Abstract
Recently, tin oxide (SnO2) nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted considerable attention as the electron transporting layer (ETL) for organic solar cells (OSCs) due to their superior electrical properties, excellent chemical stability, and compatibility with low-temperature solution fabrication. However, the rough surface of SnO2 NPs may generate numerous defects, which limits the performance of the OSCs. In this study, we introduce a perylene diimide derivative (PDINO) that could passivate the defects between SnO2 NP ETL and the active layer. Compared with the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the pristine SnO2 ETL–based OSCs (12.7%), the PDINO-modified device delivers a significantly increased PCE of 14.9%. Overall, this novel composite ETL exhibits lowered work function, improved electron mobility, and reduced surface defects, thus increasing charge collection efficiency and restraining defect-caused molecular recombination in the OSC. Overall, this work demonstrates a strategy of utilizing the organic–inorganic hybrid ETL that has the potential to overcome the drawbacks of SnO2 NPs, thereby developing efficient and stable OSCs.
Highlights
Over the past decades, in order to harness clean and abundant solar energy, extensive efforts have been made to develop efficient and affordable photovoltaic cells
Compared to the clean ITO/glass, SnO2 and SnO2/PDINO electron transporting layer (ETL) both exhibit enhanced transmittance in the 350–450 nm region that could be beneficial for achieving better absorption of the active layer
The film conductivities of different ETLs were evaluated to take a glimpse into the effect of the PDINO modification layer
Summary
In order to harness clean and abundant solar energy, extensive efforts have been made to develop efficient and affordable photovoltaic cells. Owing to the continuous development of organic photoelectric materials in recent years, for the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OSC device, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) has exceeded 18% (Wang et al, 2020), which paves the way for the future commercialization of OSCs. In addition to the active layer, the charge transporting layer (CTL) plays a critical role in realizing the high-performance of OSCs (Ma et al, 2010; Yip and Jen, 2012). An n-type metal oxide, namely, zinc oxide (ZnO), has been widely utilized as the material of the electron transporting layer (ETL) for OSCs because of its matched energy level, good conductivity, high optical transparency, and solution processability (White et al, 2006; Kyaw et al, 2008; Wang et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2019; Zheng et al, 2019; Fan et al, 2020).
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