title: Enhancing Thermal Stability and Lifetime of Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells via Molecular Engineering of the Hole-Transporting Material Spiro-OMeTAD.
abstract: Thermal stability of hybrid solar cells containing spiro-OMeTAD as hole-transporting layer is investigated. It is demonstrated that fully symmetrical spiro-OMeTAD is prone to crystallization, and growth of large crystalline domains in the hole-transporting layer is one of the causes of solar cell degradation at elevated temperatures, as crystallization of the material inside the pores or on the interface affects the contact between the absorber and the hole transport. Suppression of the crystal growth in the hole-transporting layer is demonstrated to be a viable tactic to achieve a significant increase in the solar cell resistance to thermal stress and improve the overall lifetime of the device. Findings described in this publication could be applicable to hybrid solar cell research as a number of well-performing architectures rely heavily upon doped spiro-OMeTAD as hole-transporting material.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Organic Chemistry, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu pl. 19, Kaunas 50254, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Tadas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Malinauskas
authors.affiliation: †Department of Organic Chemistry, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu pl. 19, Kaunas 50254, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Daiva
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tomkute-Luksiene
authors.affiliation: ‡BASF SE, Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, Ludwigshafen 67056, Germany.
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sens
authors.affiliation: †Department of Organic Chemistry, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu pl. 19, Kaunas 50254, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Maryte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daskeviciene
authors.affiliation: ‡BASF SE, Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, Ludwigshafen 67056, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Send
authors.affiliation: ‡BASF SE, Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, Ludwigshafen 67056, Germany.
authors.forename: Henrike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wonneberger
authors.affiliation: §Department of Solid State Electronics, Vilnius University, Sauletekio 9, Vilnius 10222, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Vygintas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jankauskas
authors.affiliation: ‡BASF SE, Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, Ludwigshafen 67056, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingmar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bruder
authors.affiliation: †Department of Organic Chemistry, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu pl. 19, Kaunas 50254, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Vytautas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Getautis
keywords: amorphous materials; charge transport; hybrid solar cells; morphological stability; spiro compounds