Effect of OA-ZnSe nanoparticles incorporation on the performance of PVK organic photovoltaic cells (original) (raw)
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Nano Letters, 2008
We develop a simple model that can explain the current-voltage (J-V) curves of excitonic photovoltaic solar cells, spanning polymer: polymer, polymer:fullerene, and polymer:nanocrystal devices. We show that by subtracting out the dark current, we can explain apparent intensity-dependent characteristics and thus identify geminate recombination as the dominant loss mechanism and establish its electric field dependence. We present an analytic fit to the J-V curves of all measured devices based on a single fitted parameter, the electric field required to split 50% of geminate charge pairs, which we term the critical field. Devices of different material combinations and morphologies can all be described by this method and yield critical fields varying between >1 × 10 8 V/m for blends of poly(9,9′-dioctylfluorene-co-bis-N,N′-(4-butylphenyl)-bis-N,N′-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine) (PFB) and poly(9,9′-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) and 8 × 10 5 V/m for slow-grown blends of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). A comparison with material properties reveals that the primary route to improved photovoltaic materials is enhanced charge delocalization.
Advanced Theory and Simulations
The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a hybrid bulk hetero-junction organic solar cell with an active layer of a blend of PBDT TS1 (donor) and PCBM (acceptor) incorporated with copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) quantum dots (QDs) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires is simulated. It is found that the incorporation of CZTS-QDs of a single radius (1.5 nm) enhances the PCE from 9.1% to 12.34% and of 13 different radii CZTS-QDs elevates PCE to 14.96%. This enhancement occurs mainly due to the enhancement in absorption that enhances short-circuit current density (J sc) and fill factor (FF). Finally, a layer of ZnO nanowires is added on top of the glass to reduce the reflection losses and absorption of ultraviolet light in the active layer that causes degradation and reduces the stability of organic solar cells (OSCs). The hybrid structure, thus simulated, has an enhanced PCE of 16.32% and is expected to be relatively more stable. It is expected that the results of this simulation may inspire all researchers interested in the fabrication of highly efficient hybrid OSCs.
Zinc Oxide Nanostructures for Efficient Energy Conversion in Organic Solar Cell
Journal of Technology Innovations in Renewable Energy, 2014
We present a new approach of solution-processed using zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures as extraction layer material for organic solar cells. It is low chemical reaction compatibility with all types of organic blends and its good adhesion to both surfaces of ITO/glass substrate and the active layer (blends). Parameters such as the thickness and the morphology of the films were investigated to prove that these factors greatly affect the efficiency of organic solar cells. In this work, ZnO layer with thickness of approximately 53 nm was used as an interlayer to prevent pin-holes between the electrode and the polymer layer. The polymer layer was coated on the ZnO layer with the thickness of about 150 nm. The thick polymer layer will form a non-uniform surface because of the solvent, 1-2dichlorobenzene will etch away some region of the polymer layer and forming pin-holes. ZnO nanostructures layer was used to prevent pin-holes between the polymer layer and electrode. From the surface morphology of ZnO layer, it shows a uniform surface with particle grain size obtained between 50-100 nm. The presence of the interlayer has a positive effect on the electrical characteristics of the solar cells. It was found that an organic solar cell with thickness less than 150 nm shows the optimum performance with efficiency of 0.0067% and Fill Factor (FF) of about 19.73.
Current Applied Physics, 2018
Charge transport dynamics in ZnO based inverted organic solar cell (IOSC) has been characterized with transient photocurrent spectroscopy and localised photocurrent mapping-atomic force microscopy. The value of maximum exciton generation rate was found to vary from 2.6 × 10 27 m −3 s −1 (J sat = 79.7 A m −2) to 2.9 × 10 27 m −3 s −1 (J sat = 90.8 A m −2) for devices with power conversion efficiency ranging from 2.03 to 2.51%. These results suggest that nanorods served as an excellent electron transporting layer that provides efficient charge transport and enhances IOSC device performance. The photovoltaic performance of OSCs with various growth times of ZnO nanorods have been analysed for a comparison between AM1.5G spectrum and local solar spectrum. The simulated PCE of all devices operating under local spectrum exhibited extensive improvement with the gain of 13.3-13.7% in which the ZnO nanorods grown at 15 min possess the highest PCE under local solar with the value of 2.82%.
Hybrid organic solar cells using both ZnO and PCBM as electron acceptor materials
Materials Science And Engineering: B, 2014
In this paper, we studied the effect of the addition of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles to the active layer of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) solar cells. Devices with varying ratios of ZnO and PCBM were fabricated while maintaining a fixed concentration of P3HT. This effect was investigated in different solvents, specificaly chlorobenzene (CB) and 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB). The addition of ZnO nanoparticles was found to significantly increase the power conversion efficiency (PCE) in the P3HT:PCBM solar cells. The mixing of ZnO in the active layer using CB as the solvent introduced a red shift in the absorption spectra and enhanced the absorption in the visible region. The incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles was also found to increase the surface roughness of the active layer. ZnO nanoparticles agglomerated as their concentration relative to PCBM increased and completely agglomerated in the absence of the fullerene derivative.
Prospects of hybrid organic-inorganic photovoltaic solar cells
Conference Paper: 2nd Fotonika-LV Conference “Achievements and Future Prospects”, 23-25 Apr 2017, Riga, Latvia, Book of Abstracts, Ed. A. Ubelis, D. Berzina, Riga: Univ. Latvia, 2017
Today organic-inorganic hybrid (OIH) semiconductor materials are a creative alternative for applications in electronics and photonics, particularly, for photovoltaic (PV) solar cells [1]. The approach is based on the next innovative solutions: (1) use of low-cost bio- or synthetic organic compounds for creating OIH suitable for broad-band sunlight harvesting and PV energy conversion; (2) use of process of molecular self-organization and assembly for OIH growing at room temperature; (3) use of technology of thin film chemical deposition from a colloidal solution; and (4) use of smart technique of differential analysis of functional characteristics for optimization of OIH performance [2, 3]. According to our study of various samples of low-molecular-weight OIH cells fabricated on patterned Si substrates, including its structural, optical and electrical characterisation, such PV cells have the following features: (i) PV efficiency of energy conversation is up to 9% depending on the chemical composition and surface/ interface morphology; (ii) performance of the Si-based OIH of thiamine diphosphate hydrochloride (C12H20Cl2N4O7P2S cocarboxylase or Vitamin B1) for a thin layer of 30 nm and a self-organized net-like surface was found to be the best; (iii) intense optical absorption followed by photoluminescence in the range 400–900 nm, whose spectral distribution and peak have vibrionic origins; and (iv) there is a number of characteristic bands associated to functional groups containing amines NHx(x = 0, 1, 2), carboxamides CON, cyanides CN, hydrocarbons CHx(x = 1, 2, 3), hydroxyl OH, carbonyl CO, etc. Despite the limited understanding of the complex mechanism of charge-carrier transfer in such OIH, the classic model of electron-hole pair generation, charge separation, and recombination proved to be suitable to describe current-voltage characteristics, when the short circuit current Isc is a linear function of energy of irradiation, and the open circuit voltage Voc has a logarithmic dependence of energy followed by saturation. We found that even small changes in the OIH design can lead to essential differences in optical and electrical properties, however a proper technological manipulation can help to optimize the OIH performance to the desired results. Research is in progress. The authors acknowledge support of the EU FP7-PEOPLE-IRSES-2011-204949 NOCTURNAL ATMOSPHERE, FP7-PEOPLE-IRSES-2012-318820 BIOSENSORS-AGRICULT, and National RTD Program NASU “SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES” 2008-2015, Project 1.4.10. References [1] G. Li, R. Zhu, Y. Yang, Polymer solar cells, Nature Photonics 6, 15-161 (2012) [2] T.Ya. Gorbach, P.S. Smertenko, E.F. Venger, Investigation of photovoltaic and optical properties of self-organized organic-inorganic hybrids using aromatic drugs and patterned silicon, Ukr J Phys, 59(6): 601-611 (2014) [3] V. Naumov, P. Smertenko, G. Olkhovik, S. Stepanov, Differential approach and radiation amplification factor, in 73rd Annual Sci. Conf. Univ.Latvia, 6-7 Feb 2015, Riga, Latvia, Book of Abstracts, Ed. A.Atvars, V.Beldavs, A.Ubelis, Riga Photonics Centre Univ.Latvia, p.62 (2015)
Organic Photovoltaic Cells Based on ZnO Thin Film Electrodes
Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 2010
Due to its wide band-gap (ca. 3.4 eV), ZnO is a possible candidate material to be used as transparent electrode for a new class of photovoltaic (PV) cells. Also, an increased interest for the photovoltaic properties of several organic monomers and polymers (merocyanines, phthalocyanines and porphyrins) was noticed, because of their high optical absorption in the visible region of the spectrum allowing them to be used as potential inexpensive materials for solar cells. Preparation and properties of CuPc (copper phthalocyanine) based photovoltaic cells using ZnO thin films as transparent conductor electrodes are presented in this paper. ZnO layers are grown by pulsed laser deposition, while the organic layers are obtained by thermal evaporation. Structural characterization is performed by electron microscopy. Optical and transport properties of the mutilayered structures are obtained by electrical and spectro-photometric measurements. The influence of the ZnO-polymer interface on the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the photovoltaic cell is clearly evidenced by our measurements.
The effect of zinc oxide nanostructure on the performance of hybrid polymer/zinc oxide solar cells
2005
Solar cells fabricated from composites of conjugated polymers with nanostructured metal oxides are gaining interest on account of the stability, low cost and electron transport properties of metal oxides. Zinc oxide (ZnO)/polymer solar cells are promising compared to other metal oxide/polymer combinations, on account of the possibility of low temperature synthesis, as well as the potential for controlling interface morphology through simple processing from solution. Here, we focus on the effect of surface morphology of ZnO films on photovoltaic device performance. We have successfully grown ZnO nanorods standing almost perpendicular to the electrodes on a flat, dense ZnO "backing" layer. We studied structures consisting of a conjugated polymer in contact with three different types of ZnO layer: a flat ZnO backing layer alone; ZnO nanorods on a ZnO backing layer; and ZnO nanoparticles on a ZnO backing layer. We use scanning electron microscopy, steady state and transient absorption spectroscopies and photovoltaic device measurements to study the morphology, charge separation and recombination behaviour and device performance of the three types of structures. We find that charge recombination in the structures containing vertically aligned ZnO nanorods is remarkably slow, with a half life of over 1 ms, over two orders of magnitude slower than for randomly oriented ZnO nanoparticles. A photovoltaic device based on the nanorod structure which has been treated with an ambiphilic dye before deposition of poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT) polymer shows a power conversion efficiency over four times greater than for a similar device based on the nanoparticle structure. The best ZnO nanorods: P3HT device yields a short circuit current density of 2 mAcm-2 under AM1.5 illumination (100mWcm-2) and peak external quantum efficiency over 14%, resulting in a power conversion efficiency of 0.20%.
Morphological impact of ZnO nanoparticle on MEHPPV:ZnO based hybrid solar cell
In this study, we have synthesized semiconducting ZnO nanoparticles (NP) of different morphology in solvothermal route, by using different capping reagents and applied it as an acceptor in poly(2-methoxy-5(2-ethylhexyloxy)-phenylene-vinylene (MEHPPV):ZnO NP based hybrid photovoltaic devices. Material properties of ZnO NP of different morphology and the compositions were studied with the help of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared and thermo gravimetric analysis. The direct band gap energies of flower, sphere and rod-like ZnO NP were calculated as 3.68, 3.15 and 3.25 eV by using Tauc's plot with the help of UV-Vis absorption. We have studied different material properties of MEHPPV:ZnO composite to check their applicability as an active layer of hybrid solar cell. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the composite materials were recorded to check PL energy quenching which is quite noticeable in case of sphere-like nanoparticle. Finally the hybrid solar cell of the structure ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ME-HPPV:ZnO/Al has been fabricated and studied. From the current density (J)-voltage (V) characteristic, we have found that the solar cell fabricated with ZnO sphere-like structure gives better result.