Influence of a Mesogenic Dendrimer on the Morphology of Polymer–Fullerene Composites for Photovoltaics

The efficiency of "bulk hetero junction"-type plastic solar cells depends crucially on the morphology of an entangled network of two immiscible compounds that serve as electron donor and electron acceptor, respectively. The present work describes preliminary results about the question how the luminescence and the morphology of a composite containing a fullerene C₆₀ derivative and a <i>p</i>-phenylene vinylene (PPV) derivative are altered, when a dendrimer with a fullerene core and mesogenic side-chains is added. Fluorescence quenching and surface topography of the composites indicate that adding the mesogenic dendrimer can result in smaller domain sizes, which may be useful for photovoltaic applications.