Category

Thin films

(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsFractal dimensionGISAXSGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Simply planarizing nonfused perylene diimide based acceptors toward promising non-fullerene solar cells

Bian, Gao-Feng; Zhao, Feng; Lau, Tsz-Ki; Sheng, Chun-Qi; Lu, Xinhui; Du, Hui; Zhang, Cheng; Qu, Zhi-Rong; Chen, Hongzheng; Wan, Jun-Hua

This work focuses on developing high-efficiency perylene diimide (PDI)-based small molecular nonfullerene acceptors with a simple synthetic strategy. We reported a new electron acceptor, Py-e-PDI, obtained via cross-coupling four PDI units with a planar pyrene core through ethynyl groups. Although the ring-fusion synthetic procedure was omitted, the large planar core…
25 November 2019
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsFractal dimensionGISAXSGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Single-Junction Organic Solar Cell with over 15% Efficiency Using Fused-Ring Acceptor with Electron-Deficient Core

Yuan, Jun; Zhang, Yunqiang; Zhou, Liuyang; Zhang, Guichuan; Yip, Hin-Lap; Lau, Tsz-Ki; Lu, Xinhui; Zhu, Can; Peng, Hongjian; Johnson, Paul A.; Leclerc, Mario; Cao, Yong; Ulanski, Jacek; Li, Yongfang; Zou, Yingping

Summary Recently, non-fullerene n-type organic semiconductors have attracted significant attention as acceptors in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) due to their great potential to realize high-power conversion efficiencies. The rational design of the central fused ring unit of these acceptor molecules is crucial to maximize device performance. Here, we report a new…
25 November 2019
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsFractal dimensionGISAXSGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Charge carrier transport and nanomorphology control for efficient non-fullerene organic solar cells

Hu, Hanlin; Deng, Wanyuan; Qin, Minchao; Yin, Hang; Lau, Tsz-Ki; Fong, Patrick W. K.; Ren, Zhiwei; Liang, Qiong; Cui, Li; Wu, Hongbin; Lu, Xinhui; Zhang, Weimin; McCulloch, Iain; Li, Gang

Single junction organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) have exceeded 15% power conversion efficiency (PCE) with the help of fused ring based low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). As a major type of NFA, the indacenodithiophene derivative NFA (IDTBR) has been shown to have superior OPV stability with outstanding VOC, but the efficiency is…
25 November 2019
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Fused thienobenzene-thienothiophene electron acceptors for organic solar cells

Xu, Ye; Jiang, Haotian; Lau, Tsz-Ki; Zhu, Jingshuai; Wang, Jiayu; Lu, Xinhui; Zhan, Xiaowei; Lin, Yuze

Small molecule ladder-type heteroarenes IHBT-2F is designed and synthesized with strong electron-donating and molecular packing properties, where the central unit, fused thienobenzene-thienothiphene (IHBT), is attached with the strong electron-deficient 2-(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile (2FIC) as the end group. The counterpart IDBT-2F with…
25 November 2019
ApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSInorganic materialMaterialRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Tailoring vertical phase distribution of quasi-two-dimensional perovskite films via surface modification of hole-transporting layer

Liu, Tiefeng; Jiang, Youyu; Qin, Minchao; Liu, Junxue; Sun, Lulu; Qin, Fei; Hu, Lin; Xiong, Sixing; Jiang, Xueshi; Jiang, Fangyuan; Peng, Ping; Jin, Shengye; Lu, Xinhui; Zhou, Yinhua

Vertical phase distribution plays an important role in the quasi-two-dimensional perovskite solar cells. So far, the driving force and how to tailor the vertical distribution of layer numbers have been not discussed. In this work, we report that the vertical distribution of layer numbers in the quasi-two-dimensional perovskite films deposited…
25 November 2019
ApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSInorganic materialMaterialOrientation analysisRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Two-dimensional inverted planar perovskite solar cells with efficiency over 15% via solvent and interface engineering

Lian, Xiaomei; Chen, Jiehuan; Zhang, Yingzhu; Tian, Shuoxun; Qin, Minchao; Li, Jun; Andersen, Thomas Rieks; Wu, Gang; Lu, Xinhui; Chen, Hongzheng

High short-circuit current (Jsc) and open-circuit voltage (Voc) are both required for two-dimensional (2D) perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) with high power conversion efficiency (PCE). In this work, solvent engineering is combined with interface engineering to fabricate 2D PVSCs with enhanced Jsc and Voc. Mixing formamide with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) was found…
25 November 2019
ApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSInorganic materialMaterialRenewable energySizeSurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Room-Temperature Meniscus Coating of >20% Perovskite Solar Cells: A Film Formation Mechanism Investigation

Hu, Hanlin; Ren, Zhiwei; Fong, Patrick W. K.; Qin, Minchao; Liu, Danjun; Lei, Dangyuan; Lu, Xinhui; Li, Gang

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are ideally fabricated entirely via a scalable solution process at low temperatures to realize the promise of simple manufacturing, low-cost processing, compatibility with flexible substrates, and perovskite-based tandem solar cells. However, high-quality photoactive perovskite thin films under those processing conditions is a challenge. Here, a laminar…
25 November 2019
ApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGISAXSInorganic materialMaterialNanoparticles & colloidsOrientation analysisParticlesSurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Transforming an inert nanopolymer into broad-spectrum bactericidal by superstructure tuning

Scilletta, Natalia A.; Pezzoni, Magdalena; Desimone, Martín F.; Soler-Illia, Galo J.A.A.; Catalano, Paolo N.; Bellino, Martín G.

Poloxamer block copolymers (also known as Pluronic®) are particularly useful for drug delivery and self-assembly techniques. These nanopolymers are generally considered to be biologically inert and they were used to generate only bacteria repellent surfaces but keeps bacteria alive and as a latent threat. However, the inherent capabilities of these…
25 November 2019
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGISAXSGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisPolymer researchSizeTechniqueThin films

Cavitation-enabled rapid and tunable evolution of high-χN micelles as templates for ordered mesoporous oxides

Lokupitiya, Hasala N.; Stefik, Morgan

The kinetic-entrapment of block copolymer micelles enables size-persistence, however tuning micelle sizes under such conditions remains challenging. Agitation-induced chain exchange via vortexing is limited by the production of solution–air interfaces. Here, we use ultrasonic cavitation for rapid interface production that accelerates micelle growth by an order of magnitude over…
18 July 2019
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCrystalline fractionCustomer publicationsGIWAXSMaterialRenewable energyTechniqueThin films

The effect of side-chain substitution on the aggregation and photovoltaic performance of diketopyrrolopyrrole-alt-dicarboxylic ester bithiophene polymers

Heuvel, Ruurd; Colberts, Fallon J. M.; Li, Junyu; Wienk, Martijn M.; Janssen, René A. J.

Using a dicarboxylic ester bithiophene (DCBT) co-monomer, electron-withdrawing ester groups are introduced on the two central thiophene rings of an alternating donor–acceptor polymer (PDPP4T) consisting of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) and quaterthiophene (4T) to increase the oxidation potential and reduce the photon energy loss in solar cells. To counteract the increased solubility…
12 March 2019