Members of the Jones’ group, in collaboration with the Department of Physics, have published two studies. High voltage hybrid organic photovoltaic cells using ZnO and SubPc have been published in PCCP. The comparison of DMSO treatment methods for highly conductive PEDOT:PSS electrodes has been published in Organic Electronics.

High Voltage Hybrid Organic Photovoltaics using a Zinc Oxide Acceptor and a Subphthalocyanine donor, Chloe Argent Dearden, Marc Walker, Nicola Beaumont, Ian Hancox, Natalie K. Unsworth, Paul Sullivan, Chris F. McConville, Tim S. Jones, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 2014,16, 18926 Link

Comparison of dimethyl sulfoxide treated highly conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) electrodes for use in indium tin oxide-free organic electronic photovoltaic devices, N.K. Unsworth, I. Hancox, C. Argent Dearden, P. Sullivan, M. Walker, R.S. Lilley, J. Sharp, T.S. Jones, ORGANIC ELECTRONICS, 2014, 15, 2624 Link

The report in PCCP indicates the importance of post deposition annealing of the ZnO. High open circuit voltages of 1.18 V are achieved when annealing the ZnO at 120 °C and using a SubPc electron donor. The factors influencing the change in cell performance with variation of the ZnO annealing temperature were studied using XPS, Kelvin probe, conductive AFM and UV-vis spectroscopy.

The publication in Organic Electronics highlights the importance of optimising the treatment of PEDOT:PSS electrodes, whilst also demonstrating their potential for use as an alternative transparent conductive electrode to the commonly used, and costly, ITO. P3HT:PCBM cells fabricated on the PEDOT:PSS electrodes immersed in DMSO were found to outperform the those on PEDOT:PSS electrodes utilising the DMSO as an additive. Films fabricated by both methods were characterised using XPS, UV-vis, conductive AFM and contact angle measurements.