Synthesis and photoelectric property of poly(3-octylthiophene)/ferric oxide complexes

Ferric oxide was prepared by the supercritical fluid drying (SCFD) method. A conducting polymer composite, poly(3-octylthiophene)/ferric oxide (POT/Fe2O3) was first synthesized through the chemical method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Infrared spectroscopy (IR) show that there is a chemical interaction in the composite, which indicates that Fe2O3 was successfully coated by poly(3-octylthiophene) molecules. The energy gap of the poly(3-octylthiophene)/ferric oxide composite is lower at 0.448 eV, which also shows that the optical performance of the new material is far superior to POT or Fe2O3 separately, by Ultraviolet-Visible spectra (UV-Vis) and fluorescence spectroscopy (PL). Solar cell was sensitized by POT/Fe2O3. Asolar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of 0.258% was attained with the system.