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Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films

Anthony Higgins Orcid Logo, P. Gutfreund Orcid Logo, VALERIA ITALIA, A. Nelson Orcid Logo, J. T. Cabral Orcid Logo, Elizabeth Hynes

Soft Matter, Volume: 20, Issue: 11, Pages: 2532 - 2546

Swansea University Authors: Anthony Higgins Orcid Logo, VALERIA ITALIA, Elizabeth Hynes

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DOI (Published version): 10.1039/d3sm01066j

Abstract

Domain morphology and composition, and the structure of interfaces between domains are key factors in the performance and stability of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) fabricated from polymer/small-molecule blends. In this study, we investigate the evolution of composition, phase-volume and interfacial...

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Published in: Soft Matter
ISSN: 1744-683X 1744-6848
Published: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2024
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65633
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In this study, we investigate the evolution of composition, phase-volume and interfacial roughness in model polymer/small-molecule bilayers, in response to thermal annealing. Polystyrene/fullerene mixing is studied as a function of annealing temperature, using in-situ neutron reflectivity, in thin-film bilayer samples comprising pure component or mixed layers. Remarkably, we discover that thermal annealing at temperatures around or above the reported glass transition temperatures, Tg, of the components can result in extensive mass-transfer between layers, that has the superficial appearance of equilibration, but leaves the layer compositions, thicknesses, and/or the interfacial composition profile in a non-equilibrium state. This is not merely a case of slow kinetics near Tg, as subsequent heating to higher temperatures, followed by cooling, reveals pronounced hysteresis in these systems. This has important implications for the measurement of equilibrium compositions in polymer/small-molecule mixtures for OPV applications, and for device stability during operation.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Soft Matter</journal><volume>20</volume><journalNumber>11</journalNumber><paginationStart>2532</paginationStart><paginationEnd>2546</paginationEnd><publisher>Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>1744-683X</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1744-6848</issnElectronic><keywords/><publishedDay>17</publishedDay><publishedMonth>1</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2024</publishedYear><publishedDate>2024-01-17</publishedDate><doi>10.1039/d3sm01066j</doi><url/><notes>Data availability:Data can be downloaded using the DOIs for the two experiments: http://doi.ill.fr/10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-11-1903 and http://doi.ill.fr/10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-11-1983 after an embargo period of three years. 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spelling 2024-04-03T12:12:49.3810906 v2 65633 2024-02-13 Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films 4db715667aa7bdc04e87b3ab696d206a 0000-0003-2804-8164 Anthony Higgins Anthony Higgins true false 609166e00715a81ea1104ecec3599e89 VALERIA ITALIA VALERIA ITALIA true false ac90b957fe2dcc9d41f36a6629757b11 Elizabeth Hynes Elizabeth Hynes true false 2024-02-13 EAAS Domain morphology and composition, and the structure of interfaces between domains are key factors in the performance and stability of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) fabricated from polymer/small-molecule blends. In this study, we investigate the evolution of composition, phase-volume and interfacial roughness in model polymer/small-molecule bilayers, in response to thermal annealing. Polystyrene/fullerene mixing is studied as a function of annealing temperature, using in-situ neutron reflectivity, in thin-film bilayer samples comprising pure component or mixed layers. Remarkably, we discover that thermal annealing at temperatures around or above the reported glass transition temperatures, Tg, of the components can result in extensive mass-transfer between layers, that has the superficial appearance of equilibration, but leaves the layer compositions, thicknesses, and/or the interfacial composition profile in a non-equilibrium state. This is not merely a case of slow kinetics near Tg, as subsequent heating to higher temperatures, followed by cooling, reveals pronounced hysteresis in these systems. This has important implications for the measurement of equilibrium compositions in polymer/small-molecule mixtures for OPV applications, and for device stability during operation. Journal Article Soft Matter 20 11 2532 2546 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 1744-683X 1744-6848 17 1 2024 2024-01-17 10.1039/d3sm01066j Data availability:Data can be downloaded using the DOIs for the two experiments: http://doi.ill.fr/10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-11-1903 and http://doi.ill.fr/10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-11-1983 after an embargo period of three years. Requests for data earlier than this should be emailed to the corresponding author. COLLEGE NANME Engineering and Applied Sciences School COLLEGE CODE EAAS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) We thank the ILL for the award of beam time (experiment numbers 9-11-1903 in 2019 and 9-11-1983 in 2021), and the staff of D17 for help during the experiments. We thank the IT group at ILL for establishing remote access to D17, which was used during experiment 9-11-1983. AH thanks Josh Barlow and Ben Harrison at Swansea University for use of their chemistry facilities to host the sample preparation activity, which was necessitated following a fire in Swansea which closed the usual chemistry laboratory for more than a year. EH acknowledges Swansea University for funding her studentship. 2024-04-03T12:12:49.3810906 2024-02-13T10:32:29.4714534 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Biomedical Engineering Anthony Higgins 0000-0003-2804-8164 1 P. Gutfreund 0000-0002-7412-8571 2 VALERIA ITALIA 3 A. Nelson 0000-0002-4548-3558 4 J. T. Cabral 0000-0002-2590-225x 5 Elizabeth Hynes 6 65633__29650__85c6a0d8273047a8aa6a70a0f819aab9.pdf d3sm01066j.pdf 2024-03-05T22:53:30.7068886 Output 3046522 application/pdf Version of Record true Released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
title Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films
spellingShingle Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films
Anthony Higgins
VALERIA ITALIA
Elizabeth Hynes
title_short Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films
title_full Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films
title_fullStr Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films
title_full_unstemmed Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films
title_sort Hysteresis in phase volumes, compositions and interfacial roughness in model OPV-small-molecule/polymer thin-films
author_id_str_mv 4db715667aa7bdc04e87b3ab696d206a
609166e00715a81ea1104ecec3599e89
ac90b957fe2dcc9d41f36a6629757b11
author_id_fullname_str_mv 4db715667aa7bdc04e87b3ab696d206a_***_Anthony Higgins
609166e00715a81ea1104ecec3599e89_***_VALERIA ITALIA
ac90b957fe2dcc9d41f36a6629757b11_***_Elizabeth Hynes
author Anthony Higgins
VALERIA ITALIA
Elizabeth Hynes
author2 Anthony Higgins
P. Gutfreund
VALERIA ITALIA
A. Nelson
J. T. Cabral
Elizabeth Hynes
format Journal article
container_title Soft Matter
container_volume 20
container_issue 11
container_start_page 2532
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 1744-683X
1744-6848
doi_str_mv 10.1039/d3sm01066j
publisher Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Biomedical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Biomedical Engineering
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Domain morphology and composition, and the structure of interfaces between domains are key factors in the performance and stability of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) fabricated from polymer/small-molecule blends. In this study, we investigate the evolution of composition, phase-volume and interfacial roughness in model polymer/small-molecule bilayers, in response to thermal annealing. Polystyrene/fullerene mixing is studied as a function of annealing temperature, using in-situ neutron reflectivity, in thin-film bilayer samples comprising pure component or mixed layers. Remarkably, we discover that thermal annealing at temperatures around or above the reported glass transition temperatures, Tg, of the components can result in extensive mass-transfer between layers, that has the superficial appearance of equilibration, but leaves the layer compositions, thicknesses, and/or the interfacial composition profile in a non-equilibrium state. This is not merely a case of slow kinetics near Tg, as subsequent heating to higher temperatures, followed by cooling, reveals pronounced hysteresis in these systems. This has important implications for the measurement of equilibrium compositions in polymer/small-molecule mixtures for OPV applications, and for device stability during operation.
published_date 2024-01-17T20:41:33Z
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score 11.047609

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