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Register a new userRole of Triplet-State Shelving in Organic Photovoltaics: Single-Chain Aggregates of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) versus Mesoscopic Multichain Aggregates
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Triplet excitons have been the focus of considerable attention with regards to the functioning of polymer solar cells, because these species are long-lived and quench subsequently generated singlet excitons in their vicinity. The role of triplets in poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) has been investigated extensively with contrary conclusions regarding their importance. We probe the various roles triplets can play in P3HT by analyzing the photoluminescence (PL) from isolated single-chain aggregates and multi-chain mesoscopic aggregates. Solvent vapor annealing allows deterministic growth of P3HT aggregates consisting of ~20 chains, which exhibit red-shifted and broadened PL compared to single-chain aggregates. The multi-chain aggregates exhibit a decrease of photon antibunching contrast compared to single-chain aggregates, implying rather weak interchain excitonic coupling and energy transfer. Nevertheless, the influence of triplet-quenching oxygen on PL and a photon correlation analysis of aggregate PL reveal that triplets are quenched by intermolecular interactions in the bulk state.
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Control of chain length and morphology in combination with single-molecule spectroscopy techniques provide a comprehensive photophysical picture of excited-state losses in the prototypical conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). A universal self-quenching mechanism is revealed, based on singlet-triplet exciton annihilation, which accounts for the dramatic loss in fluorescence quantum yield of a single P3HT chain between its solution (unfolded) and bulk-like (folded) state. Triplet excitons fundamentally limit the fluorescence of organic photovoltaic materials, which impacts on the conversion of singlet excitons to separated charge carriers, decreasing the efficiency of energy harvesting at high excitation densities. Interexcitonic interactions are so effective that a single P3HT chain of >100 kDa weight behaves like a two-level system, exhibiting perfect photon-antibunching.
The spectral breadth of conjugated polymers gives these materials a clear advantage over other molecular compounds for organic photovoltaic applications and is a key factor in recent efficiencies topping 10%. But why do excitonic transitions, which are inherently narrow, lead to absorption over such a broad range of wavelengths in the first place? Using single-molecule spectroscopy, we address this fundamental question in a model material, poly(3-hexylthiophene). Narrow zero-phonon lines from single chromophores are found to scatter over 200nm, an unprecedented inhomogeneous broadening which maps the ensemble. The giant red-shift between solution and bulk films arises from energy transfer to the lowest-energy chromophores in collapsed polymer chains which adopt a highly-ordered morphology. We propose that the extreme energetic disorder of chromophores is structural in origin. This structural disorder on the single-chromophore level may actually enable the high degree of polymer chain ordering found in bulk films: both structural order and disorder are crucial to materials physics in devices.
An appealing definition of the term molecule arises from consideration of the nature of fluorescence, with discrete molecular entities emitting a stream of single photons. We address the question of how large a molecular object may become by growing deterministic aggregates from single conjugated polymer chains. Even particles containing dozens of individual chains still behave as single quantum emitters due to efficient excitation energy transfer, while the brightness is raised due to the increased absorption cross-section of the suprastructure. Excitation energy can delocalize between individual polymer chromophores in these aggregates by both coherent and incoherent coupling, which are differentiated by their distinct spectroscopic fingerprints. Coherent coupling is identified by a ten-fold increase in excited-state lifetime and a corresponding spectral red shift. Exciton quenching due to incoherent FRET becomes more significant as aggregate size increases, resulting in single-aggregate emission characterized by strong blinking. This mesoscale approach allows us to identify intermolecular interactions which do not exist in isolated chains and are inaccessible in bulk films where they are present but masked by disorder.
Blinking of the photoluminescence (PL) emitted from individual conjugated polymer chains is one of the central observations made by single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS). Important information, e.g., regarding excitation energy transfer, can be extracted by evaluating dynamic quenching. However, the nature of trap states, which are responsible for PL quenching, often remains obscured. We present a detailed investigation of the photon statistics of single poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) chains obtained by SMS. The photon statistics provide a measure of the number and brightness of independently emitting areas on a single chain. These observables can be followed during blinking. A decrease in PL intensity is shown to be correlated with either (i) a decrease in the average brightness of the emitting sites; or (ii) a decrease in the number of emitting regions. We attribute these phenomena to the formation of (i) shallow charge traps, which can weakly affect all emitting areas of a single chain at once; and (ii) deep traps, which have a strong effect on small regions within the single chains.
Coherent dynamics of coupled molecules are effectively characterized by the two-dimensional (2D) electronic coherent spectroscopy. Depending on the coupling between electronic and vibrational states, oscillating signals of purely electronic, purely vibrational or mixed origin can be observed. Even in the mixed molecular systems two types of coherent beats having either electronic or vibrational character can be distinguished by analyzing oscillation Fourier maps, constructed from time-resolved 2D spectra. The amplitude of the beatings with the electronic character is heavily affected by the energetic disorder and consequently electronic coherences are quickly dephased. Beatings with the vibrational character depend weakly on the disorder, assuring their long-time survival. We show that detailed modeling of 2D spectroscopy signals of molecular aggregates providesdirect information on the origin of the coherent beatings.
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