Improved efficiency of organic solar cells using Au NPs incorporated into PEDOT:PSS buffer layer

Otieno, Francis; Shumbula, Ndivhuwo P.; Airo, Mildred; Mlambo, Mbuso; Moloto, Nosipho; Erasmus, Rudolph M.; Quandt, Alexander; Wamwangi, Daniel

doi:10.1063/1.4995803

Cited by 40 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Although the root mean square (RMS) of surface roughness of PEDOT:PSS deposited on the ITO layer without NPs is 1.1 nm, the RMS increased to 8.1, 10.3, 9.1, 10.7, and 11.6 nm after embedding the PEDOT:PSS with Au@Ag NPs at volume ratios of 8%, 10%, 12%, 14%, and 16% respectively. The increase in the embossed RMS roughness is possibly due to the changes in the size of Au@Ag NPs; the higher volume ratio of Au@Ag NPs embedded in PEDOT:PSS, and higher amount of sharp spikes that penetrates the PEDOT:PSS film [ 27 , 29 , 41 , 42 ]. The spikes of Au@Ag NPs could pierce the active layer, leading to higher amounts of generated excitons and the development of SPR at the interface between PC 71 BM and PTB7, which enhances the dissociation of excitons.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiky Durian-Shaped Au@Ag Nanoparticles in PEDOT:PSS for Improved Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells

et al. 2021

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The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects of nanoparticles (NPs) are effective for enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs). In this study, spiky durian-shaped Au@Ag core-shell NPs were synthesized and embedded in the hole transport layer (HTL) (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)) of PTB7:PC71BM bulk-heterojunction OSCs. Different volume ratios of PEDOT:PSS-to-Au@Ag NPs (8%, 10%, 12%, 14%, and 16%) were prepared to optimize synthesis conditions for increased efficiency. The size properties and surface morphology of the NPs and HTL were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). UV–Vis spectroscopy and current density–voltage (J-V) analysis were used to investigate the electrical performance of the fabricated OSCs. From the results, we observed that the OSC with a volume ratio of 14% (PEDOT:PSS–to–Au@Ag NPs) performed better than others, where the PCE was improved from 2.50% to 4.15%, which is a 66% increase compared to the device without NPs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiky Durian-Shaped Au@Ag Nanoparticles in PEDOT:PSS for Improved Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells

et al. 2021

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“…Metallic NPs can be incorporated in the active layer, electrodes, and buffer layers of the OSCs. Performance changes due to the introduction of NPs in the active layer, charge transport layers and buffer layers of OSCs have been explored by researchers [9,[16][17][18][19]. Gold (Au) nanorods in the ETL (TiO 2 or ZnO) increase the PCE of the cell because of the light trapping due to the far-field effect scattering and increased electromagnetic field in the active layer [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Non-ideality Factors for a P3HT: PCBM Based Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cell in Presence of Silver Nanoparticles

Koul

Hakim

2020

Trans. Electr. Electron. Mater.

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Solar cells are a potential option to meet the growing energy requirements of humans. Organic solar cells (OSCs) represent a class of solar cells that is a part of the third generation solar cell technology. The quest for obtaining enhanced OSC efficiencies has led to the incorporation of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) in the OSCs. Metallic NPs increase the incident light absorption instances, thus increasing the obtainable cell efficiencies. Different parameters and factors need to be considered for obtaining the optimum NP specifications. Investigations of the mechanism of light absorption after the introduction of NPs in the OSC are critical. Hence theoretical simulations for such OSCs are important. An overview of the different solar cell characterization techniques is presented in this paper. Simulations are carried out for these characterization techniques to study the behavior of the P3HT:PCBM based OSC in which silver NPs are incorporated in the active layer. The simulations are carried out for the cell structure in the presence of different non-ideality factors. The non-idealities include mobility limitations, presence of traps, recombination losses, low generation, presence of non-ideal values of series and shunt resistances, the effect of doping, etc. The simulated characterization techniques can be utilized for the performance study and parameter extraction of these NP incorporated OSCs.

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“…Notably, by utilizing the LSPR effect of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) such as Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) and Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs), NPs can be introduced into each part of the OSC devices for highly improved light harvesting [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] . Although some studies have reported the improvement of %PCEs by the incorporation of different metallic NPs into OSCs [37][38][39][40] , their effects on the charge separation and transport related to the high-efficiency of BHJ OSCs still need to be investigated in detail. Several research groups have reported that the presence of Ag NPs in the PEDOT:PSS HTL of OSCs leads to enhanced light harvesting performance due to their superior scattering efficiencies compared with those of other metallic NPs 41 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced organic solar cell performance: Multiple surface plasmon resonance and incorporation of silver nanodisks into a grating-structure electrode

Putnin

Lertvachirapaiboon

Ishikawa

et al. 2019

Opto-Electronic Advances

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In this study, plasmonic nanostructures were examined to enhance the light harvesting of organic thin-film solar cells (OSCs) by multiple surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomena originating from the grating-coupled configuration with a Blu-ray Disc recordable (BD-R)-imprinted aluminum (Al) grating structure and the incorporation of a series of silver nanodisks (Ag NDs). The devices with such a configuration maximize the light utilization inside OSCs via light absorption, light scattering, and trapping via multiple surface plasmon resonances. Different types and sizes of metallic nanoparticles (NPs), i.e., gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), Ag nanospheres (Ag NSs), and Ag NDs, were used, which were blended separately in a PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer (HTL). The device structure comprised of grating-imprinted-Al/P3HT:PCBM/Ag ND:PEDOT:PSS/ITO. Results obtained from the J-V curves revealed that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of grating-structured Al/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/ITO is 3.16%; this value is ~6% higher than that of a flat substrate. On the other hand, devices with flat Al and incorporated Au NPs, Ag NSs, or Ag NDs in the HTL exhibited PCEs ranging from 3.15% to 3.37%. Furthermore, OSCs with an Al grating substrate were developed by the incorporation of the Ag ND series into the PEDOT:PSS layer. Compared with that of a reference device, the PCEs of the devices increased to 3.32%-3.59% (11%-20% improvement), indicating that the light absorption enhancement at the active layer corresponds to the grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance and localized surface plasmon resonance excitations with strong near-field distributions penetrating into the active layer leading to higher efficiencies and subsequent better current generation.

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Improved efficiency of organic solar cells using Au NPs incorporated into PEDOT:PSS buffer layer

Cited by 40 publications

References 26 publications

Spiky Durian-Shaped Au@Ag Nanoparticles in PEDOT:PSS for Improved Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells

Spiky Durian-Shaped Au@Ag Nanoparticles in PEDOT:PSS for Improved Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells

Investigation of Non-ideality Factors for a P3HT: PCBM Based Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cell in Presence of Silver Nanoparticles

Enhanced organic solar cell performance: Multiple surface plasmon resonance and incorporation of silver nanodisks into a grating-structure electrode

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