Controlling PCBM aggregation in P3HT/PCBM film by a selective solvent vapor annealing

A selective solvent vapor, i.e., cyclohexanone or isopropyl benzene, which is a poor solvent for poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and a good solvent for fullerene derivative 6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), was employed to reduce the size of PCBM aggregates and prolong the formation time of big PCBM aggregates in P3HT/PCBM film. PCBM nucleates and aggregates of 10–20 nm scale form in the first few minutes annealing. Then the size of PCBM aggregates kept unchanged until annealing for 60 min. Finally, larger PCBM aggregates of micron-size formed hours later. On the contrary, the growth rate of PCBM aggregates was faster and their size was larger when treated with a good solvent vapor for both components. The P3HT crystallinity was the same with different types of annealing solvents, although the rate of P3HT self-organization was decreased after a selective solvent vapor annealing. Because of the smaller size of phase separation, the device annealed in a selective solvent vapor for 30 min had a higher PCE than that annealed in a good solvent vapor.