The study of solvent additive effects in efficient polymer photovoltaics via impedance spectroscopy

1, 8-Diiodooctane (DIO) has been known for its role of improving the polymer morphology and enhancing performance of polymer bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cell. In this work, the impedance spectroscopy was used to investigate the interface of poly(4,8-bis-alkyloxybenzo(1,2-b:4,5-b′)dithiophene-2,6-diyl-alt- (alkyl thieno(3,4-b) thiophene-2-carboxylate)-2,6-diyl) (PBDTTT-C):PC70BM in BHJ with DIO as additive. Based on our results, we were able to simulate the device into an equivalent circuit model, which allows us to conveniently analyze the organic/organic interfacial contact in the organic photovoltaic (OPV) device. Thus, we demonstrate that the impedance spectroscopy can an effective approach in characterizing the donor/acceptor interfaces, such that a direct correlation can be established between the morphology and the device performance of BHJ devices. •BHJ of high efficient OPV with additive was analyzed via impedance spectroscopy.•The interface between donor/acceptor in BHJ layer was studied by simulated circuit.•Carrier lifetimes was calculated from simulated elements and correspond to OPV performance.