ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a variety of parameters that affect active layer properties and device performance. It describes the role and importance of post-deposition processing with an emphasis on the structural changes that lead to higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. There has been a significant progress in polymer solar cells since the advent of semiconducting polymers for photovoltaic application. Solvents used to fabricate polymer solar cells play a significant role in deciding the final morphology of blend films. Factors such as solubility, boiling point, temperature of stirring distinguish the resulting morphology. H. Hoppe performed a study on the effects of different solvents on resulting MDMO:PCBM blend film morphology and found that toluene formed large PCBM clusters, while chlorobenzene formed a very fine nanoscale-phase-separated morphology. Ideal morphology would be a bicontinuous interpenetrating network of donor and acceptor phases separated homogenously within the blend for efficient exciton diffusion and dissociation.
