Polymer nanocomposite photovoltaics utilizing CdSe nanocrystals capped with a thermally cleavable solubilizing ligand

We demonstrate a relative improvement in power conversion efficiency of polymer nanocomposite photovoltaic cells consisting of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) functionalized CdSe nanocrystals. Thermal deprotection processing of the tert-buthoxycarbonyl moiety in the carbamate ligand surrounding the surface of CdSe nanocrystal significantly shortened the length of the ligand between nanocrystals and between the nanocrystal and the polymer matrix. The resulting device performance was investigated as a function of the composition ratio of P3HT/CdSe and the heating temperature. This simple and straightforward ligand deprotection strategy resulted in a significant increase in current density due to improvement of charge transport between the constituent materials.