Proceedings of the 10th Workshop on Quantum Solar Energy Conversion - (QUANTSOL'98)
March 8-14, 1998, Bad Hofgastein, Austria


All polymer devices for photoconversion - photoelectrical or photoelectrochemical?

Olle Inganäs

Laboratory of Applied Physics, IFM
Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden

We discuss the pro's and con's of photoelectrochemical versus photoelectrical all polymer systems, both including thin layers of conjugated polymers as the absorbing species. Whereas the primary excitations are all excitons, conditions for exciton dissociation may be different for the two sytemes. In the case of sharp interfaces of two electronic conductors, as in the Schottky barrier cells,excitons should be dissociated at this interface. With the more diffuse interfaces of a polymeric ionic conductor and a mixed electronic-ionic conductor in the form of a conjugated polymer, redox species diffusion inside the conjugated polymer may contribute to photocurrent. The possibilitites for supramolecular construction of the interface is highlighted, and demonstrated in the case of Gr„tzel type cells where a polymer electrolyte is used.


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Last updated June 16, 1998