@article{Hynes:2019:10.1038/s42005-019-0211-z,
author = {Hynes, EL and Cabral, JT and Parnell, AJ and Gutfreund, P and Welbourn, RJL and Dunbar, ADF and Mon, D and Higgins, AM},
doi = {10.1038/s42005-019-0211-z},
journal = {Communications Physics},
title = {Interfacial width and phase equilibrium in polymer-fullerene thin-films},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42005-019-0211-z},
volume = {2},
year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
AB  - Domain composition and interfacial structure are critical factors in organic photovoltaic performance. Here, we report neutron reflectivity, grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy measurements of polymer/fullerene thin-films to test a hypothesis that these partially miscible blends rapidly develop composition profiles consisting of co-existing phases in liquid-liquid equilibrium. We study a range of polymer molecular weights between 2 and 300 kg mol−1, annealing temperatures between 120 and 170 oC, and timescales up to 10 min, yielding over 50 distinct measurement conditions. Model bilayers of fullerene-derivatives and polystyrene enable a rigorous examination of theoretical predictions of the effect of polymer mass and interaction parameter on the compositions, , and interfacial width, w, of the coexistent phases. We independently measure  and w and find that both Flory-Huggins mean-field-theory and key aspects of self-consistent-field-theory are remarkably consistent with experiment. Our findings pave the way for predictive composition and interface design in organic photovoltaics based on simple experimental measurements and equilibrium thermodynamic theory.
AU  - Hynes,EL
AU  - Cabral,JT
AU  - Parnell,AJ
AU  - Gutfreund,P
AU  - Welbourn,RJL
AU  - Dunbar,ADF
AU  - Mon,D
AU  - Higgins,AM
DO  - 10.1038/s42005-019-0211-z
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 2399-3650
TI  - Interfacial width and phase equilibrium in polymer-fullerene thin-films
T2  - Communications Physics
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42005-019-0211-z
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000485755400003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/73757
VL  - 2
ER  - 

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