Scientists in the US have investigated the influence of a polymer’s crystallinity [P(VDF-TrFE)] on its function in ferroelectric photovoltaic devices by comparing crystalline and amorphous phases.
The team’s results showed that the highly crystalline polymer film is needed for enhanced power conversion efficiency, because only crystalline P(VDF-TrFE) is ferroelectric.
The method, they say, could be applied to many other devices, such as organic solar cells with low bandgap polymers, tandem solar cells, organic light emitting diodes, organic field effect transistors and organic bistable memories.
Read the ‘HOT’ EES article today:
Understanding the effect of ferroelectric polarization on power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaic devices
Y Yuan et al, Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2ee22098a
