Morphological characterization of Poly(3-octylthiophene):Plasticizer:C60 Blends

Since the discovery of the very fast photo-induced charge transfer between
conducting polymers (as donors, D) and
buckminsterfullerene (C ) (as acceptors, A), interpenetrating DyA networks
have been proposed to improve the collection of 60
free charges at the electrodes.The morphology of the DyA blend is of
crucial importance and embedding the photoactive
materials in a plasticing matrix was suggested as a method to overcome
phase separation, and to favor homogeneity.In this
contribution we report on a morphological characterization of
three-component blends of the type poly(3-octylthiophene)y
plasticizeryC , with different plasticizing materials.The morphological
investigation was done with transmission electron 60
microscopy.The use of a conjugated thiophene-based plasticizer produces
dispersed fullerene domains interpenetrated in the
polymeric matrix.