Fabrication and characterizations of PBDTTPD: PC71BM bulk heterojunction solar cell using air brush coating method

Abstract

Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells have made great progress during the past decade and consequently are now attracting extensive academic and commercial interest because of their potential advantages: lightweight, flexible, low cost, and high-throughput production. We report on the fabrication of poly((4,8-diethylhexyloxyl) benzo([1,2-b:4,5- b′]dithiophene)-2,6-diyl)-alt-((5-octylthieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione)-1,3-diyl) /[6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester blend active layer using airbrush spray coating method in different solvents. The parameters such as spraying time, substrate-nozzle distance for the deposition of active layers were analysed. Optical absorption of the active layers was analyzed using UV-visible spectral studies in the wavelength range from 300 to 800 nm. The surface morphology of the active layers deposited with different parameters was examined using Atomic Force Microscopy. The current densityvoltage (J-V) characteristics of photovoltaic cells were measured under the illumination of simulated solar light with 100 mW/cm² (AM 1.5G) by an Oriel 1000 W solar simulator. We also notice that both the bottom-up and top-down approaches have played important roles in advancing our fundamental understanding of this new class of nanostructures. Finally we attempt to look into the future and offer our personal opinions on what the future trends will be in organic solar cell research.