International Collaboration in Chemistry: Novel Approaches to Molecular Assembly in Polymers for Solar Energy Conversion

利用半导体聚合物制造的光伏电池是一种低成本的能源转换解决方案，光能到电能的转换对于未来的全球能源需求至关重要。这项国际合作研究旨在开发新的半导体聚合物，使光伏电池具有可控的形态和界面特性。将开发与软纳米压印光刻方法兼容的新材料，并将用于形成纳米结构的全聚合物光伏电池。有机半导体中的电荷分离发生在纳米级的分子异质结上，这就需要对分子结构和界面形态结构进行控制。优化纳米印迹的可交联性半导体聚合物将被合成并用于形成具有结构可控异质结的光伏。这些纳米结构还将被用来指导分子间层的形成，从而改善电荷分离过程。先进的X射线散射方法将被用来探测纳米印迹聚合物的形态。具有可控界面性质的有机光伏电池的光电特性将揭示有机分子异质结电荷产生过程的新视角。

Conversion of light to electrical energy is critical for the future global energy demands with photovolatic cells, fabricated using semiconducting polymers, representing a low-cost solution for energy conversion. This international collaborative study aims to develop new semiconducting polymers that enable photovoltaic cells with controlled morphology and interfacial properties. Novel materials will be developed that are compatible with soft nanoimprint lithographic methods and will be used to form nanostructured all polymer photovoltaic cells. Charge separation in organic semiconductors occurs at nanoscale molecular heterojunctions necessitating the need for control of both molecular structure and interfacial morphological structure. Crosslinkable semiconducting polymers optimized for nanoimprinting will be synthesized and used to form photovoltaics with structurally controlled heterojunctions. These nanostructures will also be used to guide formation of molecular interlayers that improve the charge separation process. Advanced x-ray scattering methods will be used to probe the resulting morphology in nanoimprinted polymers. Optoelectronic characterization of organic photovoltaic cells with controlled interfacial properties will reveal new insight into the charge generation process at organic molecular heterojunctions.