Using Solubility Parameters to Model More Environmentally Friendly Solvent Blends for Organic Solar Cell Active Layers

To facilitate industrial applications, as well as for environmental and health purposes, there is a need to find less hazardous solvents for processing the photoactive layer of organic solar cells. As there are vast amounts of possibilities to combine organic solvents and solutes, it is of high importance to find paths to discriminate among the solution chemistry possibilities on a theoretical basis. Using Hansen solubility parameters (HSP) offers such a path. We report on some examples of solvent blends that have been found by modelling HSP for an electron donor polymer (TQ1) and an electron acceptor polymer (N2200) to match solvent blends of less hazardous solvents than those commonly used. After the theoretical screening procedure, solubility tests were performed to determine the HSP parameters relevant for the TQ1:N2200 pair in the calculated solvent blends. Finally, thin solid films were prepared by spin-coating from the solvent blends that turned out to be good solvents to the donor-acceptor pair. Our results show that the blend film morphology prepared in this way is similar to those obtained from chloroform solutions.