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Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells

Saqib Rafique, Shahino Mah Abdullah Orcid Logo, James McGettrick Orcid Logo, Lijie Li Orcid Logo

Polymers, Volume: 18, Issue: 4, Start page: 480

Swansea University Authors: Saqib Rafique, James McGettrick Orcid Logo, Lijie Li Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/polym18040480

Abstract

We report a comprehensive spectroscopic, microscopic, and device-level investigation of the ambient-driven degradation of PTQ10:IDIC bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ-OSCs), up to 500 h. The power conversion efficiency dropped from 9.51% to 7.69% (≈19% relative loss), primarily due to a d...

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Published in: Polymers
ISSN: 2073-4360
Published: MDPI AG 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71400
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spelling 2026-02-26T14:16:52.0459994 v2 71400 2026-02-11 Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells 24fba91f85bf6f1f17145e84bf1b32d9 Saqib Rafique Saqib Rafique true false bdbacc591e2de05180e0fd3cc13fa480 0000-0002-7719-2958 James McGettrick James McGettrick true false ed2c658b77679a28e4c1dcf95af06bd6 0000-0003-4630-7692 Lijie Li Lijie Li true false 2026-02-11 We report a comprehensive spectroscopic, microscopic, and device-level investigation of the ambient-driven degradation of PTQ10:IDIC bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ-OSCs), up to 500 h. The power conversion efficiency dropped from 9.51% to 7.69% (≈19% relative loss), primarily due to a decrease in short-circuit current density (JSC 15.93 to 13.82 mA cm−2), while the open-circuit voltage remained largely stable (0.92 to 0.90 V). Atomic force microscopy reveals surface smoothing upon ageing, with the root-mean-square roughness decreasing from 4.29 to 3.45 nm, and the UV–vis absorption spectra show negligible changes, indicating preserved bulk light-harvesting capability. In contrast, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates pronounced surface compositional evolution, with a decrease in oxygen (5.18 to 3.18%) and a substantial increase in fluorine content (3.23 to 7.23%), consistent with fluorine-rich surface segregation or reorientation. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy further reveals a 0.48 eV reduction in surface work function, indicative of surface dipole modification and near-surface electronic reorganization. Collectively, these results demonstrate that ambient ageing primarily impacts interfacial chemistry and morphology rather than bulk optoelectronic properties, highlighting interfacial engineering and encapsulation as effective strategies for improving long-term device stability. Journal Article Polymers 18 4 480 MDPI AG 2073-4360 PTQ10:IDIC; organic solar cells; XPS; UPS; degradation; surface segregation 14 2 2026 2026-02-14 10.3390/polym18040480 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University External research funder(s) paid the OA fee (includes OA grants disbursed by the Library) This research was funded by EPSRC DTP grant number EP/Z535175/1. 2026-02-26T14:16:52.0459994 2026-02-11T14:31:03.9213366 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering Saqib Rafique 1 Shahino Mah Abdullah 0000-0002-8526-2127 2 James McGettrick 0000-0002-7719-2958 3 Lijie Li 0000-0003-4630-7692 4 71400__36320__093a120ed4a3456d8bab56717105809a.pdf 71400.VoR.pdf 2026-02-26T14:14:23.6727023 Output 4624102 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells
spellingShingle Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells
Saqib Rafique
James McGettrick
Lijie Li
title_short Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells
title_full Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells
title_fullStr Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells
title_full_unstemmed Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells
title_sort Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis of Degradation Pathways in PTQ10:IDIC Solar Cells
author_id_str_mv 24fba91f85bf6f1f17145e84bf1b32d9
bdbacc591e2de05180e0fd3cc13fa480
ed2c658b77679a28e4c1dcf95af06bd6
author_id_fullname_str_mv 24fba91f85bf6f1f17145e84bf1b32d9_***_Saqib Rafique
bdbacc591e2de05180e0fd3cc13fa480_***_James McGettrick
ed2c658b77679a28e4c1dcf95af06bd6_***_Lijie Li
author Saqib Rafique
James McGettrick
Lijie Li
author2 Saqib Rafique
Shahino Mah Abdullah
James McGettrick
Lijie Li
format Journal article
container_title Polymers
container_volume 18
container_issue 4
container_start_page 480
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 2073-4360
doi_str_mv 10.3390/polym18040480
publisher MDPI AG
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
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 Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering
document_store_str 1
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description We report a comprehensive spectroscopic, microscopic, and device-level investigation of the ambient-driven degradation of PTQ10:IDIC bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ-OSCs), up to 500 h. The power conversion efficiency dropped from 9.51% to 7.69% (≈19% relative loss), primarily due to a decrease in short-circuit current density (JSC 15.93 to 13.82 mA cm−2), while the open-circuit voltage remained largely stable (0.92 to 0.90 V). Atomic force microscopy reveals surface smoothing upon ageing, with the root-mean-square roughness decreasing from 4.29 to 3.45 nm, and the UV–vis absorption spectra show negligible changes, indicating preserved bulk light-harvesting capability. In contrast, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates pronounced surface compositional evolution, with a decrease in oxygen (5.18 to 3.18%) and a substantial increase in fluorine content (3.23 to 7.23%), consistent with fluorine-rich surface segregation or reorientation. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy further reveals a 0.48 eV reduction in surface work function, indicative of surface dipole modification and near-surface electronic reorganization. Collectively, these results demonstrate that ambient ageing primarily impacts interfacial chemistry and morphology rather than bulk optoelectronic properties, highlighting interfacial engineering and encapsulation as effective strategies for improving long-term device stability.
published_date 2026-02-14T05:32:39Z
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score 11.453587

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