Organic solar cells: Evaluation of the stability of P3HT using time-delayed degradation

Despite the fact that the performance of organic solar cells is generally susceptible to degradation by moisture exposure, there has been suggestion that the photoactive layer (P3HT) is surprisingly resilient. This work attempts to confirm the stability of P3HT as an organic solar cell material by deliberately introducing water into the photoactive layer. A dramatic step drop in device performance during cell characterization is observed approximately one day after the device has been fabricated. The time-delayed step drop in output efficiency strongly suggests that moisture has little effect on the P3HT conducting polymer.