Photocurrent enhancements of organic solar cells by altering dewetting of plasmonic Ag nanoparticles

Abstract

Incorporation of metal nanoparticles into active layers of organic solar cells is one of the promising light trapping approaches. The size of metal nanoparticles is one of key factors to strong light trapping, and the size of thermally evaporated metal nanoparticles can be tuned by either post heat treatment or surface modification of substrates. We deposited Ag nanoparticles on ITO by varying nominal thicknesses, and post annealing was carried out to increase their size in radius. PEDOT:PSS was employed onto the ITO substrates as a buffer layer to alter the dewetting behavior of Ag nanoparticles. The size of Ag nanoparticles on PEDOT:PSS were dramatically increased by more than three times compared to those on the ITO substrates. Organic solar cells were fabricated on the ITO and PEDOT:PSS coated ITO substrates with incorporation of those Ag nanoparticles, and their performances were compared. The photocurrents of the cells with the active layers on PEDOT:PSS with an optimal choice of the Ag nanoparticles were greatly enhanced whereas the Ag nanoparticles on the ITO substrates did not lead to the photocurrent enhancements. The origin of the photocurrent enhancements with introducing the Ag nanoparticles on PEDOT:PSS are discussed.

Enhanced Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance of Fully Alloyed AgAuPdPt, AgAuPt, AuPt, AgPt, and Pt Nanocrystals: Systematical Investigation on the Morphological and LSPR Properties of Mono-, Bi-, Tri-, and Quad-Metallic Nanoparticles

“…The absorption dips of the AgAuPt alloy nanocluster were gradually attenuated and became broader with the sublimation of Ag atoms, as shown in Figure 5b-1. 43,44 Furthermore, the evolution of AuPt nanocluster at increased temperatures caused the gradual flattening of the reflectance dips, as shown in Figure 5b-2,b-3, which can be due to the reduced absorption as the NP size was reduced. In the case of transmittance spectra, it did not exhibit obvious peaks or dip formation with the large AgAuPt and AgPt alloy nanoclusters, as shown in Figure 5c.…”

Width of the surface plasmon resonance line in spherical metal nanoparticles

“…Thus, the incident light will at least once more pass through the SC material, thereby increasing the length of its optical path and increasing the likelihood of increasing light absorption by the light-sensitive semiconductor layer of SC. Also, to improve the efficiency of energy conversion in solar cells, a layer of organic PEDOT polymer, which contains metal nanoparticles, namely gold and silver, is used [7,8]. In addition, to increase the efficiency of thinfilm SC, the effect of resonant excitation of plasmon modes in metal nanoparticles enclosed in a semiconductor matrix can be used.…”

P‐185: Enhanced Light Extraction of Flexible Organic Light‐emitting Diodes by Ag Nanoparticles as Scattering Layer

“…The PEDOT:PSS layer promotes the aggregation of AgNPs because of the surface energy modification. [9] (c) OLED analysis Fig. 4 (a) shows the JVL characteristics of the fabricated OLED.…”