Solution-processed nickel compound as hole collection layer for efficient polymer solar cells

Abstract

We demonstrated efficient bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells (PSCs) by inserting a solution-processable hole collection layer (HCL) between the indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode and photoactive layer. The HCL was prepared by spin-coating nickel acetylacetonate (Ni(acac)2) isopropanol solution on ITO, and then baking in air at 180 °C for 10 min followed by UV ozone treatment, which was marked as a-Ni(acac)2. The a-Ni(acac)2 HCL shows suitable energy levels, high hole mobility of 4.09 × 10−3 cm2 V−1·s−1, and high transparency with light transmittance better than poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) in the wavelength range 550–800 nm. The PSCs with a-Ni(acac)2 HCL showed improved performance compared with the PSCs without or with traditional PEDOT:PSS HCL. The power conversion efficiency of the PSC based on PBDTTT-C-T:PC70BM with a-Ni(acac)2 HCL reached 7.84% under the illumination of AM 1.5 G, 100 mW cm−2.