- Marks, Melissa;
- Holmes, Natalie P;
- Sharma, Anirudh;
- Pan, Xun;
- Chowdhury, Riku;
- Barr, Matthew G;
- Fenn, Coralie;
- Griffith, Matthew J;
- Feron, Krishna;
- Kilcoyne, AL David;
- Lewis, David A;
- Andersson, Mats R;
- Belcher, Warwick J;
- Dastoor, Paul C
A modified synthesis method for aqueous nanoparticle printing inks, based upon vacuum-assisted solvent removal, is reported. Poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester nanoparticle inks were prepared via this modified miniemulsion method, leading to both an improvement in photoactive layer morphology and a substantial reduction in the ink fabrication time. A combination of UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy measurements revealed a nanoparticle morphology comprising highly intermixed donor-acceptor domains. Consistent with these measurements, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of the nanoparticles showed a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 104 °C, rather than a pure polymer phase or pure fullerene phase Tg. Together the spectroscopy, microscopy and thermomechanical data indicate that rapid solvent removal generates a more blended nanoparticle morphology. As such, this study highlights a new experimental lever for optimising nanostructure in the photoactive layer of nanoparticulate organic photovoltaic devices by enabling highly intermixed donor-acceptor architectures to be built from customised nanoparticulate inks.