Optical and Transport Properties of Poly(3-Hexylthiophene)-Single-Walled-Carbon-Nanotube Composites

Conducting polymers are attractive materials for solar-cell applications as they can be easily processed from a solution via spin-coating even over a large area and on flexible substrates, for lightweight devices. Their extremely high surface area, low percolation threshold, composite reinforcement, and thermal management make single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) much more attractive in relation to polymeric photovoltaic development. In this paper, soluble and undoped poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and P3HT-SWNT composites were synthesized via in-situ polymerization with FeCl3. Ultraviolet-visible and photoluminescence measurements were made to understand their electronic properties in the ground and excited states. The work function and I-V measurements indicate the important and useful transport property of P3HT-SWNT composites for solar-cell applications.