CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as a booster in the active layer of distributed ternary organic photovoltaics

• Gabriela Lewińska,
• Piotr Jeleń,
• Zofia Kucia,
• Maciej Sitarz,
• Łukasz Walczak,
• Bartłomiej Szafraniak,
• Jerzy Sanetra and
• Konstanty W. Marszalek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 144–156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.14

Nanoporous and nonporous conjugated donor–acceptor polymer semiconductors for photocatalytic hydrogen production

• Zhao-Qi Sheng,
• Yu-Qin Xing,
• Yan Chen,
• Guang Zhang,
• Shi-Yong Liu and
• Long Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 607–623, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.50

• (Figure 1) by selectively tuning the donor and acceptor parts within the conjugated backbones [39][40]. The D–A architecture has been widely employed in high-performance organic optoelectronic devices, such as organic photovoltaics, organic field-effect transistors, nonlinear optics, and organic light

Influence of electrospray deposition on C₆₀ molecular assemblies

• Antoine Hinaut,
• Sebastian Scherb,
• Sara Freund,
• Zhao Liu,
• Thilo Glatzel and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 552–558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.45

• molecular trapping and their creation is therefore studied for those reasons [32][43][45][46]. In HV-ESD deposition, their presence can be reduced but not inhibited without annealing of the surface [44]. C60 on NiO(001) surface NiO is a wide-bandgap metal oxide with potential applications in organic

• photovoltaics [47]. To date, only few SPM studies have focused on the adsorption of organic molecules on NiO surfaces [35][36][37]. Because organic dyes are large and complex molecules, their TE is impossible, making HV-ESD methods the only deposition technique compatible with fundamental studies. A first step

Templating effect of single-layer graphene supported by an insulating substrate on the molecular orientation of lead phthalocyanine

• K. Priya Madhuri,
• Abhay A. Sagade,
• Pralay K. Santra and
• Neena S. John

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 814–820, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.66

• , among others, organic light-emitting diodes and organic photovoltaics. In particular, metal phthalocyanines (MPcs) have gained considerable interest as they offer flexibility in the modification of their optoelectronic properties through their molecular packing, which in turn is governed by substrate

Implementation of data-cube pump–probe KPFM on organic solar cells

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Olivier Bardagot and
• Renaud Demadrille

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 323–337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.24

• ); organic photovoltaics; photocarrier dynamics; pump–probe configuration; time-resolved measurements; Introduction Many emerging photovoltaic technologies rely on the use of thin film materials displaying structural and/or chemical heterogeneities at the μm or nm scale. This is the case for solution

• less data points to probe the parts of the time-domain where the SP evolves more slowly. Organic BHJ Solar Cells In this work, PTB7:PC71BM BHJ photovoltaic thin films have been used as test samples (Figure 3) for pp-KPFM experiments. In the following, a few concepts of organic photovoltaics are

A scanning probe microscopy study of nanostructured TiO₂/poly(3-hexylthiophene) hybrid heterojunctions for photovoltaic applications

• Laurie Letertre,
• Roland Roche,
• Olivier Douhéret,
• Hailu G. Kassa,
• Denis Mariolle,
• Nicolas Chevalier,
• Łukasz Borowik,
• Philippe Dumas,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Roberto Lazzaroni and
• Philippe Leclère

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2087–2096, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.197

• for their fabrication, these devices are deposited on rigid substrates and involve relatively heavy and costly materials of possibly low abundance and/or toxicity [4]. New PV technologies, such as organic photovoltaics (OPV) and hybrid solar cells, are now being developed [2] to cope with such issues

Numerical analysis of single-point spectroscopy curves used in photo-carrier dynamics measurements by Kelvin probe force microscopy under frequency-modulated excitation

• Pablo A. Fernández Garrillo,
• Benjamin Grévin and
• Łukasz Borowik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1834–1843, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.175

• . Experimental Photo-carrier generation is a process that takes place in semiconductor materials when electron–hole pairs (positive and negative polarons in the case of organic photovoltaics) are created by exciting an electron from the valence band to the conduction band (π-electrons from the highest occupied

• molecular orbital of the molecule to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital in the case of organic photovoltaics), thus leaving a hole behind that can be considered as a positive charge. Recombination is the opposed process where negative and positive charges recombine and are annihilated. In both cases

Optimisation of purification techniques for the preparation of large-volume aqueous solar nanoparticle inks for organic photovoltaics

• Furqan Almyahi,
• Thomas R. Andersen,
• Nathan A. Cooling,
• Natalie P. Holmes,
• Matthew J. Griffith,
• Krishna Feron,
• Xiaojing Zhou,
• Warwick J. Belcher and
• Paul C. Dastoor

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 649–659, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.60

• : aqueous nanoparticle; crossflow ultrafiltration; miniemulsion; organic photovoltaic; SDS surfactant; surface tension; Introduction Organic photovoltaics (OPV) are a promising energy technology that utilizes large-scale roll-to-roll (R2R) fabrication techniques (such as slot-die coating, flexographical

High-stress study of bioinspired multifunctional PEDOT:PSS/nanoclay nanocomposites using AFM, SEM and numerical simulation

• Alfredo J. Diaz,
• Hanaul Noh,
• Tobias Meier and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2069–2082, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.207

• interfaces have received special attention as an integral component in organic photovoltaics and organic light-emitting diode systems. Developing a transparent pressure-responsive nanocomposite has potential application within touchscreen displays. To synthesize a transparent nanocomposite coating, the

Spin-chemistry concepts for spintronics scientists

• Konstantin L. Ivanov,
• Alexander Wagenpfahl,
• Carsten Deibel and
• Jörg Matysik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1427–1445, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.143

Oxidative chemical vapor deposition of polyaniline thin films

• Yuriy Y. Smolin,
• Masoud Soroush and
• Kenneth K. S. Lau

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1266–1276, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.128

• demonstrated PEDOT as a neutral hole-transporting polymer for enhancing solar cells efficiency and lifetime [28]. oCVD PEDOT was also used to encapsulate flexible organic photovoltaics [29] and in the fabrication of organic photovoltaic circuits on unmodified paper [30]. Likewise, our group demonstrated the

Stable Au–C bonds to the substrate for fullerene-based nanostructures

• Taras Chutora,
• Jesús Redondo,
• Bruno de la Torre,
• Martin Švec,
• Pavel Jelínek and
• Héctor Vázquez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1073–1079, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.109

• in 1985 [5], fullerenes have played an important role in molecular surface science, organic photovoltaics and single-molecule electronics. Fullerenes can be deposited on a series of metallic and semiconducting substrates [6][7][8]. In molecular transport, they have been used both as target molecules

Analysis and modification of defective surface aggregates on PCDTBT:PCBM solar cell blends using combined Kelvin probe, conductive and bimodal atomic force microscopy

• Hanaul Noh,
• Alfredo J. Diaz and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 579–589, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.62

• force microscopy; multifrequency AFM; organic photovoltaics; polymer solar cells; surface defects; Introduction Polymer solar cells (PSCs) [1] have been widely studied due to the abundance of their constituents, their mechanical flexibility and light weight, as well as the possibility of low-cost roll

Tandem polymer solar cells: simulation and optimization through a multiscale scheme

• Fanan Wei,
• Ligang Yao,
• Fei Lan,
• Guangyong Li and
• Lianqing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 123–133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.13

• demonstrated to be one of the most effective solutions. Due to the unavoidable mismatch between the absorption spectrum of active materials and that of the sunlight, a large portion of the sunlight energy will be lost in organic photovoltaics when a single active material is employed. Thus, as illustrated in

• an example. Two configurations with different sub-cell sequences in the tandem photovoltaic device were tested and compared. The comparison of the simulation results between the two configurations demonstrated that the balance between the two sub-cells is of critical importance for tandem organic

• photovoltaics to achieve high performance. Consistency between the optimization results and the reported experimental results proved the effectiveness of the proposed simulation scheme. Keywords: genetic algorithm; Monte Carlo simulation; simplex searching; tandem polymer solar cells; Introduction Polymer

The effect of dry shear aligning of nanotube thin films on the photovoltaic performance of carbon nanotube–silicon solar cells

• Benedikt W. Stolz,
• Daniel D. Tune and
• Benjamin S. Flavel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1486–1491, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.141

• explored from both a fundamental theory point of view [1][2], as well as experimentally in a host of different device architectures, including as additives in dye solar cells [3][4], organic photovoltaics [5][6], and perovskites [7][8] and as the active light absorbing component in conjunction with

High-resolution noncontact AFM and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of self-assembled photovoltaic donor–acceptor dyads

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Pierre-Olivier Schwartz,
• Laure Biniek,
• Martin Brinkmann,
• Nicolas Leclerc,
• Elena Zaborova and
• Stéphane Méry

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 799–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.71

• elementary building block level. Keywords: donor–acceptor co-oligomers; donor–acceptor lamellae; donor–acceptor-ordered bulk heterojunction; Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM); noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM); organic photovoltaics; surface photo-voltage (SPV); Introduction Nowadays, with

Organized films

• Maurizio Canepa and
• Helmuth Möhwald

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 406–408, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.35

• tools and new preparation methods [23], which varied significantly from the more traditional deposition from solution [24]. This is the case for MBE-like deposition in vacuum or UHV conditions [25], which is of current interest in the area of organic photovoltaics [26]. This also applies for biological

Synthesis and applications of carbon nanomaterials for energy generation and storage

• Marco Notarianni,
• Jinzhang Liu,
• Kristy Vernon and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 149–196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.17

• photovoltaics and supercapacitors have been reviewed and discussed in this work, highlighting their benefits as compared to other materials commonly used in these devices. The use of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene in organic photovoltaics and supercapacitors is described in detail, explaining how

• into the electronic market. Organic photovoltaics Over the past twenty years, organic photovoltaics have rapidly improved because of the potential to obtain a manufacturing process that is faster, less expensive and with higher production volume as compared to silicon technology [175][176][177][178

• , and its allotrope forms such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene have been proposed as sources of energy generation and storage because of their extraordinary properties and ease of production. Various approaches for the synthesis and incorporation of carbon nanomaterials in organic

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro biocompatibility study of Au/TMC/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites as a promising, nontoxic system for biomedical applications

• Hanieh Shirazi,
• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Soheila Kashanian and
• Kobra Omidfar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1677–1689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.170

• . The efficacy of these TMC- and Au-containing magnetic nanostructures could benefit applications such as electrochemical labels, sensory probes, electronic conductors, therapeutic agents, organic photovoltaics, drug delivery in biological and medical applications, and catalysis due to their combined

An insight into the mechanism of charge-transfer of hybrid polymer:ternary/quaternary chalcopyrite colloidal nanocrystals

• Parul Chawla,
• Son Singh and
• Shailesh Narain Sharma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1235–1244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.137

• cells, the performance of OPVs is often restricted by low carrier mobility issues. The emergence of hybrid solar cells is based on the concept of promoting carrier mobility in OPV systems by the incorporation of inorganic semiconductor materials as electron acceptors into organic photovoltaics [5]. Here

• organic matrices. Inorganic materials with unique properties such as an enhanced absorption with varied particle sizes due to quantum confinement effect, relatively high electron mobility, high surface area and good thermal stability can provide an alternative path for the development of organic

• photovoltaics [5][6]. To this day, numerous inorganic semiconductors such as ZnO, TiO2, CdSe, CdS, PbSe and PbS have been studied. Particular focus has been put on the investigation of selenides or sulfides in conjunction with organic polymers (MEH-PPV, P3HT) for hybrid solar cell applications [6][7]. However

Optimization of solution-processed oligothiophene:fullerene based organic solar cells by using solvent additives

• Gisela L. Schulz,
• Marta Urdanpilleta,
• Roland Fitzner,
• Eduard Brier,
• Elena Mena-Osteritz,
• Egon Reinold and
• Peter Bäuerle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 680–689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.77

• within the scope of the Priority Program “Elementary Processes of Organic Photovoltaics” (SPP 1355). Finally, we would also like to thank the Spanish MINECO for supporting this work (MAT2010-21156-C03-03).

Influence of the solvent on the stability of bis(terpyridine) structures on graphite

• Daniela Künzel and
• Axel Groß

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 269–277, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.29

• formation of hydrogen-bonded organic networks is of technological interest for future applications such as molecular electronics, organic photovoltaics [1] or functionalized host–guest systems [2] that may be used in heterogeneous catalysis. As a model system for ordered organic adlayers, bis(terpyridines

Low-temperature synthesis of carbon nanotubes on indium tin oxide electrodes for organic solar cells

• Andrea Capasso,
• Luigi Salamandra,
• Aldo Di Carlo,
• John M. Bell and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 524–532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.60

• current density and open-circuit voltage observed in test cells created with such MWCNT-enhanced electrodes. Keywords: carbon nanotubes; electrode; indium tin oxide; Kelvin probe; organic photovoltaics; Introduction Following the original proposal for the creation of plastic solar cells [1], many

• on other expensive inorganic semiconductors. At present, the most successful and widespread blend for organic photovoltaics is based on a composite of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl (PCBM) [4][5]. In this cell architecture the polymer acts as an electron donor and