-type perovskite solar cells through strontium addition
JF  - Sustainable Energy & Fuels
N2  - The incorporation of even small amounts of strontium (Sr) into lead-base hybrid quadruple cation perovskite solar cells results in a systematic increase of the open circuit voltage (V-oc) in pin-type perovskite solar cells. We demonstrate via absolute and transient photoluminescence (PL) experiments how the incorporation of Sr significantly reduces the non-radiative recombination losses in the neat perovskite layer. We show that Sr segregates at the perovskite surface, where it induces important changes of morphology and energetics. Notably, the Sr-enriched surface exhibits a wider band gap and a more n-type character, accompanied with significantly stronger surface band bending. As a result, we observe a significant increase of the quasi-Fermi level splitting in the neat perovskite by reduced surface recombination and more importantly, a strong reduction of losses attributed to non-radiative recombination at the interface to the C-60 electron-transporting layer. The resulting solar cells exhibited a V-oc of 1.18 V, which could be further improved to nearly 1.23 V through addition of a thin polymer interlayer, reducing the non-radiative voltage loss to only 110 meV. Our work shows that simply adding a small amount of Sr to the precursor solutions induces a beneficial surface modification in the perovskite, without requiring any post treatment, resulting in high efficiency solar cells with power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 20.3%. Our results demonstrate very high V-oc values and efficiencies in Sr-containing quadruple cation perovskite pin-type solar cells and highlight the imperative importance of addressing and minimizing the recombination losses at the interface between perovskite and charge transporting layer.
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8se00509e
SN  - 2398-4902
VL  - 3
IS  - 2
SP  - 550
EP  - 563
PB  - Royal Society of Chemistry
CY  - Cambridge
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  - Cimrová, V.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Kostromine, S.
A1  - Bieringer, Thomas
T1  - Optical anisotropy in films of photoaddressable polymers
Y1  - 1999
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Collado-Fregoso, Elisa
A1  - Hood, Samantha N.
A1  - Shoaee, Safa
A1  - Schröder, Bob C.
A1  - McCulloch, Iain
A1  - Kassal, Ivan
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Durrant, James R.
T1  - Intercalated vs Nonintercalated Morphologies in Donor-Acceptor Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells: PBTTT:Fullerene Charge Generation and Recombination Revisited
JF  - The journal of physical chemistry letters
N2  - In this Letter, we study the role of the donor:acceptor interface nanostructure upon charge separation and recombination in organic photovoltaic devices and blend films, using mixtures of PBTTT and two different fullerene derivatives (PC70BM and ICTA) as models for intercalated and nonintercalated morphologies, respectively. Thermodynamic simulations show that while the completely intercalated system exhibits a large free-energy barrier for charge separation, this barrier is significantly lower in the nonintercalated system and almost vanishes when energetic disorder is included in the model. Despite these differences, both femtosecond-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) and time-delayed collection field (TDCF) exhibit extensive first-order losses in both systems, suggesting that geminate pairs are the primary product of photoexcitation. In contrast, the system that comprises a combination of fully intercalated polymer:fullerene areas and fullerene-aggregated domains (1:4 PBTTT:PC70BM) is the only one that shows slow, second-order recombination of free charges, resulting in devices with an overall higher short-circuit current and fill factor. This study therefore provides a novel consideration of the role of the interfacial nanostructure and the nature of bound charges and their impact upon charge generation and recombination.
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b01571
SN  - 1948-7185
VL  - 8
SP  - 4061
EP  - 4068
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Collado-Fregoso, Elisa
A1  - Pugliese, Silvina N.
A1  - Wojcik, Mariusz
A1  - Benduhn, Johannes
A1  - Bar-Or, Eyal
A1  - Toro, Lorena Perdigon
A1  - Hörmann, Ulrich
A1  - Spoltore, Donato
A1  - Vandewal, Koen
A1  - Hodgkiss, Justin M.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Energy-gap law for photocurrent generation in fullerene-based organic solar cells
BT  - the case of low-donor-content blends
JF  - Journal of the American Chemical Society
N2  - The involvement of charge-transfer (CT) states in the photogeneration and recombination of charge carriers has been an important focus of study within the organic photovoltaic community. In this work, we investigate the molecular factors determining the mechanism of photocurrent generation in low-donor-content organic solar cells, where the active layer is composed of vacuum-deposited C-60 and small amounts of organic donor molecules. We find a pronounced decline of all photovoltaic parameters with decreasing CT state energy. Using a combination of steady-state photocurrent measurements and time-delayed collection field experiments, we demonstrate that the power conversion efficiency, and more specifically, the fill factor of these devices, is mainly determined by the bias dependence of photocurrent generation. By combining these findings with the results from ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy, we show that blends with small CT energies perform poorly because of an increased nonradiative CT state decay rate and that this decay obeys an energy-gap law. Our work challenges the common view that a large energy offset at the heterojunction and/or the presence of fullerene clusters guarantee efficient CT dissociation and rather indicates that charge generation benefits from high CT state energies through a slower decay to the ground state.
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.8b09820
SN  - 0002-7863
VL  - 141
IS  - 6
SP  - 2329
EP  - 2341
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Deschler, Felix
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Schmidt-Mende, Lukas
T1  - Perovskite semiconductors for next generation optoelectronic applications
JF  - APL Materials
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5119744
SN  - 2166-532X
VL  - 7
IS  - 8
PB  - American Institute of Physics
CY  - Melville
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Di Pietro, Riccardo
A1  - Erdmann, Tim
A1  - Carpenter, Joshua H.
A1  - Wang, Naixiang
A1  - Shivhare, Rishi Ramdas
A1  - Formanek, Petr
A1  - Heintze, Cornelia
A1  - Voit, Brigitte
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Ade, Harald W.
A1  - Kiriy, Anton
T1  - Synthesis of High-Crystallinity DPP Polymers with Balanced Electron and Hole Mobility
JF  - Chemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b04423
SN  - 0897-4756
SN  - 1520-5002
VL  - 29
SP  - 10220
EP  - 10232
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Di Pietro, Riccardo
A1  - Nasrallah, Iyad
A1  - Carpenter, Joshua
A1  - Gann, Eliot
A1  - Kölln, Lisa Sophie
A1  - Thomsen, Lars
A1  - Venkateshvaran, Deepak
A1  - Sadhanala, Aditya
A1  - Chabinyc, Michael
A1  - McNeill, Christopher R.
A1  - Facchetti, Antonio
A1  - Ade, Harald W.
A1  - Sirringhaus, Henning
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Coulomb Enhanced Charge Transport in Semicrystalline Polymer Semiconductors
JF  - Advanced functional materials
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201602080
SN  - 1616-301X
SN  - 1616-3028
VL  - 26
SP  - 8011
EP  - 8022
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Di Pietro, Riccardo
A1  - Venkateshvaran, Deepak
A1  - Klug, Andreas
A1  - List-Kratochvil, Emil J. W.
A1  - Facchetti, Antonio
A1  - Sirringhaus, Henning
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Simultaneous extraction of charge density dependent mobility and variable contact resistance from thin film transistors
JF  - Applied physics letters
N2  - A model for the extraction of the charge density dependent mobility and variable contact resistance in thin film transistors is proposed by performing a full derivation of the current-voltage characteristics both in the linear and saturation regime of operation. The calculated values are validated against the ones obtained from direct experimental methods. This approach allows unambiguous determination of gate voltage dependent contact and channel resistance from the analysis of a single device. It solves the inconsistencies in the commonly accepted mobility extraction methods and provides additional possibilities for the analysis of the injection and transport processes in semiconducting materials. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4876057
SN  - 0003-6951
SN  - 1077-3118
VL  - 104
IS  - 19
PB  - American Institute of Physics
CY  - Melville
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Däubler, Thomas Karl
A1  - Bittner, Reinhard
A1  - Meerholz, Klaus
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Charge carrier photogeneration, trapping and space-charge field formation in PVK-based photorefractive materials
Y1  - 2000
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Däubler, Thomas Karl
A1  - Cimrova, V.
A1  - Pfeiffer, S.
A1  - Hörhold, Hans-Heinrich
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Field and wavelength dependence of charge carrier photogeneration in soluble PPV derivatives
Y1  - 1999
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  - Däubler, Thomas Karl
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Rost, H.
A1  - Hörhold, Hans-Heinrich
T1  - Efficient bulk photogeneration of charge carriers in arylamino-PPV polymer sandwich cells
Y1  - 1999
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Däubler, Thomas Karl
A1  - Pfeiffer, S.
A1  - Hörhold, Hans-Heinrich
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Photogeneration of charge carriers in segmented arylamino-PPV derivatives
Y1  - 1999
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Egbe, D. A. M.
A1  - Carbonnier, B.
A1  - Paul, E. L.
A1  - Muhlbacher, D.
A1  - Kietzke, Thomas
A1  - Birckner, Eckhard
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Grummt, U. W.
A1  - Pakula, T.
T1  - Diyne-containing PPVs : Solid-state properties and comparison of their photophysical and electrochemical properties with those of their Yne-containing counterparts
N2  - Diyne-containing poly(p-phenylene-vinylene)s, 4a-d, of general chemical structure-(Ph-C&3bond; C-C&3bond; C-Ph- CH&3bond; CH-Ph-CH&3bond; CH-)(n), obtained through polycondensation reactions of 1,4-bis(4-formyl-2,5-dioctyloxyphenyl)- buta-1,3-diyne (2) with various 2,5-dialkoxy-p-xylylenebis(diethylphosphonates), 3a-d, are the subject of this report. The polymers exhibit great disparity in their degree of polymerization, n, which might be ascribed to side-chain-related differences in reactivity of the reactive species during the polycondensation process and which led to n-dependent absorption (solution and solid state) and emission (solution) behaviors of the polymers. Polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry are employed to probe their thermal behavior. The structure is investigated by means of wide-angle X-ray diffraction for both isotropic and macroscopically oriented samples. Comparison of photophysical (experimental and theoretical) and electrochemical properties of the polymers with those of their yne- containing counterparts 6a-d [-(Ph-C&3bond; C-Ph-CH&3bond; CH-Ph-CH&3bond; CH-)(n)] has been carried out. Similar photophysical behavior was observed for both types of polymers despite the difference in backbone conjugation pattern. The introduction of a second yne unit in 4 lowers the HOMO and LUMO levels, thereby enhancing the electron affinity of polymers 4 compared to polymers 6. The "wider opening" introduced by the second yne unit facilitates moreover the movement of charges during the electrochemical processes leading to minimal discrepancy, Delta E-g between the optical and electrochemical band gap energies. Polymers 6, in contrast, show significant side-chain-dependent Delta E-g values. Low turn-on voltages between 2 and 3 V and maximal luminous efficiencies between 0.32 and 1.25 cd/A were obtained from LED devices of configuration ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer 4/Ca/Al
Y1  - 2005
SN  - 0024-9297
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Egbe, D. A. M.
A1  - Kietzke, Thomas
A1  - Carbonnier, B.
A1  - Muhlbacher, D.
A1  - Horhold, H. H.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Pakula, T.
T1  - Synthesis, characterization, and photophysical, electrochemical, electroluminescent, and photovoltaic properties of yne-containing CN-PPVs
N2  - Alkoxy-substituted CN-containing phenylene-vinylene-alt-phenylene-ethynylene hybrid polymers (CN-PPV-PPE), 3a, 3b, and 7a, were obtained from luminophoric dialdehydes 1 by step growth polymerization via Knoevenagel reaction as high molecular-weight materials. Corresponding CN-free polymers 3c and 7b and an ethynylene-free polymer 5 with similar side chains were synthesized for the purpose of comparison. The chemical structures of the polymers were confirmed by IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR, and elemental analysis. Thermal characterization was conducted by means of thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Morphology was investigated by means of optical microscopy and small-angle light scattering. The final morphologies are determined by the molecular characteristics (side chains volume fraction, backbone stiffness) of the studied polymers. All the CN-containing polymers 3b, 5, and 7a exhibit higher fluorescence quantum yield in solid state (50 to 60%), but lower quantum yields (12-40%) in dilute chloroform solution, in total contrast to CN-free polymers 3c, 3d, and 7b. Identical optical, E-g(opt), and electrochemical band gap energies, E- g(ec), were obtained for 3b, 3c and 3d with intrinsic self-assembly ability, whereas a discrepancy, DeltaE(g), was observed in the cases of the fully substituted polymers 5, 7a, and 7b, whose values are dependent on the level of backbone stiffness and length of the side groups combined with the presence or absence of CN units. The incorporation of CN units in 3b and 7a lowers their respective LUMO level by 220 and 350 meV compared to their corresponding CN-free counterparts 3c and 7b, suggesting an improvement of the electron-accepting strength. Polymers 3b and 7a are efficient electron acceptors suitable for photovoltaic application. The experiments indicate that 3b is a better electron acceptor when used together with M3EH-PPV, but transport properties seem to be better for 7a. With 3b, high external quantum efficiencies of up to 23%, an open circuit voltage of up to 1.52 V, and a white light energy efficiency of 0.65% could be realized in bilayer solar cell devices. LED-devices of configuration ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Ca/Al from 3b, 3c, 7a, and 7b showed low turn-on voltages between 2 and 2.5 V. The CN-free polymers 3c and 7b exhibit far better EL parameters than their corresponding CN containing counterparts 3b and 7a
Y1  - 2004
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Egbe, D. A. M.
A1  - Ulbricht, C.
A1  - Orgis, Thomas
A1  - Carbonnier, B.
A1  - Kietzke, Thomas
A1  - Peip, M.
A1  - Metzner, M.
A1  - Gericke, M.
A1  - Birckner, Eckhard
A1  - Pakula, T.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Grumm, U. W.
T1  - Odd-even effects and the influence of length and specific positioning of alkoxy side chains on the optical properties of PPE-PPV polymers
N2  - This contribution reports the combined influences of odd-even effects and the specific positioning of alkoxy side chains OR1 = (OCn+H-10(2(n+10)+1)) and OR2 = (OCnH2n+1) (with n = 6, 7, 8, 9) on the phenylene-ethynylene and phenylene- vinylene segments, respectively, on the optical properties of hybrid polymers P(n+10)/n of general repeating unit: -Ph-C equivalent to C-Ph-C equivalent to C-Ph-CH=CH-Ph-CH=CH-. For the polymeric materials, visual color impression varies alternatively between orange red (P16/6 and P18/8) and yellow (P17/7 and P19/9) according to the odd and even features of the alkoxy side chains, where odd or even relates to the total number of sp(3)-hybridized atoms within the side chains. This side chain related effect is ascribed to both absorptive and emissive behaviors of the polymers on the basis of photophysical investigations in the bulk. Almost identical thin film absorption spectra were obtained for all four materials; however, the photoluminescence of the odd polymers, P16/6 (lambda(f) = 556 nm) and P18/ 8 (lambda(f) = 614 nm), was red-shifted relative to that of their even counterparts (lambda(f) = 535 nm). Further, the P18/8 maximum at 614 nm can be readily assigned to excimer emission, as evidenced by the largest Stokes shift (5600 cm(- 1)), largest fwhmf-value (3700 cm(-1))(,) and the lowest Phi(f)-value of 24%. The strong pi-pi interchain interaction in P18/8, due to loose alkoxy side chains packing, does not only favor fluorescence quenching but also enable an effective inter- as well as intra-molecular recombination of the generated positive and negative polarons in electrolurninescence, which explains the good EL properties of this polymer irrespective of the solvent used. A voltage-dependent blue shift of the EL spectra of up to 100 nm was observed for P18/8 devices prepared from aromatic solvents. This red to green EL shift as observed with increasing voltage is assigned to conformational changes of the polymer chains with increasing temperature
Y1  - 2005
SN  - 0897-4756
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fang, Lijia
A1  - Holzmueller, Felix
A1  - Matulaitis, Tomas
A1  - Baasner, Anne
A1  - Hauenstein, Christoph
A1  - Benduhn, Johannes
A1  - Schwarze, Martin
A1  - Petrich, Annett
A1  - Piersimoni, Fortunato
A1  - Scholz, Reinhard
A1  - Zeika, Olaf
A1  - Koerner, Christian
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Vandewal, Koen
A1  - Leo, Karl
T1  - Fluorine-containing low-energy-gap organic dyes with low voltage losses for organic solar cells
JF  - Synthetic metals : the journal of electronic polymers and electronic molecular materials
N2  - Fluorine-containing donor molecules TFTF, CNTF and PRTF are designed and isomer selectively synthesized for application in vacuum-deposited organic solar cells. These molecules comprise a donor acceptor molecular architecture incorporating thiophene and benzothiadiazole derivatives as the electron-donating and electron-withdrawing moieties, respectively. As opposed to previously reported materials from this class, PRTF can be purified by vacuum sublimation at moderate to high yields because of its higher volatility and better stabilization due to a stronger intramolecular hydrogen bond, as compared to TFTF and CNTF. The UV-vis absorption spectra of the three donors show an intense broadband absorption between 500 nm and 800 nm with, similar positions of their frontier energy levels. The photophysical properties of the three donor molecules are thoroughly tested and optimized in bulk heterojunction solar cells with C-60 as acceptor. PRTF shows the best performance, yielding power conversion efficiencies of up to 3.8%. Moreover, the voltage loss for the PRTF device due to the non radiative recombination of free charge carriers is exceptionally low (0.26 V) as compared to typical values for organic solar cells (>0.34V). (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
KW  - (Z)-isomer
KW  - Donor materials
KW  - CH center dot center dot center dot F hydrogen bonds
KW  - Sublimation with good yield
KW  - Low voltage losses
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synthmet.2016.10.025
SN  - 0379-6779
VL  - 222
SP  - 232
EP  - 239
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fiesel, R.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
T1  - On the solid state aggregation of chiral substituted poly(para-phenylene)s (PPPs)
Y1  - 1999
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fischer, Florian S. U.
A1  - Trefz, Daniel
A1  - Back, Justus
A1  - Kayunkid, Navaphun
A1  - Tornow, Benjamin
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Yager, Kevin G.
A1  - Singh, Gurpreet
A1  - Karim, Alamgir
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Brinkmann, Martin
A1  - Ludwigs, Sabine
T1  - Highly Crystalline Films of PCPDTBT with Branched Side Chains by Solvent Vapor Crystallization: Influence on Opto-Electronic Properties
JF  - Advanced materials
N2  - PCPDTBT, a marginally crystallizable polymer, is crystallized into a new crystal structure using solvent-vapor annealing. Highly ordered areas with three different polymer-chain orientations are identified using TEM/ED, GIWAXS, and polarized Raman spectroscopy. The optical and structural properties differ significantly from films prepared by standard device preparation protocols. Bilayer solar cells, however, show similar performance.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201403475
SN  - 0935-9648
SN  - 1521-4095
VL  - 27
IS  - 7
SP  - 1223
EP  - 1228
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Foertig, Alexander
A1  - Kniepert, Juliane
A1  - Gluecker, Markus
A1  - Brenner, Thomas J. K.
A1  - Dyakonov, Vladimir
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Deibel, Carsten
T1  - Nongeminate and geminate recombination in PTB7: PCBM solar cells
JF  - Advanced functional materials
KW  - organic semiconductors
KW  - organic solar cells
KW  - conjugated polymers
KW  - charge carrier recombination
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201302134
SN  - 1616-301X
SN  - 1616-3028
VL  - 24
IS  - 9
SP  - 1306
EP  - 1311
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Former, C.
A1  - Wagner, H.
A1  - Richert, R.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Müllen, K.
T1  - Orientation and dynamics of chainlike dipole arrays: Donor-acceptor-substituted oligophenylenevinylenes in a polymer matrix
Y1  - 1999
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Frisch, Johannes
A1  - Schubert, Marcel
A1  - Preis, Eduard
A1  - Rabe, Jürgen P.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
A1  - Koch, Norbert
T1  - Full electronic structure across a polymer heterojunction solar cell
JF  - Journal of materials chemistry
N2  - We correlate the morphology and energy level alignment of bilayer structures comprising the donor poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the acceptor polyfluorene copolymer poly(9,90dialklylfluorene-alt-4,7-bis(2,5-thiendiyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole) (PFTBTT) with the performance of these bilayers in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVCs). The conducting polymer poly(ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDT:PSS) was used as the bottom electrode and Ca as the top electrode. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) revealed that notable interface dipoles occur at all interfaces across the OPVC structure, highlighting that vacuum level alignment cannot reliably be used to estimate the electronic properties for device design. Particularly the effective electrode work function values (after contact formation with the conjugated polymers) differ significantly from those of the pristine electrode materials. Chemical reactions between PEDT: PSS and P3HT on the one hand and Ca and PFTBTT on the other hand are identified as cause for the measured interface dipoles. The vacuum level shift between P3HT and PFTBTT is related to mutual energy level pinning at gap states. Annealing induced morphological changes at the P3HT/PFTBTT interface increased the efficiency of OPVCs, while the electronic structure was not affected by thermal treatment.
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1039/c1jm14968g
SN  - 0959-9428
VL  - 22
IS  - 10
SP  - 4418
EP  - 4424
PB  - Royal Society of Chemistry
CY  - Cambridge
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Galbrecht, Frank
A1  - Yang, X. H.
A1  - Nehls, B. S.
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Farrell, Tony
A1  - Scherf, Ullrich
T1  - Semiconducting polyfluorenes with electrophosphorescent on-chain platinum-salen chromophores
N2  - The synthesis of statistical fluorene-type copolymers with on-chain Pt-salen phosphorescent units and their use in electrophosphorescent OLEDs is reported
Y1  - 2005
SN  - 1359-7345
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - García-Benito, Inés
A1  - Quarti, Claudio
A1  - Queloz, Valentin I. E.
A1  - Hofstetter, Yvonne J.
A1  - Becker-Koch, David
A1  - Caprioglio, Pietro
A1  - Neher, Dieter
A1  - Orlandi, Simonetta
A1  - Cavazzini, Marco
A1  - Pozzi, Gianluca
A1  - Even, Jacky
A1  - Nazeeruddin, Mohammad Khaja
A1  - Vaynzof, Yana
A1  - Grancini, Giulia
T1  - Fluorination of organic spacer impacts on the structural and optical response of 2D perovskites
JF  - Frontiers in Chemistry
N2  - Low-dimensional hybrid perovskites have triggered significant research interest due to their intrinsically tunable optoelectronic properties and technologically relevant material stability. In particular, the role of the organic spacer on the inherent structural and optical features in two-dimensional (2D) perovskites is paramount for material optimization. To obtain a deeper understanding of the relationship between spacers and the corresponding 2D perovskite film properties, we explore the influence of the partial substitution of hydrogen atoms by fluorine in an alkylammonium organic cation, resulting in (Lc)(2)PbI4 and (Lf)(2)PbI4 2D perovskites, respectively. Consequently, optical analysis reveals a clear 0.2 eV blue-shift in the excitonic position at room temperature. This result can be mainly attributed to a band gap opening, with negligible effects on the exciton binding energy. According to Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, the band gap increases due to a larger distortion of the structure that decreases the atomic overlap of the wavefunctions and correspondingly bandwidth of the valence and conduction bands. In addition, fluorination impacts the structural rigidity of the 2D perovskite, resulting in a stable structure at room temperature and the absence of phase transitions at a low temperature, in contrast to the widely reported polymorphism in some non-fluorinated materials that exhibit such a phase transition. This indicates that a small perturbation in the material structure can strongly influence the overall structural stability and related phase transition of 2D perovskites, making them more robust to any phase change. This work provides key information on how the fluorine content in organic spacer influence the structural distortion of 2D perovskites and their optical properties which possess remarkable importance for future optoelectronic applications, for instance in the field of light-emitting devices or sensors.
KW  - fluorinated organic spacer
KW  - 2D perovskites
KW  - phase transition
KW  - temperature dependence
KW  - excitonic materials
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2019.00946
SN  - 2296-2646
VL  - 7
SP  - 1
EP  - 11
PB  - Frontiers Media
CY  - Lausanne
ER  -