Enhanced performance of P3HT/(PCBM:ZnO:TiO{sub 2}) blend based hybrid organic solar cells

Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Materials Research Bulletin

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATERRESBULL.2015.11.031· OSTI ID:22581460

Murray, R. ^[1]; Imran, M. ^[2]; Ali, S. ^[3]; Shah, S. Ismat ^[4]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Delaware 19716 (United States)
2. Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 29 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100190 (China)
3. Solar Application Lab, Department of Physics, Government College University Lahore, 54000 Pakistan (Pakistan)
4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Delaware 19716 (United States)

Highlights: • We fabricated hybrid bulk heterojunction organic solar cells. • TiO{sub 2} and ZnO nanoparticles replace PCBM with fixed amount of P3HT in active layer • PCE was significantly improved by the introduction of TiO{sub 2} and ZnO. • A possible route toward low-cost OPV. • To the best of my knowledge, this work is the first time going to report. - Abstract: Quaternary blend hybrid organic solar cells enjoy both an increased light absorption range and an easy method to fabricate because of the simple structure. In this study effects of mixing inorganic metal oxides (ZnO and TiO{sub 2}) nanoparticles to the active layer of organic photovoltaics devices were investigated. The active layer primarily consists of various ratios of electron donor poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and an electron acceptor [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) together with nanostructured ZnO and TiO{sub 2} dispersed in chlorobenzene (CB) and 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB). The ratio of PCBM to nanoparticles was varied keeping the ratio of P3HT to acceptor material constant. Mixing of nanoparticle plays a significant role in the resulting power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the devices. An increased PCE for ZnO/TiO{sub 2} doped devices can be attributed to increased absorption in the visible region and enhanced charge collection due to the percolation networks formed by metal oxides nanoparticles.

• OSTI ID: 22581460
• Journal Information: Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 75; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
BINDING ENERGY
BUTYRIC ACID
CHARGE COLLECTION
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRONS
ESTERS
FULLERENES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
INTERFACES
LAYERS
NANOPARTICLES
NANOSTRUCTURES
ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT
TITANIUM OXIDES
VALENCE
VISIBLE RADIATION
ZINC OXIDES