Nanostructured films from conducting polymers for application in photovoltaic devices

• Grant number: 13/10344-9
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: August 06, 2014
• End date: September 05, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Junior
• Grantee: Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Junior
• Visiting researcher: Maria de Fátima Guerreiro da Silva Campos Raposo
• Visiting researcher institution: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The conversion of solar energy into electrical energy is one of the most important alternatives for generating energy, and over the last few years there has been increased interest in organic photovoltaic devices, which now reach efficiencies ranging from 5 to 10%. The enhanced efficiency was achieved with new semiconducting materials whose spectra are overlapped with the solar spectrum, and with a precise control of the active layers microstructure. In a recent paper produced at the Polymer Group in collaboration with the applicant, it was shown that the electric field generated by a layer of poly(o-methoxyaniline) (POMA) hampers conformational changes in poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) molecules in layer-by-layer films. The latter were fabricated by alternating layers of poly(tetrahydrothiophene xylidene chloride) (PTHT) and dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DBS). The properties of the POMA layer may be tuned to enhance the performance of opto-electronic devices, particularly in assisting charge separation in electron-hole pairs in photovoltaic devices. This project is aimed at analyzing the conditions under which the film morphology and the intrinsic electric field from the POMA layer affect the opto-electronic properties of PPV films. (AU)