Mobility and photovoltaic performance studies on polymer blends: effects of side chains volume fraction

A 1 : 1 mixture of two thiophene based poly(p-phenylene ethynylene)-alt-poly(p-phenylene vinylene)s denoted DO-PThE1-PPV2 (D1) and MEH-PThE1-PPV2 (D2), consisting of the same conjugated backbone but different types and volume fraction of alkoxy side chains on the phenylene ethynylene unit, has led to enhanced charge carrier mobility (measured using CELIV technique) as compared to the individual polymers. The resulting ternary blend with PC60BM showed better photovoltaic performance as compared to binary blends from the single polymers mixed with PCBM. This is due to the improved active layer nanomorphology in the ternary system as revealed by AFM studies.