The donor/acceptor interface in hybrid solar cells is critical for achieving efficient charge separation.  This interface is tunable through manipulation of the nanocrystal surface via ligand exchange.  We have utilized tert-butylthiol as a surface ligand to quantitatively exchange the insulating ligands on CdSe multipods.  The small ligand shell and anisotropic nanocrystal morphology lead to enhanced VOC and JSC values in hybrid solar cells compared to analogous systems made from pyridine exchanged quantum dots.  We demonstrate the viability of this system as a versatile acceptor with four different donor polymers.  Champion efficiencies of nearly 4% are achieved with PCPDTBT and thiol-treated CdSe mulitpods.  In this hybrid, transient absorption spectroscopy was used to observe ultrafast charge separation via electron transfer to the nanocrystals upon excitation of PCPDTBT.  The kinetics of this charge transfer process are influenced by the nanocrystal ligands, which we follow by monitoring the polymer polaron dynamics.

<i>tert</i>-Butylthiol exchanged CdSe multipods as versatile acceptors in champion hybrid polymer:nanocrystal solar cells

245th National Meeting (2013)

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tert-Butylthiol exchanged CdSe multipods as versatile acceptors in champion hybrid polymer:nanocrystal solar cells