Incorporation of SiO2 dielectric nanoparticles for performance enhancement in P3HT:PCBM inverted organic solar cells

Abstract

It is well known that organic solar cells (OSCs) with inverted geometry have not only demonstrated a better stability and longer device life time but also have shown improved power conversion efficiency (PCE). Recent studies exhibit that incorporation of metal and/or semiconducting nanoparticles (NPs) can further increase the PCE for OSCs. In this present work, we have synthesized SiO2 NPs of various sizes (25, 50, 75 and 100nm) using the modified Stober method and incorporated them into P3HT:PCBM photoactive layer and ZnO based electron transport layer (ETL) in order to investigate the light trapping effects in an OSC. Absorption studies have shown a considerable increase in photo absorption in both cases. The fabricated devices demonstrated 13% increase in the PCE when SiO2 NPs are incorporated in P3HT:PCBM photoactive layer, whereas PCE was increased by 20% when SiO2 NPs are incorporated in ZnO based ETL. Mott–Schottky analysis and impedance spectroscopy measurements have been carried out to determine the depletion width and global mobility for both the devices. The possible reason for PCE enhancement and the role of SiO2 NPs in active layer and ZnO ETL are explained on the basis of the results obtained from Mott–Schottky analysis and impedance spectroscopy measurements.