Organic solar cells based on bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structures have attracted considerable attention because of their low fabrication cost, mechanical flexibility, and compatibility with solution-processing techniques. In BHJ organic photovoltaic devices, nanoscale morphology and crystallinity of the photoactive layer critically influence photovoltaic performance. In this study, the effects of solvent selection and thermal annealing on crystallization evolution and photovoltaic characteristics of P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells were systematically investigated. Three different solvents, including toluene, chlorobenzene (CB), and dichlorobenzene (DCB), were employed for active-layer fabrication, followed by post-thermal annealing treatment. UV–visible absorption spectroscopy revealed solvent-dependent differences in molecular ordering and intermolecular π–π interactions within the active layer. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that thermal annealing significantly enhanced crystallinity and lamellar ordering of P3HT domains, particularly for CB-processed films. Electrical characterization demonstrated that solvent evaporation behavior strongly affects photovoltaic performance. Among the investigated devices, the thermally annealed CB-processed device exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency of 1.83% with an enhanced short-circuit current density of 7.057 mA cm⁻². The improved device performance is attributed to optimized crystallization behavior and balanced nanoscale phase separation induced by the moderate evaporation characteristics of CB. In contrast, although DCB-assisted films exhibited relatively strong optical absorption and enhanced crystallinity, excessively slow solvent evaporation likely induced excessive aggregation and coarse phase separation, limiting efficient photovoltaic characteristics. These results demonstrate that solvent engineering combined with thermal annealing is an effective strategy for controlling morphology evolution and crystallization behavior in P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells.
P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells added with ferroelectric polymer were fabricated and characterized. By incorporating P3HT:PCBM solar cell with P(VDF-TrFE) ferroelectric additive, the power conversion efficiency was increased up to nearly 50%. Photoacoustic analysis on this phenomena was carried out for the first time. Through this study, we find that the ferroelectricity of the polymer additive plays the key role in the enhancement of the power conversion efficiency of the organic solar cell by suppressing the non-radiative recombination of charge transfer exciton more effectively.
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Solvent-Dependent Crystallization and Charge Transport Evolution in Thermally Annealed P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells Dong-Kyun Kim, Byungyou Hong, Hyung Jin Kim Journal of Electrical and Electronic Materials.2026; 39(4): 400. CrossRef
Presented herein are the results of the study that was conducted on the electrical characteristics of organic field-effect transistors based on poly(3-hexylthiophene), particularly the thickness and annealing temperature of their active layer is varied. The changes in field-effect mobility and current on/off ratio were explored. It was observed that both increasing annealing temperature from 60℃ to 100℃ and various concentrations influence the trade-off relations between the mobility and current on/off ratio. The surface morphology of the 2-μm2 area with various thicknesses was scanned via atomic-forcemicroscopy(AFM) to verify the relationship between surface morphology, which is related to the thickness of the film, and device performance.
Characteristics of Organic Thin Film Transistors with Organic and Organic-inorganic Hybrid Polymer Gate Dielectric In Seob Bae, Ha Young Lim, Su Heon Cho, Song Hee Moon, Won Seok Choi Journal of Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Materials Engineers.2009; 22(12): 1009. CrossRef
Effects of Organic Passivation Films on Properties of Polymer Solar Cells with P3HT:PC61BM Active Layers Sang Hee Lee, Byung Min Park, Yang Keun Cho, Ho Jung Chang, Jae Jin Jung, Jaeho Pyee Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society.2014; 21(4): 105. CrossRef
Improved Air Stability of OTFT`s with a P3HT/POSS Active Layer Jeong Hwan Park, Kyo Yong Han Journal of Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Materials Engineers.2009; 22(2): 107. CrossRef
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