The Effect of Ketone Defects on the Charge Transport and Charge Recombination in Polyfluorenes

The effect of on‐chain ketone defects on the charge transport of the polyfluorene derivative poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene) (PFO) is investigated. Using MoO₃ as ohmic hole contact, the hole transport in a pristine PFO diode is observed to be limited by space‐charge, whereas fluorenone contaminated PFO (PFO‐F) is shown to be trap limited by the occurrence of an exponential trap distribution with a trap depth of 0.18 eV. The electron transport in PFO is also observed to be trap limited, but in order to describe the electron transport of PFO‐F, an additional trap level with a depth of 0.46 eV must be introduced. The obtained energy levels of the fluorenone trapping sites are in close agreement with cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements reported in literature. As a result, the fluorenone defects are shown to simultaneously act as hole‐ and electron trap. Moreover, through ideality factor measurements, the green emission associated with these defects is observed to originate from trap‐assisted recombination.     

Solution‐Processed Organic Tandem Solar Cells

A solution‐processed polymer tandem cell fabricated by stacking two single cells in series is demonstrated. The two bulk‐heterojunction subcells have complementary absorption maxima at λ_max ～ 850 nm and λ_max ～ 550 nm, respectively. A composite middle electrode is applied that serves both as a charge‐recombination center and as a protecting layer for the first cell during spin‐coating of the second cell. The subcells are electronically coupled in series, which leads to a high open‐circuit voltage of 1.4 V, equal to the sum of each subcell. The layer thickness of the first (bottom) cell is tuned to maximize the optical absorption of the second (top) cell. The performance of the tandem cell is presently limited by the relatively low photocurrent generation in the small‐bandgap polymer of the top cell. The combination of our tandem architecture with more efficient small‐bandgap materials will enable the realization of highly efficient organic solar cells in the near future.     

Synthesis and crystal structures of two dialkyl-substituted sexithiophenes

Two stereoregular dialkyl-substituted sexithiophenes have been synthesized and their X-ray structures revealed. Both molecules have neighbouring thiophene rings placed antiparallel and the molecules are almost planar. The torsional angles between the rings vary from 5 to 11°. The alkyl side chains are in the planar zigzag form and almost confined to the plane of the thiophene backbone.     

Effectiveness of sorting single-walled carbon nanotubes by diameter using polyfluorene derivatives

Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) sorted by conjugated polymers are of great interest for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Here we demonstrate by optical methods that the selectivity of conjugated polymers for semiconducting SWCNTs is influenced by the structure of their side-chains and/or the molecular weight of the macromolecules, and that side chain functionalities determine the solubility in different dispersion media. Moreover, high resolution time-resolved photoluminescence measurements provide evidence of energy transfer from tubes with larger band gaps compared to those with smaller band gaps coexisting in SWCNT bundles.     

Cover Image,Volume 93, Issue 8

The cover image, by Marie AF Delgove et al., is based on the Research Article Application of a thermostable Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenase for the synthesis of branched polyester precursors, DOI: 10.1002/jctb.5623 .

     

A methodology to assess the availability of next-generation data centers

The Journal of Supercomputing - Cloud data center providers benefit from software-defined infrastructure once it promotes flexibility, automation, and scalability. The new paradigm of...     

Luminescent Poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) Hole‐Transport Layers with Adjustable Solubility

The active part of present polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) consists of only a single layer. Multilayer devices have the advantage that the electron and hole transport can be balanced and that the recombination can be removed from the metallic cathode, leading to higher efficiencies. A major problem for polymer‐based multilayer devices is the solubility of the materials used; a multilayer can not be fabricated when a spin‐cast layer dissolves in the solvent of the subsequent layer. We demonstrate the development of high‐mobility poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) (PPV)‐based hole‐transport layers with tunable solubility by chemical modification. Enhanced charge‐transport properties are achieved by using symmetrically substituted PPVs; copolymers of long and short side chains enable us to tune the solubility without loss of the enhanced charge transport. Dual‐layer PLEDs, in which the holes are efficiently transported via this copolymer towards the luminescent layer, exhibit an enhanced efficiency at high voltages (> 10 V) and a strongly improved robustness against electrical breakdown.     

Preserving the distribution of inorganic arsenic species in groundwater and acid mine drainage samples

The distribution of inorganic arsenic species must be preserved in the field to eliminate changes caused by metal oxyhydroxide precipitation, photochemical oxidation, and redox reactions. Arsenic species sorb to iron and manganese oxyhydroxide precipitates, and arsenite can be oxidized to arsenate by photolytically produced free radicals in many sample matrices. Several preservatives were evaluated to minimize metal oxyhydroxide precipitation, such as inorganic acids and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). EDTA was found to work best for all sample matrices tested. Storing samples in opaque polyethylene bottles eliminated the effects of photochemical reactions. The preservation technique was tested on 71 groundwater and six acid mine drainage samples. Concentrations in groundwater samples reached 720 microg-As/L for arsenite and 1080 microg-As/L for arsenate, and acid mine drainage samples reached 13 000 microg-As/L for arsenite and 3700 microg-As/L for arsenate. The arsenic species distribution in the samples ranged from 0 to 90% arsenite. The stability of the preservation technique was established by comparing laboratory arsenic speciation results for samples preserved in the field to results for subsamples speciated onsite. Statistical analyses indicated that the difference between arsenite and arsenate concentrations for samples preserved with EDTA in opaque bottles and field speciation results were analytically insignificant. The percentage change in arsenite:arsenate ratios for a preserved acid mine drainage sample and groundwater sample during a 3-month period was -5 and +3%, respectively.