Advanced Functional Materials and Devices (AFMD) Group

Abstract:

The present study discusses the thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of monoclinic barium titanate (BaTi5O11) which is chemically prepared using the sol–gel technique. The crystallinity is confirmed by X-ray diffraction, and the oxidation state of each element, morphology, and particle size of the prepared powder are chemically probed by different spectroscopic tools including X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy. The sample is irradiated by a beta (β)-source with different applied doses in the range of 1.1––385 Gy. The kinetic parameters which correspond to the charge carrier traps were determined. The analysis methods indicated that the TL glow curve of BaTi5O11 consists of 6 overlapped peaks corresponding to 6 electron traps. The values for the trap depth are found to be in the range 0.94–1.40 eV and the TL glow peaks are located between 380.4 and 560.5 K. The study confirms the potential of BaTi5O11 for β-dosimetry.

Abstract:

<jats:p>The acceptor crystallinity has long been associated with favourable organic solar cells (OSCs) properties such as high mobility and Fill Factor. In particular, this applies to acceptor materials such as...</jats:p>

Abstract:

The acceptor crystallinity has long been associated with favourable organic solar cells (OSCs) properties such as high mobility and Fill Factor. In particular, this applies to acceptor materials such as fullerene-derivatives and the most recent Non-Fullerene Acceptors (NFAs), which are now surpassing 19% of Power Conversion Efficiency. Despite these advantages are commonly attributed to their 3-dimensional crystal packing motif in the single crystal, the bridge that links the acceptor crystal packing from single crystals to solar cells has not clearly been shown yet. In this work, we investigate the molecular organisation of seven NFAs (o-IDTBR, IDIC, ITIC, m-ITIC, 4TIC, 4TICO, m-4TICO), following the evolution of their packing motif in single-crystals, powder, and thin films made with pure NFAs and donor:NFA blends. We observed a good correlation between the NFA single crystal packing motif and their molecular arrangement in the bulk heterojunction. The NFA packing motif affects the material’s propensity to form highly crystalline domain in the blend. We specifically found that 3D reticular packing motifs show stronger ordering than 0D herringbone ones. However, the NFA packing motif is not directly correlating with device performance parameters: Although higher NFA crystallinity yields higher mobility, we found the domain purity to be more important for obtaining high efficiency organic solar cells by governing bimolecular recombination.