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

Authors

Chung-How Poh, University of NewcastleFollow
Chung-Kiak PohFollow
Glenn Bryant, University of Newcastle
Warwick Belcher, University of Newcastle
Paul Dastoor, University of Newcastle

RIS ID

49494

Publication Details

Poh, C., Poh, C., Bryant, G., Belcher, W. Dastoor, P. (2011). Organic solar cells: Evaluation of the stability of P3HT using time-delayed degradation. Proceedings of SPIE, 8204 (1), 1-6.

Abstract

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.