10.5286/ISIS.E/ISIS.E.RB1820490
Dr Karl Thorley
Miss Zeinab Hamid
Miss Ava Kathleen Lage
Mr Matthew Bidwell
Dr Sarah Rogers
Investigating the internal structure of two-component polymer nanoparticles for enhanced optoelectronic performance in water processable OPV
ISIS Facility
2018
STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Data
The elucidation of the compositional profile inside the polymer nanoparticles is of critical importance for applications such as water processable organic solar cells. In order to have efficient charge separation and transfer, a nanoscale morphology is needed. This is crucial as charge migration only occurs on length scales up to 10 nm, and if separation is larger than this a large amount of charge recombination occurs, which has a substantial negative effect on overall photovoltaic performance. Therefore, to prevent this loss in optoelectronic performance it is important to design and fabricate nanoparticles with a blended interpenetrating nanoscale structure rather than a separated core-shell structure. SANS would be able to confirm which nanoparticle fabrication methods and blends of materials give the most favourable internal structures and best performances for these applications.