4.6 Article

Photodegradation of the electronic structure of PCBM and C60 films in air

Journal

CHEMICAL PHYSICS LETTERS
Volume 652, Issue -, Pages 220-224

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2016.04.003

Keywords

Degradation; Fullerene; Photostability; Photovoltaics; NEXAFS

Funding

  1. Swedish Research Council [621-2010-4155]
  2. Goran Gustafsson Foundation for Research in Natural Sciences and Medicine

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Fullerenes are common electron acceptors in organic solar cells. Here the photostability in air of the electronic structures of spin-coated PCBM ([6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester) and evaporated C-60 films are studied using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. After exposing these materials in air to simulated sunlight, the filled and empty molecular orbitals are strongly altered, indicating that the conjugated pi-system of the C-60-cage has degraded. Even a few minutes in normal lab light induces changes. These results stress the importance of protecting fullerene-based films from light and air during processing, operation, and storage. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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