Enhanced stability of bulk heterojunction organic solar cells by application of few layers of electrochemically exfoliated graphene

Abstract

Few layers of electrochemically exfoliated graphene (FLECEG) of high quality have been synthesized by a modest method, and their composites with PEDOT:PSS and P3HT have been prepared by a simple solution process. The increase in filler FLECEG wt. % in the polymer has been observed to cause attractive modifications in the physical properties of all the composites, encouraging for their applications in energy systems. Conventional bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs) have been fabricated by separately using the composites as additional electrode layers and in the active layer of the device. A significant enhancement in the magnitude of device parameters of the OSCs due to the incorporation of FLECEG has been perceived compared with the corresponding reference devices. The caustic effects of intrinsic and additional extrinsic degradation processes on the output of the OSCs have been studied by periodically measuring the device's electrical properties under different environmental conditions. When compared with the performance of reference devices, OSCs manufactured by the application of the composites in both the charge transport layer and the active layer have been noticed to be sustaining with a remarkable stability, while the increment in power conversion efficiency is well maintained. This report has the potential to provide motivation for concentrating advanced research towards the development of composite materials for their applications in manufacturing more stable and efficient organic optoelectronic devices.