Abstract

We demonstrate the improvement of power conversion efficiency (PCE) in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells based on blended poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester by introducing 40 nm Au nanoparticles (NPs) with various concentrations. The Au NPs were deposited on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) substrates by spin-coating from colloidal solution prior to deposition of poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene:poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) buffer layer. It has been found that both short-circuit current density and PCE increase after incorporating Au NPs between ITO and PEDOT:PSS layer, and a suitable area density of Au NPs is required to achieve a maximum enhancement of device efficiency. The PCE of solar cells has been increased from 3.50% to 3.81% with 0.9 wt. % Au NPs. The PCE enhancement is attributed to the localized surface plasmon excitation of Au NPs. The method employed herein is a kind of simple and convenient solution process, and it has great potential in future practical applications.

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