High-performance, stable and low-cost mesoscopic perovskite （CH3NH3PbI3） solar cells based on poly（3-hexylthiophene）- modified carbon nanotube cathodes

This work explores the use of poly（3- hexylthiophene） （P3HT） modified carbon nanotubes （CNTs@P3HT） for the cathodes of hole transporter free, mesoscopic perovskite （CH3NH3PbI3） solar cells （PSCs）, simultaneously achieving high-performance, high stability and low-cost PSCs. Here the thin P3HT modifier acts as an electron blocker to inhibit electron transfer into CNTs and a hydrophobic polymer binder to tightly cross-link the CNTs together to compact the carbon electrode film and greatly stabilize the solar cell. On the other hand, the presence of CNTs greatly improve the conductivity of P3HT. By optimizing the concentration of the P3HT modifier （2 mg/mL）, we have improved the power conversion efficiencies （PCEs） of CNTs@P3HT based PSCs up to 13.43% with an average efficiency of 12.54%, which is much higher than the pure CNTs based PSCs （best PCE 10.59%） and the sandwich-type P3HT/CNTs based PSCs （best PCE 9.50%）. In addition, the hysteresis of the CNTs@P3HT based PSCs is remarkably reduced due to the intimate interface between the perovskite and CNTs@P3HT electrodes. Degradation of the CNTs@ P3HT based PSCs is also strongly retarded as compared to cells employing the pure CNTs electrode when exposed to the ambient condition of 20%- 40% humidity.

Effect of Device Fabrication Conditions on Photovoltaic Performance of Polymer Solar Cells Based on Poly（3-hexylthiophene） and Indene-CT0 Bisadduct

Effect of the device fabrication conditions on photovoltaic performance of the polymer solar cells based on poly（3-hexylthiophene） （P3HT） as donor and indene-C70 bisadduct （IC70BA） as acceptor was studied systematically. The device fabrication conditions we studied include pre-thermal annealing temperature, active layer thickness, and the P3HT ： IC70BA weight ratios. For devices with a 188-nm-thick active layer of P3HT ： ICToBA （1 ： 1, w ＇ w） blend film and pre-thermal annealing at 150 ℃C for 10 rain, maximum power conversion efficiency （PCE） reached 5.82% with Voc of 0.81 V, Isc of 11.37 mA/cm2, and FF of 64.0% under the illumination of AM1.5G, 100 mW/cm2.

Effects of catalyst loading amount on the synthesis of poly（3-hexylthiophene） via externally initiated Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation

A series of model polymerization are carried out via the one-pot externally initiated Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation （KCTP） of 2-bromo-5-chloromagne- slum thiophene monomers, and the excess amount of initiators or catalysts are found no need to be isolated during the polycondensation process. Especially, the impacts of the nickel catalyst loading variation on regioregularity （rr）, yield, molecular weight （Mn）, polydispersity （PDI） and initiation efficiency of poly（3-hexylthiophene） （P3HT） are systematically investigated. The IH NMR, size-exclusion chromatography （SEC）, and MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy results indicated that an excess amount of catalyst does not influence yield, rr, Mn, and PDI of P3HT, nor the initiation efficiency. However, the PDI of the product is broad, and the Mn and rr values decreased in the absence of 1,3-bis （diphenylphosphino）propane （dppp）. It can be concluded that the in-situ KCTP polymerization of P3HT is a practical and effective process. These results are especially valuable for the synthesis of all-conjugated block copolymers where macroinitiators are used.