title: Tailoring dispersion and aggregation of Au nanoparticles in the BHJ layer of polymer solar cells: plasmon effects versus electrical effects.
abstract: Plasmonic effects that arise from embedding metallic nanoparticles (NPs) in polymer solar cells (PSCs) have been extensively studied. Many researchers have utilized metallic NPs in PSCs by either incorporating them into the PSC interlayers (e.g., the hole extraction and electron extraction layers) or blending them into the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) active layer. In such studies, the dispersity of the metallic NPs in each layer may vary due to both the different nature of the ligands and the amount of ligands on the metallic NPs. This in turn can produce different PSC performance parameters. Here, we systematically control the amount of attached organic ligands on Au NPs to control their dispersion behavior in the BHJ active layer of PSCs. By controlling the number of capping organic ligands on the Au NPs, the dispersity of the NPs in the BHJ layer is also controlled and the positive effects (particularly the plasmonic and electrical effects) of the Au NPs in the PSCs are investigated. From the obtained results, we find that the electrical contribution of the Au NPs is a more dominant factor for enhancing cell efficiency when compared to the plasmonic effect.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Republic of Korea).
authors.forename: Wanjung
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Bong Geun
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Jung Kyu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Woonggi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Eunchul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae Kyu
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Dong Hwan
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qing Guo
authors.initials: QG
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Jeong Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Jaeyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Hyeok
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013472:Sunlight
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D006046:Gold
keywords: gold; ligands; nanoparticles; plasmons; polymer solar cells