ABSTRACT
Organic solar cells (OSCs) are rapidly advancing the pace of third generation photovoltaic research. In the past decade, conjugated polymers have achieved great success as both active layers and interfacial layers in OSCs, due to the innovations in material design and synthesis, morphology control and optimization, and device interfacial engineering. In this chapter, we will focus on the significant advances that have been made recently in understanding and manipulating the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) film morphology and interfacial design of OSCs. Beginning with a general introduction that overviews breakthroughs in OSCs, we place emphasis on the active layer morphologies of several typical material systems, the parameters that dictate the evolution of the morphologies, and describe general techniques to optimize morphology for efficient solar cells. After a discussion of the bulk film morphology, we discuss interface design with conjugated polymers, including the morphology and structure of the interlayers and their influence on device performance. Finally, we conclude with an outlook that describes promising opportunities for conjugated polymers to be used in some other emerging photovoltaic technologies.
