Conference Program - LOPE-C 2011

SCIENTIFIC CONF. | WEDNESDAY-JUNE 29, 2011
Track 5
Organic and Carbon-based Materials (04:30 pm - 06:00 pm) | LOCATION HARMONIE E / LEVEL C2
05:00 pm Development and Large-scale Manufacturing of Fullerenic Materials for Organic Electronics Applications
Dr Henning Richter,
Nano-C, Inc., United States
Fullerene-derivatives such as Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) are electron-acceptor materials which, in conjunction with suitable electron donors, are highly
critical building blocks of organic photovoltaic devices (OPV) and photodetectors. Successful commercialization of such devices requires large-scale supply of, high-quality
fullerene derivatives. While current device performance may be sufficient for first commercial products, a new generation of fullerene derivatives is expected to be
necessary to enable the full market potential.
Initially developed in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), combustion synthesis of fullerenes has matured at
Nano-C into a robust industrial process of demonstrated scalability. Controlling well-defined operating parameters, premixed combustion allows for the selective formation
of either fullerenes (C60, C70, C84, etc.) or single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Large-scale manufacturing of C60 and C70 fullerenes including their purification will
be described. Procedures and infrastructure, established at Nano-C, for meeting current and future market needs of fullerene derivatives will be presented. Synthesis,
chromatographic separation, and detailed quality control by means of several complementary analytical methods will be addressed. Ongoing development efforts of
fullerene functionalization schemes, assisted by quantum chemical calculations, targeting optimized electronic structure that leads to high-voltage OPV devices will be
discussed. Strategies allowing for improved active layer morphology, necessary for enhanced charge transport and best performance, will be described.
Manufacture of SWCNT, including control and assessment of their characteristics such as length using a range of spectroscopic and electron microscopy techniques will be
presented briefly. Formulation of SWCNT in inks suitable for their use as transparent conducting electrodes and other organic electronics applications will be outlined.
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