• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.spc8
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• pp.3081-3089
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• 2011

A series of new bis-thienylanthracene derivatives D1~D5 containing 9,10-antharcene moiety in the center and 2-methylenemalonotitrile or 2-cyanoacrylic acid functional group on the terminal thiophenes were synthesized and characterized by $^1H$-NMR and high-resolution mass spectroscopy. Their optical, electrochemical, and thermal properties were measured. They have absorption ${\lambda}_{max}$ in the range of 437~480 nm and max of $7.4{\times}10^3{\sim}2.0{\times}10^4M^{-1}cm^{-1}$. The substitution of 2-cyanoacrylic acid group allows greater value of ${\varepsilon}_{max}$ than that of 2-methylenemalonotitrile. TGA curves showed that D4 and D5 which have 2-cyanoacrylic acid functional group on the terminal thiophene(s) exhibit good thermal stability and D4 was thermally stable up to $400^{\circ}C$. Their optical properties and LUMO energy levels measured suggest that they can serve as potential candidates for electron donor materials of organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) or D4 and D5 which contain 2-cyanoacrylic acid group can be used as organic dyes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.11.2-11.2
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• 2011

Polymer based organic photovoltaics have attracted a great deal of attention due to the potential cost-effectiveness of light-weight and flexible solar cells. However, most BHJ polymer solar cells are not thermally stable as subsequent exposure to heat drives further development of the morphology towards a state of macrophase separation in the micrometer scale. Here we would like to show three different approaches for developing new electroactive polymers to improve the thermal stability of the BHJ solar cells, which is a critical problem for the commercialization of these solar cells. For one of the examples, we report a new series of functionalized polythiophene (PT-x) copolymers for use in solution processed organic photovoltaics (OPVs). PT-x copolymers were synthesized from two different monomers, where the ratio of the monomers was carefully controlled to achieve a UV photo-crosslinkable layer while leaving the ${\pi}-{\pi}$ stacking feature of conjugated polymers unchanged. The crosslinking stabilizes PT-x/PCBM blend morphology preventing the macro phase separation between two components, which lead to OPVs with remarkably enhanced thermal stability. The drastic improvement in thermal stabilities is further characterized by microscopy as well as grazing incidence X-ray scattering (GIXS). In the second part of talk, we will discuss the use of block copolymers as active materials for WOLEDs in which phosphorescent emitter isolation can be achieved. We have exploited the use of triarylamine (TPA) oxadiazole (OXA) diblock copolymers (TPA-b-OXA), which have been used as host materials due to their high triplet energy and charge-transport properties enabling a balance of holes and electrons. Organization of phosphorescent domains in TPA-b-OXA block copolymers is demonstrated to yield dual emission for white electroluminescence. Our approach minimizes energy transfer between two colored species by site isolation through morphology control, allowing higher loading concentration of red emitters with improved device performance. Furthermore, by varying the molecular weight of TPA-b-OXA and the ratio of blue to red emitters, we have investigated the effect of domain spacing on the electroluminescence spectrum and device performance.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.2245-2250
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• 2014

A new accepter unit, 6,7-difluoro-2,3-dihexylquinoxaline, was prepared and utilized for the synthesis of the conjugated polymers containing electron donor-acceptor pair for OPVs. New series of copolymers with dioctyloxybenzodithiophene as the electron rich unit and 6,7-difluoro-2,3-dihexylquinoxaline as the electron deficient unit are synthesized. The solid films of poly[2,6-(4,8-bis(2-ethylhexyloxy)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene)-alt-5,8-(6,7-difluoro-2,3-dihexylquinoxaline)] (PBQxF) and poly[2,6-(4,8-bis(2-ethylhexyloxy) benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene)-alt-5,8-(6,7-difluoro-2,3-dihexyl-5,8-di(thiophen-2-yl) quinoxaline)] (PBDTQxF) show absorption bands with maximum peaks at about 599 and 551 nm and the absorption onsets at 692 and 713 nm, corresponding to band gaps of 1.79 and 1.74 eV, respectively. The devices comprising PBQxF with $PC_{71}BM$ (1:2) showed open-circuit voltage ($V_{OC}$) of 0.64 V, short-circuit current density ($J_{SC}$) of $1.58mA/cm^2$, and fill factor (FF) of 0.39, giving power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.39%. To obtain absorption in the longer wavelength region, thiophene units without any alkyl group are incorporated as one of the monomers in PBDTQxF, which may result in low solubility of the polymers to lead lower efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.181-181
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• 2013

Recently, nanostructure and the molecular orientation of organic thin films have been largely paid attention due to its importance in organic electronics such as organic thin film transistors (OTFTs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). Among various methods, the diffraction and scattering techniques based on synchrotron x-rays have shown powerful results in organic thin film systems. In this work, we introduce the in-situ annealing system installed at PLS-II (Pohang Light Source II) for organic thin films by simultaneously conducting various x-ray scattering measurements of x-ray reflectivity, conventional x-ray scattering, grazing incidence wide angle x-ray scattering (GI-WAXS) and so on. Using the in-situ measurement, we could obtain real time variation of nanostructure as well as molecular orientation during thermal annealing in metal-phthalocyanine thin films. The variation of surface and interface also could be simultaneously investigated by the x-ray reflectivity measurement.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.350-356
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• 2015

The effects of the zinc oxide (ZnO) preparing process on the performance of inverted organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) were explored. The morphology and size of ZnO nanoparticles were controlled, leading to more efficient charge collection from device and higher electron mobility compared with nanospheres. Nanosized ZnO particles were synthesized by using zinc acetate dihydrate and potassium hydroxide in methanol. Also, water was added into the reaction medium to control the morphology of ZnO nanocrystals from spherical particles to rods, and $NH_4OH$ was used to prevent the gelation of dispersion. Solution-processed ZnO thin films were deposited onto the ITO/glass substrate by using spin coating process and then ZnO films were used as an electron transport layer in inverted organic photovoltaic cells. The analyses were carried out by using TEM, FE-SEM, AFM, DLS, UV-Vis spectroscopy, current density-voltage characteristics and solar simulator.

• Applied Chemistry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.105-108
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• 2011

Organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) have attracted considerable attention due to their low cost, light-weight and flexible characteristics. Small molecules have advantages of well-defined structure and easy synthesis. In this work, new tetrazine, DPP, and furan-based oligomers for organic solar cell were synthesized by Suzuki coupling reaction. The structures were confirmed by NMR and optical and electronic properties were investigated by UV-vis absorption.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.624-631
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• 2014

In this study, a new series of conjugated polymer 3-(5-(5,6-bis(octyloxy)-7-(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-yl)thiophen-2-yl)-10-(4-(octyloxy)phenyl)-10H-phenothiazine (P1) and 3-(5-(5,6-bis(octyloxy)-7-(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-yl)thiophen-2-yl)-10-(4-((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)phenyl)-10H-phenothiazine (P2) were synthesised and organic photovoltaics (OPVs) properties were characterized. The push-pull structure polymer consisted of phenothiazine derivative as an electron donor and benzothiadiazole derivative as an electron acceptor. The aliphatic chain substituted aromatic ring was substituted at the position of N in phenothiazine for the electron-rich and improved solubility. Excellent thermal stabilities of P1 and P2 were confirmed by measured Td values as 321.9 and $323.7^{\circ}C$, respectively and the degrees of polymerization were 4,911 (P1) and 5,294 (P2). The maximum absorption wavelength of P1 and P2 were 549 and 566 nm, respectively. The device was fabricated and the OPVs property was measured. As a result, the power efficiency of conversion for P1 and P2 were 0.96 and 0.90%, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.162-162
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• 2012

ZnPc and CuPc molecules stacked similar way in the film, but showed different growth modes in thermal evaporation. The distribution of CuPc crystals did not change by the film thickness, whereas the distribution of ZnPc became random as the increase of the film thickness. The disc type nanograins of CuPc were quite regularly distributed at the initial growth regime and the regular distribution of nanograins was kept during the film growth. On the other hand, ZnPc consisted in ellipsoid shaped nanograins and the distribution of nanograins was not regular in the initial growth regime. The irregular distribution of nanograins changed to the regular mode at the later growth regime by showing structure factor in GISAXS measurement. The different initial nanograin distribution in ZnPc and CuPc was related to the different nanostructure in the mixed layer with C60 to form the bulk heterojunction.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.69.1-69.1
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• 2010

We have fabricated organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) with highly conductive poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene : poly styrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) layer as an anode without using transparent conducting oxide (TCO), which has been modified by adding some organic solvents like sorbitol (So), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP), dimethylformamide (DMF), and ethylene glycol (EG). The conductivity of PEDOT:PSS film modified with each additive was enhanced by three orders of magnitude. According to atomic force microscopy (AFM) study, conductivity enhancement might be related to better connections between the conducting PEDOT chains. TCO-free solar cells with modified PEDOT:PSS layer and the active layer composed of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl [6,6] C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) exhibited a comparable device performance to indium tin oxide (ITO) based organic solar cells. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the organic solar cells incorporating DMSO, So + DMSO and EG modified PEDOT:PSS layer reached 3.51, 3.64 and 3.77%, respectively, under illumination of AM 1.5 (100mW/$cm^2$).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.535-536
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• 2013

본 연구에서는 DC/RF co-sputtering공법을 통해 제작한 In-Mo-O 투명 Mo doping 농도 및 열처리 온도에 따른 전기적, 광학적, 구조적 특성을 분석하고, 최적화된 In-Mo-O 투명전극을 유기태양전지(OPVs)와 유기발광다이오드(OLED)에 적용하여 그 가능성을 평가하였다. Mo doping 농도는 co-sputtering 공정 중 MoO3에 인가되는 radio-frequency (RF) power를 변화시켜 조절되었으며, 투명전극의 광학적 특성 및 전기적 특성 향상을 위해 성막 공정 후 급속 열처리 공정을 온도 별로 진행하였다. In-Mo-O 투명 전극은 Mo 도핑 농도에 영향을 받음을 확인할 수 있었고, 최적화된 Mo doping 파워에서 성막한 In-Mo-O 박막은 급속 열처리 공정 후 면저항 24.57 Ohm/square, 투과도 81.57% (400~1,200 nm wavelength)를 나타내었다. Bulk hetero-junction 기반의 고효율 유기태양전지와 유기발광다이오드 적용하기 위해 본 연구에서 제작된 IMO 투명전극의 구조적 특성, 결정성 및 표면특성은 x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy(AFM), field effect scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) 분석을 통해 진행하였다. In-Mo-O 투명 전극상에 제작된 OLEDs와 OPV는 reference ITO 전극에 제작된 OLEDs/OPV와 비교할 때 유사하거나 향상된 특성을 나타내었으며 이는 In-Mo-O 박막이 OLED/OPV용 투명 전극으로 적용이 가능함을 말해준다.