Graphene as a hole transport layer for enhanced performance of P3HT: PCBM bulk heterojunction organic solar cell: a numerical simulation study

Abstract

As sustainable and green energy technologies advance, academic and industrial researchers have been more interested in organic solar cells. Organic solar cells have some key advantages, such as lightweight, flexibility and cheapness that make them an ideal choice as an alternative to other types of solar cells. Bulk heterojunction solar cells combine the advantages of easier fabrication and higher conversion efficiency, making them the best structure currently. In this work P3HT: PCBM is used as the active layer material. PDINO and PFN-Br are used as the electron transport layers in this work. Graphene, which is taken as the hole transport layer in this work, is a unique material for future applications in organic photovoltaics due to its remarkable optical properties and excellent electron/hole transport properties. Corresponding to two different electron transport layers two different device configurations are studied in the work. Bulk hetero-junction organic solar cell simulation study is done using the solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS1D). The thickness, electron and hole mobilities, and defect density of the active layer are varied for each device configuration, and their effect on device output performance is analysed. A comparative study of device performance between the different configurations has been done.