Effect of a symmetry breaking layer on the open circuit voltage of conventional bulk-heterojunction solar cells

Abstract

Solution processable titanium suboxide (TiOx) was introduced as an artificial symmetry breaking layer in bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells comprising a low band gap conjugated polymer, poly[(4,4′-bis(2-ethylhexyl)dithiene[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]silole)-2,6-diyl-alt-(4,7-bis(2-thienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)-5,5′-diyl] (Si-PCPDTBT), and a soluble fullerene, [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric methyl ester (PC71BM). The inserted TiOx layer obviously extracted the same level of open circuit voltage (Voc) regardless of metal work function. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) results indicated that the formation of the interface dipole between the TiOx symmetry breaking layer and metal electrode successfully modifies the effective work function of the cathode electrode, thereby leading to symmetry breaking in BHJ solar cells.