Morphology of all-polymer solar cells

Abstract

The blending of two semiconducting polymers with offset energy levels enables efficient charge generation in thin-film ‘all-polymer’ solar cells. A key requirement for efficient charge separation and collection is the formation of interconnected phase-separated domains structured on the sub-20 nm length-scale. This review provides an overview of recent advances in the characterisation of conjugated polymer blend nanostructure and developments in the linking of blend structure and device performance. This review also provides a general introduction to the polymer physics behind phase separation, experimental techniques used for characterising blend structure and novel ways to control nanomorphology.