High-performance photovoltaics by double-charge transporters using graphenic nanosheets and triisopropylsilylethynyl/naphthothiadiazole moieties

Samira Agbolaghi,Sahar Aghapour,Somaiyeh Charoughchi,Farhang Abbasi,Raana Sarvari 한국공업화학회 2018 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.68 No.-

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets were patterned with poly[benzodithiophene-bis(decyltetradecyl-thien) naphthothiadiazole] (PBDT-DTNT) and poly[bis(triiso-propylsilylethynyl) benzodithiophene-bis(decyltetradecyl-thien) naphthobisthiadiazole] (PBDT-TIPS-DTNT-DT) and used in photovoltaics. Conductive patternings changed via surface modification of rGO; because polymers encountered a high hindrance while assembling onto grafted rGO. The best records were detected in indium tin oxide (ITO):poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS):PBDT-DTNT/rGO:PBDT-DTNT:LiF:Al devices, i.e., short current density (Jsc) = 11.18 mA/cm2, open circuit voltage (Voc) = 0.67 V, fill factor (FF) = 62% and power conversion efficiency (PCE) = 4.64%. PCE increased 2.31 folds after incorporation of PBDT-DTNT into thin films. Larger polymer assemblies on bared-rGO nanosheets resulted in greater phase separations.

Core–mantle–shell novel nanostructures for efficacy escalating in poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester photovoltaics

Agbolaghi Samira 한국탄소학회 2020 Carbon Letters Vol.30 No.1

Core–mantle nanohybrids were prepared via grafting the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with polyaniline (PANI). Core–mantle–shell supramolecules were then designed by crystallization of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly[benzodithiophene-bis(decyltetradecyl-thien) naphthothiadiazole] (PBDT-DTNT) conductive polymers onto core (CNT)– mantle (PANI) nanostructures. Supramolecules were thoroughly investigated and applied in active layers of P3HT:phenyl�C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) solar cells. Efcacies of 5.71% and 6.02% were acquired for photovoltaics based on nanostructures having PBDT-DTNT and P3HT shells, respectively. Diameters of core(CNT)–mantle(PANI), core(CNT)– mantle(PANI)–shell(P3HT), and core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(PBDT-DTNT) supramolecules ranged in 75–90 nm, 145– 160 nm, and 120–130 nm, respectively. The highest efciency (=6.02%) was achieved for P3HT:PC71BM:CNT-graft-PANI/ P3HT systems without any post-treatment (13.42 mA/cm2 , 0.68 V, and 66%). Charge mobilities were also very high for corresponding electron-only (µe =9.8×10−3 cm2 /V s) and hole-only (µh=5.0×10−3 cm2 /V s) devices. PANI mantle may act as both acceptor and donor in core–mantle–shell supramolecules. Core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(PBDT-DTNT) nano�structures also elevated photovoltaic efciency up to 5.71% (13.12 mA/cm2 , 0.67 V, 65%, 4.7×10−3 cm2 /V s, and 9.0×10−3 cm2 /V s). Results acquired for core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(P3HT)-based systems were somehow higher than those recorded for core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(PBDT-DTNT)-based ones. It could be assigned to consistency of P3HT shells and P3HT host chains in bulk of P3HT:PC71BM active layer. P3HT backbones owing to their simpler chemical structures were also capable of arranging more ordered shells, leading to larger charge mobilities and currents.

Retraction Note to: Core–mantle–shell novel nanostructures for efcacy escalating in poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester photovoltaics

Agbolaghi Samira 한국탄소학회 2022 Carbon Letters Vol.32 No.5

Core–mantle nanohybrids were prepared via grafting the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with polyaniline (PANI). Core–mantle–shell supramolecules were then designed by crystallization of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly[benzodithiophene-bis(decyltetradecyl-thien) naphthothiadiazole] (PBDT-DTNT) conductive polymers onto core (CNT)– mantle (PANI) nanostructures. Supramolecules were thoroughly investigated and applied in active layers of P3HT:phenyl- C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) solar cells. Efficacies of 5.71% and 6.02% were acquired for photovoltaics based on nanostructures having PBDT-DTNT and P3HT shells, respectively. Diameters of core(CNT)–mantle(PANI), core(CNT)– mantle(PANI)–shell(P3HT), and core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(PBDT-DTNT) supramolecules ranged in 75–90 nm, 145– 160 nm, and 120–130 nm, respectively. The highest efficiency (= 6.02%) was achieved for P3HT:PC71BM:CNT-graft-PANI/ P3HT systems without any post-treatment (13.42 mA/cm2, 0.68 V, and 66%). Charge mobilities were also very high for corresponding electron-only (µe = 9.8 × 10−3 cm2/V s) and hole-only (µh = 5.0 × 10−3 cm2/V s) devices. PANI mantle may act as both acceptor and donor in core–mantle–shell supramolecules. Core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(PBDT-DTNT) nano- structures also elevated photovoltaic efficiency up to 5.71% (13.12 mA/cm2, 0.67 V, 65%, 4.7 × 10−3 cm2/V s, and 9.0 × 10−3 cm 2 /V s). Results acquired for core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(P3HT)-based systems were somehow higher than those recorded for core(CNT)–mantle(PANI)–shell(PBDT-DTNT)-based ones. It could be assigned to consistency of P3HT shells and P3HT host chains in bulk of P3HT:PC71BM active layer. P3HT backbones owing to their simpler chemical structures were also capable of arranging more ordered shells, leading to larger charge mobilities and currents

Novel Branched Polyamide/Poly(acrylonitrile)/Graphene Oxide Membranes for Separation of Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds from Water via Pervaporation

Shafagh Mokhtarzadeh,Samira Agbolaghi,Yaghoub Mansourpanah 한국고분자학회 2020 Macromolecular Research Vol.28 No.9

Branched polyamides (BPAs) were prepared through a polycondensation method and then blended with poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN; 3:1) to construct the nanocomposite membranes having various concentrations of graphene oxide (GO) (2 and 5 wt%). The BPA/PAN and BPA/PAN/GO membranes were applied for selective removal of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (Cl-VOCs) from water by pervaporation. Impacts of feed composition, GO content and distinct feed types were investigated on pervaporation performance. Membranes were water selective and the permeation rate incremented with GO elevation. The highest permeation rate (203 g/m2 h) and separation factor (10) were detected for BPA/PAN/GO-5 nanocomposite membrane containing 5 wt% GO for separating the pentachloroethane/ water mixtures at 30 °C for 0.1 wt% pentachloroethane in feed. Separation of pentachloroethane/ water mixture proceeded easier than those of 1,1,1,2-tetrachloroethane/water, trichloroethylene/water, and 1,2-dichloroethylene/ water mixtures because of the larger molecular size of pentachloroethane.

An adequate avenue towards well-designed PBDT-DTNT:PCBM active layers via quantum dot/conductive polymer configurations

Chenxi Liu,Samira Agbolaghi 한국공업화학회 2021 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.99 No.-

Graphene quantum dots (GQD) and carbon quantum dots (CQD) were employed to develop the patternedGQD/CQD/poly[benzodithiophene-bis(decyltetradecyl-thien) naphthothiadiazole] (PBDT-DTNT) short/long chain, crab-like GQD/semicrab-like CQD/poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) short chain, and pellet-likeGQD/CQD/P3HT long chain supramolecules. Nanostructures were used in roles of modifier, donor, andacceptor constituents in ternary (PBDT-DTNT:[6,6]-phenyl-C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM)) andbinary photoactive layers. Application of pre-designed patterned quantum dot (QD)/PBDT-DTNT shortchain nano-hybrids as morphology modifier promoted the performance up to 4.79%. P3HT-basedsupramolecules acted conspicuously better than PBDT-DTNT ones. The highest efficacies of 7.14 and 6.24%were detected in PBDT-DTNT:PC71BM:GQD/P3HT short chain (14.63 mA cm–2, 68.71%, 0.71 V and287 V cm2) and PBDT-DTNT:PC71BM:CQD/P3HT short chain (13.35 mA cm–2, 66.79%, 0.70 V and447 V cm2) systems, respectively. In addition to ternary photovoltaics, the binary devices werefabricated using the QDs and their associated supramolecules as donor and acceptor agents. Exactlysimilar to ternary cells, the crab/semicrab-like and pellet-like nano-hybrids, acted better than the PBDTDTNTpatterned nano-hybrids. The best results were recorded for PBDT-DTNT:GQD/P3HT short chain(2.93%) and PBDT-DTNT:CQD/P3HT short chain (2.67%) solar cells. In second type of binary photovoltaics,the QDs and their correlated supramolecules were utilized as electron donor and a maximumperformance of 0.22% was acquired.

Purposive Assembling of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) onto Chemically Treated Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotube versus Reduced Graphene Oxide

Somaiyeh Charoughchi,Samira Agbolaghi,Raana Sarvari,Sahar Aghapour 한국고분자학회 2018 Macromolecular Research Vol.26 No.13

Surfaces of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets were chemically modified to design distinct donor-acceptor nano-hybrids having different morphologies and orientations. In unmodified CNTs and their derivatives functionalized with 2-hydroxymethyl thiophene (CNT-f-COOTh) and grafted with poly(3-dodecylthiophene) (CNT-g-PDDT), double-fibrillar, shishkebab, and stem-leaf nanostructures were decorated. Furthermore, rGO nanosheets functionalized with 2-thiophene acetic acid (rGO-f-TAA) and grafted with poly(3- dodecylthiophene) (rGO-g-PDDT) were prepared to study differences in CNT and rGO supramolecules. Three types of orientations subsuming face-on, edge-on, and flat-on were detected in nano-hybrids based on CNT and rGO. Morphology (fibrillar) and orientation (face-on) of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) assemblies were similar onto unmodified CNT and rGO nanostructures. Although patternings of P3HT chains were completely different onto functionalized CNT and rGO (shish-kebab versus nanocrystal decorated nanosheets), edge-on orientation was detected in CNT-f-COOTh/P3HT and rGO-f-TAA/P3HT nano-hybrids. In CNT-g-PDDT/P3HT and rGO-g-PDDT/P3HT systems, P3HT chains were extendedly assembled onto grafted carbonic materials; however, their different natures reflected stem-leaf and patched-like configurations, respectively. For unmodified, functionalized, and grafted CNT and rGO patterned with P3HT chains, a photoluminescence quenching was detected for a donor-acceptor nature. Owing to flat-on oriented P3HTs, the best photoluminescence quenching, thereby the best donating-accepting features were detected for CNT-g-PDDT/P3HT and rGO-g-PDDT/P3HT supramolecules.

Verification of Scherrer Formula for Well-Shaped Poly(3-hexylthiophene)- Based Conductive Single Crystals and Nanofibers and Fabrication of Photovoltaic Devices from Thin Film Coating

Sahar Zenoozi,Samira Agbolaghi,Elaheh Poormahdi,Mahdi Hashemzadeh-Gargari,Mojgan Mahmoudi 한국고분자학회 2017 Macromolecular Research Vol.25 No.8

Scherrer formula was verified for the single crystals and nanofibers prepared from poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)-based homopolymers (non-hairy) and block copolymers (hairy) with polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and poly(ethylene glycol) in toluene, xylene, and anisole. Despite the fact that he single crystals were grown in very thicker dimensions (57-139 nm) compared to the nanofibers (2-8 nm), the data obtained in the hexyl chains direction from atomic force microscopy and grazing wide angle X-ray scattering using Scherrer formula had a high consistency for both hairy and non-hairy single crystals and nanofibers grown from toluene. This adaption was detected only in toluene for the single crystals, however, in toluene and xylene for the nanofibers. In a better solvent employed in the growth environment, both single crystals and nanofibers were composed of lower number of discrete crystallites in their thickness and longitude. The other effective parameters on the crystallite sizes inside the single crystals and nanofibers in both (100) and (020) directions were the crystallization temperature, the molecular weight of rigid P3HT block, and the end coily blocks. The longer P3HT backbones reflected the thinner and shorter crystallites assembled inside the single crystals (25-87 nm in hexyl chains and 48-166 nm in π-π stacking directions) and nanofibers (2-7 nm in hexyl chains and 2-25 nm in π-π stacking directions). Finally, thin films of pre-developed structures were employed as active layers in P3HT:phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) photovoltaic cells, and the device characteristics were investigated.

A Comparison Between Functions of Carbon Nanotube and Reduced Graphene Oxide and Respective Ameliorated Derivatives in Perovskite Solar Cells

Qahtan. A. Yousif,Samira Agbolaghi 한국고분자학회 2020 Macromolecular Research Vol.28 No.5

The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and carbon nanotube (CNT) components and their derivatives grafted with the irregioregular poly(3-dodecyl thiophene) (rGO-g-PDDT and CNT-g-PDDT) and regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (CNT-g-P3HT and CNT-g-P3HT) polymers were used to improve the morphological, optical, and photovoltaic features of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells. The type of carbonic material (CNT or rGO) and regioregularity of grafts affected the cell performances. According to the photoluminescence lifetimes, although the grafted-CNT/ rGO components improved the cell characteristics (15.3-20.5 ns), the corresponding bared nanostructures ruined them (3.0-4.9 ns). In similar conditions, via alteration of rGO to CNT, the average cell performance changed to 14.56 from 14.07% for PDDT-grafted systems and to 16.36 from 15.15% for P3HT-based ones. The self-ordering polymers such as regioregular P3HTs simultaneously induced the crystallinity to the polymeric and non-polymeric constituents. The best photovoltaic data including 22.73 mA/cm2, 75%, 0.96 V and 16.36% with the narrowest distributions were detected in the CH3NH3PbI3 + CNT-g-P3HT solar cells. Perovskite solar cells were perfectly modified with both rGO-g-P3HT and CNT-g-P3HT agents because of the lowest charge-transfer resistance values (93.2 and 90.1Ω), the most intensified crystalline peaks, and the largest absorbances.

Retraction Note to: Nanostructures of chemically modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes and poly(3-hexylthiophene) to improve photophysic/ photovoltaic features

Hadi Afsaneh,Hekmatshoar Mohammad Hossein,Abbasi Farhang,Agbolaghi Samira 한국탄소학회 2022 Carbon Letters Vol.32 No.5

Nanostructures of chemically modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes and poly(3-hexylthiophene) to improve photophysic/photovoltaic features

Afsaneh Hadi,Mohammad Hossein Hekmatshoar,Farhang Abbasi,Samira Agbolaghi 한국탄소학회 2021 Carbon Letters Vol.31 No.1

Multi-walled carbon nanotube/poly(3-hexylthiophene) (CNT/P3HT) and CNT-graft-poly(3-dodecylthiophene) (PDDT)/P3HT nanohybrids were applied in active layers to study the effects of these nanostructures on the polymer solar cell (PSC) performance. The charge-carrier dynamics and photophysics were studied in the binary and ternary systems based on P3HT, pre-developed nanostructures and/or phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) through the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and morphological analyses. The weaker bimolecular recombination in the photoactive layer, consisting of CNT-graft-PDDT/P3HT nanostructures, was confirmed by short-circuit current (Jsc) and open-circuit voltage (Voc) measurements as a function of light intensity. PSC composed of P3HT:PC71BM:CNT-graft-PDDT/P3HT PSC exhibited the highest PCE of 4.18% with significantly increased Jsc and Voc.