Conjugated Polymer-Based Ternary Blends

PI姓名：巴里·汤普森号码：1436875太阳代表着地球上最丰富的潜在的无污染能源。基于导电有机聚合物的光电转换太阳能电池为可再生电力生产提供了一种简单且潜在低成本的途径。然而，最近有机光伏（OPV）器件性能的提高仅仅是通过增加器件设计和制造的复杂性来实现的，这通常涉及多层。聚合物混合物具有平衡提高太阳能转换效率的需求与保持设备制造简单性和最终低成本的愿望的潜力。该项目的目标是开发基于三种有机聚合物混合物或三元聚合物混合物的OPV装置。将合成一系列具有OPV器件所需电子性能的新型有机聚合物，作为这些三元共混物的组分。使用印刷技术将三元聚合物共混物制成单一薄膜。由这些薄膜制成的器件将被表征，从而对三元共混物如何影响光伏性能有一个基本的了解。这些三组分系统中的协同相互作用可以提供独特的设备性能增强，同时保持由单个有机聚合物层制成的设备的简洁性。该项目包括加州路德大学和南加州大学之间的合作教学和研究活动，其特点是联合开发一门课程，教育非科学本科专业的学生了解能源在不断变化的世界中的重要性，并计划在夏季让本科生参与研究。通过丹麦技术大学开展的国际合作将为研究生提供交流机会，重点研究大面积柔性聚合物太阳能电池。这个项目的目标是发展对三元共混有机聚合物光伏（OPV）的基本理解。三元共混OPV结合了单层器件的实用简单性和串联器件的性能潜力。具体地说，基于富勒烯受体和两个具有互补电子性质的可混相共轭聚合物给体的三元共混物的假设提供了相对于单一聚合物的更高的太阳能转换效率。将合成一系列具有理想的OPV器件性能和易于制造的电子和热力学性能的新型有机聚合物，作为这些三元共混物的组分。具体来说，模块化合成将用于生成具有规则变化的电子和物理相互作用的聚合物对。聚合物共混的混相将通过聚合物表面能来调节，聚合物-聚合物混合将被用来确定这一设计原则的极限。OPV装置将使用印刷技术制造三元聚合物共混物薄膜。通过这种方法，本研究将获得组分之间的物理和电子关系对三元共混太阳能电池性能和行为的影响的基本认识，并建立三元共混太阳能电池中保证协同电子功能的最佳共轭聚合物组分的设计原则。该项目包括加州路德大学和南加州大学之间的合作教学和研究活动，其特点是联合开发一门课程，教育非科学本科专业的学生了解能源在不断变化的世界中的重要性，并计划让本科生参与研究。通过丹麦技术大学开展的国际合作将为研究生提供交流机会，重点研究大面积柔性聚合物太阳能电池。

PI Name: Barry ThompsonNumber: 1436875The sun represents the most abundant potential source of pollution-free energy on earth. Solar cells for conversion of light to electricity based on electrically conductive organic polymers offer a simple and potentially low-cost route for renewable electricity production. However, recent increases in the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices have only been enabled by increasing the complexity of device design and fabrication, which often involves multiple layers. Polymer mixtures have the potential to balance the need for the increase solar energy conversion efficiency with the desire to maintain simplicity and ultimately low cost in device manufacture. The goal of this project is develop OPV devices based on mixtures of three organic polymers, or ternary polymer blends. A series of novel organic polymers with electronic properties desirable for OPV devices will be synthesized to serve as components for these ternary blends. Ternary polymer blends are made into a single thin film using printing techniques. Devices made from these thin films will then be characterized to develop a fundamental understanding of how the ternary blend affects photovoltaic performance. Synergistic interactions within these three-component systems may provide unique enhancements in device performance while maintaining the simplicity of a device made from a single organic polymer layer. The project includes cooperative teaching and research activities between California Lutheran University and the University of Southern California, which feature the joint development of a course to educate non-science undergraduate majors on the importance of energy in a changing world, and plans for involving undergraduates in the research during the summer. International collaborations through the Danish Technical University will provide graduate student exchange opportunities focusing on large area, flexible polymer solar cells. Technical DescriptionThis goal of this project is to develop a fundamental understanding of ternary blend organic polymer photovoltaics (OPV). Ternary blend OPV combines the practical simplicity of single-layer devices with the performance potential of tandem devices. Specifically, ternary blends based on a fullerene acceptor and two miscible conjugated polymer donors with complementary electronic properties are hypothesized to provide enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency relative to a single polymer. A series of novel organic polymers with electronic and thermodynamic properties desirable for OPV device performance and ease of fabrication will be synthesized to serve as components for these ternary blends. Specifically, modular synthesis will be used to generate pairs of polymers with regularly varying electronic and physical interactions. Polymer blend miscibility will be tuned via polymer surface energy, and polymer-polymer mixing will be used to determine the limits of this design principle. OPV devices will be fabricated using printing techniques to make thin films of ternary polymer blends. Through this approach, the research will gain fundamental understanding of the influence of physical and the electronic relationships between components on the performance and behavior of ternary blend solar cells, and establish design principles for optimal conjugated polymer components in ternary blend solar cells that ensure cooperative electronic function. The project includes cooperative teaching and research activities between California Lutheran University and the University of Southern California, which feature the joint development of a course to educate non-science undergraduate majors on the importance of energy in a changing world, and plans for involving undergraduates in the research. International collaborations through the Danish Technical University will provide graduate student exchange opportunities focusing on large area, flexible polymer solar cells.