Exciton
generation, dissociation, free carrier transport, and charge
extraction play an important role in the short-circuit current (J
sc) and power conversion efficiency of an organic
bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cell (SC). Here we study the impact
of band offset at the interfacial layer and the morphology of active
layer on the extraction of free carriers. The effects are evaluated
on an inverted BHJ SC using zinc oxide (ZnO) as a buffer layer, prepared
via two different methods: ZnO nanoparticle dispersed in mixed solvents
(ZnO A) and sol–gel method (ZnO B). The device with ZnO A buffer
layer improves the charge extraction and J
sc. The improvement is due to the better band offset and morphology
of the blend near the ZnO A/active layer interface. Further, the numerical
analysis of current–voltage characteristics illustrates that
the morphology at the ZnO A/active layer interface has a more dominant
role in improving the performance of the organic photovoltaic than
the band offset.
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