The optical and electrical
properties of the blending organic film
poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)
are strongly affected by its morphology, resulting in the performance
variation in Si/organic hybrid solar cells. Here, a facile postsolvent
treatment is used to tailor the vertical morphology of PEDOT:PSS by
introducing a nonpolar solvent. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth-profiling
measurements show that the distribution of PEDOT and PSS on the surface
of n-type Si can be changed by nonpolar solvent n-hexane (NHX) treatment, where more PSS aggregate at the bottom of
the blend film and more PEDOT float up to the top, as compared with
the reference sample. As a result, after NHX treatment, the average
lifetime of the Si/organic films is increased from 152 μs for
untreated samples to 248 μs for NHX-treated ones because of
the better passivation effect of PSS on Si. Moreover, the transmission
line model measurements indicate that the contact resistance (R
C) of PEDOT:PSS film and the Ag electrode is
decreased for better charge collection after NHX treatment. Eventually,
the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.78% for NHX-treated
planar solar cells is obtained, much higher than the PCE (with best
of 12.78%) of reference devices without nonpolar solvent treatment.
Our results provide a facile method to tailor the vertical morphology
of the PEDOT:PSS in Si/organic hybrid solar cells.
The contact quality between Si and the rear electrode and the passivation of Si play crucial roles in efficient organic/Si hybrid solar cells, especially for the open-circuit voltage (V OC ). Herein, we reported a dual bilayer structure to synergistically improve both rear contact quality and passivation of Si to enhance the performance of organic/planar-Si hybrid solar cells. Series resistance (R S ) extracted by the double diode model, contact quality explored by the Cox and Strack (CS) method, and the work function measured by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) revealed that the work function of the rear electrode effectively decreased after adding a metallic bilayer at the interface between Si and the rear electrode, which reduced the contact barrier, led to an Ohmic contact, and facilitated the transportation of electrons. Moreover, the minority carrier lifetime increased from 138.81 to 252.89 μs after applying a surfactant on top of the organic film because of the improved passivation effect. Remarkably, the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.40% for the dual bilayer planar solar cell is obtained, with a champion V OC of 656.4 mV. We provide an effective and facile strategy to design high efficiency with superior V OC by improving contact quality and passivation simultaneously in the Si-based solar cells.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.