Habelhames F., Girtan M., Manole A., Lamiri L., Zerguine W., Nessark B.
Univesité Ferhat Abbas, DZ
Keywords: hybrid composite materials, MEH-PPV, morphology, photocurrent
In this work, MEH-PPV+TiO2 composite material was prepared by incorporation of titanium oxide nonoparticles (TiO2) into poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) polymer matrix and deposited by spin coating on glass and indium thin oxide (ITO) substrates. The absorbance of various MEH-PPV composites incorporating different concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles shows that addition of TiO2 improves absorption of the composites. TiO2 and the conjugated polymer have absorption in the UV and visible regions, respectively. As a result, the composite has slightly broader absorption. In addition, absorption of the composite shows that the polymer induces a certain structuring, as evidenced by the presence of fine structures. The effect of inserting a TiO2 nanoparticles interlayer in the MEH-PPV polymer heterojunction device on the photoelectrochemical and optical characteristics of the device has been studied. The modified device (MEH-PPV+TiO2) shows improved photocurrent density characteristics, and increased with TiO2 concentration. The study showed that the presence of inorganic semiconductor nonoparticles (TiO2) in polymer film improves the optical and the photovoltaic properties of MEH-PPV [1, 2], and was designed to explore new approaches to improve light-collection efficiency in polymer photovoltaic.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: Technical Proceedings of the 2012 Clean Technology Conference and Trade Show
Published: June 18, 2012
Pages: 26 - 29
Industry sector: Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Solar Technologies
ISBN: 978-1-4665-6277-6