Hyeunseok Cheun

Bio: Hyeunseok Cheun is an academic researcher from Georgia Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Polymer solar cell & Organic solar cell. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 23 publications receiving 2764 citations. Previous affiliations of Hyeunseok Cheun include LG Electronics.

A Universal Method to Produce Low―Work Function Electrodes for Organic Electronics

Abstract: Organic and printed electronics technologies require conductors with a work function that is sufficiently low to facilitate the transport of electrons in and out of various optoelectronic devices. We show that surface modifiers based on polymers containing simple aliphatic amine groups substantially reduce the work function of conductors including metals, transparent conductive metal oxides, conducting polymers, and graphene. The reduction arises from physisorption of the neutral polymer, which turns the modified conductors into efficient electron-selective electrodes in organic optoelectronic devices. These polymer surface modifiers are processed in air from solution, providing an appealing alternative to chemically reactive low–work function metals. Their use can pave the way to simplified manufacturing of low-cost and large-area organic electronic technologies.

Indium tin oxide-free and metal-free semitransparent organic solar cells

Abstract: We report on indium tin oxide (ITO)-free and metal-free semitransparent organic solar cells with a high-conductivity poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) (PH1000) as both the bottom and the top electrodes. The PH1000 film showed a conductivity of 680±50 S/cm. A ZnO layer was used as an interlayer to produce an electron-selective electrode. The semitransparent devices with a structure of glass/PH1000/ZnO/poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester/PEDOT:PSS (CPP 105 D)/PH1000 exhibited an average power conversion efficiency of 1.8% estimated for 100 mW/cm2 air mass 1.5 global illumination. This geometry alleviates the need of vacuum deposition of a top electrode.

Electrical and Optical Properties of ZnO Processed by Atomic Layer Deposition in Inverted Polymer Solar Cells

Abstract: We report on the photovoltaic properties of inverted polymer solar cells where the transparent electron-collecting electrode is formed by a ZnO-modified indium−tin oxide (ITO) electrode. The ZnO layers were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with varying thicknesses from 0.1 to 100 nm. The work function, surface roughness, and morphology of ITO/ZnO were found to be independent of the ZnO thickness. However, the device performance was found to be strongly dependent on a critical ZnO thickness, around 10 nm. Below the critical thickness the device performance was degraded because of the appearance of a “kink” in the current−voltage characteristics. The kink features became less pronounced after ultraviolet (UV) exposure. This was attributed to oxygen desorption, leading to an increased conductivity of the ZnO layer. At and above this critical thickness, the device performance significantly improved and no longer depended strongly on the thickness of the ZnO layer, in agreement with optical simulatio...

Solvent and polymer matrix effects on TIPS-pentacene/polymer blend organic field-effect transistors

Abstract: We report on a systematic study of solvent and polymer matrix effects on the phase segregation behavior of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) blends incorporated into two different amorphous polymer matrices, poly (α-methyl styrene) and poly (triarylamine), and using two solvents, chlorobenzene and tetralin. Optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction analyses, and optical absorption measurements are used to evaluate the film morphology, crystallinity, and optical density, respectively. These analyses are correlated with the extent of vertical segregation of TIPS-pentacene, as observed for the blended films by depth-profile XPS analyses. The microstructure and vertical phase segregation of TIPS-pentacene in blend films are found to be strongly influenced by the choice of solvent. Tetralin, a solvent with a high boiling temperature, was found to be more desirable for achieving distinct phase segregation/crystallization of TIPS-pentacene in blend films and best performance in OFETs with a dual-gate geometry. The electrical properties of top and bottom channels were consistent with the morphological characterization and OFETs processed from tetralin showed higher mobility values than those from chlorobenzene. Further modification of the annealing conditions in the TIPS-pentacene/PTAA/tetralin ternary system led to top-gate OFETs with mobility values up to 2.82 cm2/Vs.

Polydimethylsiloxane as a Macromolecular Additive for Enhanced Performance of Molecular Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells

Abstract: The effect of the macromolecular additive, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), on the performance of solution processed molecular bulk heterojunction solar cells is investigated, and the addition of PDMS is shown to improve device power conversion efficiency by ∼70% and significantly reduce cell-to-cell variation, from a power conversion efficiency of 1.25 ± 0.37% with no PDMS to 2.16 ± 0.09% upon the addition of 0.1 mg/mL PDMS to the casting solution. The cells are based on a thiophene and isoindigo containing oligomer as the electron donor and [6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) as the electron acceptor. PDMS is shown to have a strong influence on film morphology, with a significant decrease in film roughness and feature size observed. The morphology change leads to improved performance parameters, most notably an increase in the short circuit current density from 4.3 to 6.8 mA/cm2 upon addition of 0.1 mg/mL PDMS. The use of PDMS is of particular interest, as this additive appears frequently as...

Interface engineering of highly efficient perovskite solar cells

Abstract: Advancing perovskite solar cell technologies toward their theoretical power conversion efficiency (PCE) requires delicate control over the carrier dynamics throughout the entire device. By controlling the formation of the perovskite layer and careful choices of other materials, we suppressed carrier recombination in the absorber, facilitated carrier injection into the carrier transport layers, and maintained good carrier extraction at the electrodes. When measured via reverse bias scan, cell PCE is typically boosted to 16.6% on average, with the highest efficiency of ~19.3% in a planar geometry without antireflective coating. The fabrication of our perovskite solar cells was conducted in air and from solution at low temperatures, which should simplify manufacturing of large-area perovskite devices that are inexpensive and perform at high levels.

An electron acceptor challenging fullerenes for efficient polymer solar cells.

Abstract: A novel non-fullerene electron acceptor (ITIC) that overcomes some of the shortcomings of fullerene acceptors, for example, weak absorption in the visible spectral region and limited energy-level variability, is designed and synthesized. Fullerene-free polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on the ITIC acceptor are demonstrated to exhibit power conversion effi ciencies of up to 6.8%, a record for fullerene-free PSCs.

A Universal Method to Produce Low―Work Function Electrodes for Organic Electronics

Abstract: Organic and printed electronics technologies require conductors with a work function that is sufficiently low to facilitate the transport of electrons in and out of various optoelectronic devices. We show that surface modifiers based on polymers containing simple aliphatic amine groups substantially reduce the work function of conductors including metals, transparent conductive metal oxides, conducting polymers, and graphene. The reduction arises from physisorption of the neutral polymer, which turns the modified conductors into efficient electron-selective electrodes in organic optoelectronic devices. These polymer surface modifiers are processed in air from solution, providing an appealing alternative to chemically reactive low–work function metals. Their use can pave the way to simplified manufacturing of low-cost and large-area organic electronic technologies.

Small molecule semiconductors for high-efficiency organic photovoltaics

Abstract: Organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) are a promising cost-effective alternative to silicon-based solar cells, and possess light-weight, low-cost, and flexibility advantages. Significant progress has been achieved in the development of novel photovoltaic materials and device structures in the last decade. Nowadays small molecular semiconductors for OPVs have attracted considerable attention, due to their advantages over their polymer counterparts, including well-defined molecular structure, definite molecular weight, and high purity without batch to batch variations. The highest power conversion efficiencies of OPVs based on small molecular donor/fullerene acceptors or polymeric donor/fullerene acceptors are up to 6.7% and 8.3%, respectively, and meanwhile nonfullerene acceptors have also exhibited some promising results. In this review we summarize the developments in small molecular donors, acceptors (fullerene derivatives and nonfullerene molecules), and donor–acceptor dyad systems for high-performance multilayer, bulk heterojunction, and single-component OPVs. We focus on correlations of molecular chemical structures with properties, such as absorption, energy levels, charge mobilities, and photovoltaic performances. This structure–property relationship analysis may guide rational structural design and evaluation of photovoltaic materials (253 references).