• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.152-156
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• 2014

We report hybrid solar cells fabricated with polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction layers that contain inorganic nanocrystals synthesized by in-situ reaction in the presence of polymer chains. The inorganic (cadmium sulfide) nanocrystal ($CdS_{NC}$) was generated by the reaction of cadmium acetate and sulfur by varying the reaction time up to 30 min. The synthesized $CdS_{NC}$ showed a rectangular flake shape, while the size of $CdS_{NC}$ reached ca. 150 nm when the reaction time was 10 min. The performance of hybrid solar cells with $CdS_{NC}$ synthesized for 10 min was better than that of a control device, whereas poor performances were measured for other hybrid solar cells with $CdS_{NC}$ synthesized for more than 10 min.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.48-53
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• 2016

We report the effect of physical load on the stability of organic solar cells under physical loads. The active layers in organic solar cells were fabricated with bulk heterojunction films (BHJ) films of poly (3-hexylthiophene) and phenyl-$C_{61}$-butyric methyl ester. The loading time was varied up to 60 s by keeping the physical load constant. Results showed that the open circuit voltage was not influenced by the physical load but other solar cell parameters were sensitive to the loading time. The fill factor was very slightly increased at 15 s, while short circuit current density was well kept for 30 s. The power conversion efficiency was reasonably maintained for 45 s but became significantly decreased by the continuous loading for 60 s.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.59.2-59.2
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• 2012

Polymer solar cells utilize bulk heterojunction (BHJ) type photo-active layer in which the electron donating polymer and electron accepting $C_{60}$ derivatives are blended. We found there is significant charge recombination at the interface between the BHJ active layer and electrode. The charge recombination at the interface was effectively reduced by inserting wide band gap inorganic interfacial layer, which resulted in efficiency and stability enhancement of BHJ polymer solar cell.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.421-426
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• 2024

Ru dye (Z-907) is a crucial photosensitizing material in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To enhance the utilization of Ru dye's photosensitizing properties in bulk heterojunction solar cells, a method was developed to synthesize phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) nanoparticles that are chemically linked to Ru dye. PCBM contains a methoxy (-OCH₃) group, whereas Ru dye incorporates a carboxyl group (-COOH) within its molecular structure. By exploiting these complementary functional groups, a successful bond between Ru dye and PCBM was established through an anhydride functional group. The coupling of PCBM with Ru dye results in a modification of the energy levels, yielding lower LUMO (3.8 eV) and HOMO (6.1 eV) levels, compared with the LUMO (3.0 eV) and HOMO (5.2 eV) levels of Ru dye alone. This configuration potentially facilitates efficient electron transfer from Ru dye to PCBM, alongside promoting hole transfer from Ru dye to the conducting polymer. Consequently, the bulk heterojunction solar cells incorporating this Ru dye-PCBM configuration demonstrate superior performance, with an open circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.62 V, short circuit current (J_sc) of 0.63 mA cm^-2, fill factor (FF) of 65.6%, and a photovoltaic conversion efficiency (η) of 0.25%.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 2008

The bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cell based on regioregular P3HT (poly(3-hexylthiophene)) and PCBM (methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl $C_{61}$-butyric acid methyl ester) was fabricated. Annealing effects on the crystal structure of polymer-fullerene blends as well as the UV-VIS electronic absorption spectroscopy were investigated. The correlation between the crystal organization of bulk-heterojunction film and the power conversion efficiency of solar cell was studied. Resultantly, the polymer solar cell annealed on $150^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, showed both the enhanced molecular interactions and the optimized crystal structure and displayed the power conversion efficiency of 3.2 %.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.1485-1490
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• 2014

We have designed and developed a new ladder type tetrafused ${\pi}$-conjugated building block such as dihydroindolo[3,2-b]indole (DINI) and investigated its role as an electron rich unit. The photovoltaic properties of a new semiconducting ${\pi}$-conjugated polymer, poly[[5,10-bisoctyl-5,10-dihydroindolo[3,2-b]indole-[5,6- bis(octyloxy)-4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole]], represented by PDINI-OBTC8 are described. The new polymer PDINI-OBTC8 was synthesized in donor-acceptor (D-A) fashion, where fused ${\pi}$-conjugated tetracyclic DINI, and 5,6-bis(octyloxy)-4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl) benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (OBTC8) were employed as electron rich (donor) and electron deficient (acceptor) moieties, respectively. The conventional bulk heterojunction (BHJ) device structure ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PDINI-OBTC8:PCB71M/LiF/Al was utilized to fabricate polymer solar cells (PSCs), which comprises the blend of PDINI-OBTC8 and [6,6]-phenyl-$C_{71}$-butyric acid methyl ester ($PC_{71}BM$) in BHJ network. A BHJ PSC that contain PDINI-OBTC8 delivered power conversion efficiency (PCE) value of 1.68% with 1 vol% of 1,8-diidooctane (DIO) under the illumination of A.M 1.5G 100 $mW/cm^2$.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.2496-2503
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• 2018

The short-term stability of high efficiency polymer : nonfullerene solar cells was investigated by employing a quick (ten cycles) current density-voltage (J-V) cycling method. Polymer : nonfullerene solar cells with initial power conversion efficiency (PCE) of >10% were fabricated using bulk heterojunction (BHJ) films of poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5b']dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-di-2-thienyl-5,7'-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione))] (PBDB-T) and 3,9-bis(2-methylene-((3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-6/7-methyl)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2',3'-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene (IT-M). One set of the BHJ (PBDB-T : IT-M) films was thermally annealed at $160^{\circ}C$ for 30min, while another set was used without any thermal treatment after spin-coating. The quick J-V scan (cycling) measurement disclosed that the PCE decay was relatively slower for the annealed BHJ layers than the unannealed (as-cast) BHJ layers. As a result, after ten cycles, the annealed BHJ layers delivered higher PCE than the unannealed BHJ layers due to higher and more stable trend in fill factor. The present quick J-V cycling method is simple but expected to be useful for the prediction of short-term stability in organic solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2011

Polymer solar cells utilize bulk heterojunction (BHJ) type photo-active layer in which the electron donating polymer and electron accepting C60 derivatives are mixed together. In the BHJ system the electron donating polymer and electron accepting C60 derivatives are blended. The blended system causes charge recombination at the interface between the BHJ active layer and electrode. To reduce the charge recombination at the interface, it is needed to use an interlayer that can selectively transfer electrons or holes. We have developed solution processable wide band gap inorganic interfacial layers for polymer solar cells. The effect of interlayers on the performance of polymer solar cell was investigated for various types of conjugated polymers. We have found that inorganic interfacial layers enhanced the solar cell efficiency through the reduction of charge recombination at the interface between active layer and electrode. Furthermore, the stability of the polymer solar cell using the interlayer was significantly improved. The efficiency of 6.5% was obtained from the PTB7:PCBM70 based solar cells utilizing $TiO_2$nanoparticles as an interlayers.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.186-186
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• 2006

We report a new architecture for high efficiency polymer solar cells introducing a new concept of 'optical spacer' with new material. By implementing a novel solution-based titanium oxide ($TiO_{x}$) layer between the active layer and the electron collecting Al electrode, we invented a way to increase ${\sim}50\;%$ in power conversion efficiency compared to conventional polymer solar cells. Now the new devices exhibit ${\sim}6\;%$ power conversion efficiency, which is the highest value reported to date for a polymer based photovoltaic cell. The $TiO_{x}$ layer increases the efficiency by modifying the spatial distribution of the light intensity inside the device, thereby creating more photogenerated charge carriers in the bulk heterojunction layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.321-321
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• 2010

The PEDOT:PSS layer is usually used as hole transporting layer for the polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells. However, the interface between ITO and PEDOT:PSS is not stable and the chemical reaction between ITO and PEDOT can result in degraded device performance. We used the tungsten oxides as a hole transport layer by spin-coating. The $WO_3$ nanoparticles were well dispersed in ammonium hydroxide and deionized water and formed thin layer on the ITO anode. We found that $WO_3$ surface is more hydrophobic than the bare ITO or PEDOT:PSS-coated surfaces. The hydrophobic surfaces promote an ordered growth of P3HT films. A higher degree of P3HT ordering is expected to improve the hole mobility and the lifetime of the device using the tungsten oxide showed better stability compared to the device using the PEDOT:PSS.